Category: Sentencing

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. § …

Kansas Law Review blog

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.

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 …

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 …

A Taser is a Deadly Weapon

State v. Carter, No. 116,223 (Kan. Mar. 6, 2020). Issue: Is a taser a “deadly weapon” within the meaning of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-4902(e)(2)? Answer: Yes, a taser is a “deadly weapon” because a taser could be …

Payment Plans for Restitution

State v. Roberts, No. 120,377 (Kan. Ct. App. Feb. 21, 2020). Issue: Did the district court illegally sentence a defendant by failing to establish a payment plan when ordering her to pay restitution? Answer: Yes, the plain language …

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 …

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: …

Retroactively Applying Limited Fact Finding for Out of State Prior Convictions to Illegal Sentence Challenges

State v. Gales, No. 119,302 (Kan. Oct. 4, 2019). Issue: Should limited fact finding for out of state prior convictions to illegal sentence challenges apply retroactively? Answer: Yes.  Limited fact finding for out of state prior convictions to …

An Untimely Appeal Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255

United States v. Salazar, No. 19-1119 (10th Cir. Aug. 16, 2019). Issue: Defendants may appeal a sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 but, with limited exceptions, must do so within one year.  The defendant was sentenced on March 20, 2017 …