State v. Kirui

── State v. Kirui ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona Date: April 08, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE. IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee, v. KENNETH KIPRONO KIRUI, Appellant. No. 1 CA-CR 24-0622 FILED 04-08-2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2022-001578-001 The Honorable Kerstin G. LeMaire, Judge AFFIRMED COUNSEL Bain & Lauritano, PLC, Glendale Sheri M. Lauritano Counsel for Appellant Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix Alison L. Kovalchick Counsel for Appellee  STATE v. KIRUI Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Presiding Judge Michael J. Brown delivered the decision of the Court, in which Judge Veronika Fabian and Vice Chief Judge David D. Weinzweig joined. B R O W N, Judge: ¶1 Kenneth Kirui appeals from his convictions and sentences for two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. He argues the trial court erred by admitting other acts evidence, allowing a nurse to testify about the victim’s statements, and preventing him from timely reviewing a jury questionnaire. Because he has not shown that reversible error occurred, we affirm. BACKGROUND ¶2 “We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdicts and resolve all reasonable inferences against the defendant.” State v. Felix, 237 Ariz. 280, 283, ¶ 2 (App. 2015). Ellen (a pseudonym) and Kirui met through social media. Ellen was 18 years old at the time. On his profile, Kirui used a pseudonym and represented himself as being much closer to Ellen’s age. In reality, he was 47. Several weeks later, they planned a date. ¶3 On January 20, 2020, Kirui drove to Ellen’s home and then took her to his apartment, where he gave her a drink. According to Ellen, after drinking the beverage, she passed out. She recalled going through a cycle of briefly regaining, and then losing, consciousness. Twice when she woke up Ellen remembered Kirui performing oral and penetrative sex on her. She struck Kirui and tried to “get him off of [her]” but fell asleep. After waking up at another point, she recalled Kirui telling her he had taken pictures of her and showing her his phone, but she again passed out. ¶4 Eventually Kirui and Ellen left the apartment. Kirui started to drive her back home but changed his mind and instead drove her to a fast-food restaurant. After Kirui gave her money to buy him food, she went inside the restaurant but rather than placing an order she told employees what had happened. The manager hid Ellen in the restaurant and called 2  STATE v. KIRUI Decision of the Court the police. Officers contacted both Kirui (who was still in the parking lot) and Ellen at the scene. ¶5 Ellen was then taken to the Mesa Family Advocacy Center (“Center”), where a sexual assault nurse examiner (“Nurse”) performed a sexual assault exam. The Nurse found several injuries during the exam on Ellen’s genitals consistent with penetration. As part of this exam, swabs were taken from Ellen’s genitals. Subsequent DNA testing revealed a mix of Ellen and Kirui’s DNA on each other’s genitals. ¶6 Kirui was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. Before and during most of trial, Kirui represented himself, with the aid of advisory counsel. After an eight-day trial