Kamauri Kennedy

A Minot man’s appeal of his conviction for the murder of Dominique Kelley in June 2021 has been denied by the North Dakota Supreme Court.

Kamauri Siede Kennedy, 36, Minot, was convicted after a jury trial in September 2024 and sentenced to serve life without parole on Dec. 17, 2024. Kennedy appealed his conviction, arguing the district court had erred by failing to exclude prior bad acts evidence, failed to intervene when the state committed prosecutorial misconduct in its closing argument, and abused its discretion in denying Kennedy’s request for alternate counsel.

In an opinion by Justice Douglas Bahr, the Supreme Court affirmed the court’s judgment on all counts. Bahr wrote it was Kennedy’s responsibility to object to the entry of evidence related to him being on probation at the time of the murder, which prevented him from being able to raise the issue on appeal.

Further, the court found Special Assistant State’s Attorney John Gonzalez did not commit prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments, as the court had instructed the jury to only consider evidence and not consider the closing arguments.

Additionally, Bahr noted Kennedy’s allegation the state’s closing arguments mischaracterized witness testimony and improperly shifted the burden of proof to him was unfounded. During arguments before the Supreme Court, the state argued the portions of the transcript in question quoted in Kennedy’s brief were actually Kennedy’s closing arguments and not the state’s.

“We note with concern that Kennedy’s allegations were advanced without proper support from the record,” Bahr wrote. “Attorney’s have an obligation to ensure that the arguments they present are factually and legally supported. Kennedy’s counsel’s failure to ensure these arguments were supported by the record is not consistent with that obligation.”

Bahr concluded in affirming the district court’s decision to deny Kennedy’s attorney’s motion to withdraw and his request for a new counsel, saying it was “the product of a rational mental process leading to a reasoned decision.”