Kansas Supreme Court dismisses some convictions in killing of Washburn University football player

Context: The above video was published in 2022 following Mendez's sentencing.

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The Kansas Supreme Court made the decision to reverse several convictions related to a man found guilty of killing a Washburn University football player.

The court reversed three aggravated robbery convictions in the case of the State of Kansas v. Francisco Alejandro Mendez on Wednesday, Nov. 27 after Mendez, in an appeal, raised nine claims of error. Mendez was previously found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in connection to the shooting death of WU football player Dwane Simmons in April 2019. His claims of error included the following:

1. The evidence of premeditation was insufficient.
2. The aiding and abetting instruction was clearly erroneous.
3. Premeditated first-degree murder is unconstitutionally vague.
4. Sufficient evidence does not support the aggravated robbery convictions of victims who had nothing taken from them.
5. The aggravated robbery convictions are multiplicitous.
6. The district court erred in denying the motion to suppress.
7. The State committed reversible prosecutorial error.
8. The instruction of "knowingly" in the aggravated robbery instruction was clearly erroneous.
9. Cumulative error deprived Mendez of a fair trial.

Justice Caleb Stegall wrote for the majority of the court's justices, explaining that the evidence of premeditation was sufficient when Mendez drove away, stopped, turned around and began shooting around 10-15 seconds after first pulling away.

"Furthermore, the challenged jury instructions were not clearly erroneous, and while it was prosecutorial error for the State to assert premeditation can be formed in one second, it was not error for the prosecutor to state premeditation can be formed in five seconds, and there was no reversible prosecutorial or cumulative error. The Court further held when a vehicle is the property taken in an aggravated robbery, an aggravated robbery conviction is not multiplicitous as to a vehicle passenger if the passenger would have also retained possession of the vehicle but for being overcome by violence or intimidation. However, there was insufficient evidence of aggravated robbery as to three victims because a necessary element of aggravated robbery is the taking of property. Additionally, the district court did not err in denying the motion to suppress because K.S.A. 8-1729(e) requires that lighting devices and reflectors on the rear of a vehicle solely display a red color, and thus a traffic violation provided a basis for a traffic stop"

Kansas Supreme Court Appeal No. 125,241 excerpt

Simmons was shot and killed in April 2017 outside of a house party where he was celebrating a fellow teammate being drafted to the National Football League (NFL). Mendez was arrested and charged in connection to the killing of Simmons, later being convicted on the following counts:

• One count of first-degree murder.
• Four counts of attempted first-degree murder.
• Seven counts of aggravated armed robbery.

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