Category: Sentencing
Updated on September 10, 2024
District Courts May Impose Sentences Concurrently or Consecutively When the Sentencing Occurs for Multiple Cases on the Same Day
Author: Michael Raven, Comments Editor State v. Dunham, No. 121,081 (Kan. Ct. App., July 31, 2020) Issue: Following his probation revocation, the trial court sentenced Jeremy Dunham for multiple cases on the same date. Kan. Stat. Ann. § …
Updated on September 10, 2024
Mootness After Sentence Completion: A Prudential Analysis
Under Kansas law, a petitioner’s appeal to correct an illegal sentence is moot if the sentence is already complete, unless there is a collateral injury that the motion can correct.
Updated on September 10, 2024
Defendant’s Responsibility for Fact Finding in Constitutional Sentencing Challenges
State v. Espinoza, No. 118,737 (Kan. Apr. 24, 2020). Issue: Whether a high court must remand a case to the lower court to develop the necessary factual record for an as-applied challenge to a sentence arguing it was …
Updated on September 10, 2024
Criminal History Calculations with Prior In-State Convictions
State v. Coleman, No. 115,293 (Kan. Apr. 3, 2020) Issue: When calculating criminal history with prior in-state convictions committed before Kansas Sentencing Guidelines reform, does the Wetrich “identical-or-narrower” test apply? Answer: Yes. The elements of the prior in-state …
Updated on September 10, 2024
Knowingly and Fairly Made Pleas
State v. Terning, No. 119,904 (Kan. Ct. App. Feb. 20, 2020). Issue: Under a motion to withdraw, is a plea knowingly and fairly made when the possible sentence term was mathematically different from the corrected sentence term? Answer: Yes, a …
Updated on September 10, 2024
Probation Revocation Hearings Require Competency
State v. Gonzalez, No. 120,179 (Kan. Ct. App. Dec. 27, 2019). Issue: There is no statutory protection requiring a defendant be competent at a hearing to revoke his probation. Is competence constitutionally protected nonetheless at this stage? Answer: …
