Anderson v. Bruce

50 P.3d 1, 274 Kan. 37, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 426
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 12, 2002
Docket85,952
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 50 P.3d 1 (Anderson v. Bruce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Bruce, 50 P.3d 1, 274 Kan. 37, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 426 (kan 2002).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Lockett, J.:

Joseph Anderson appeals the Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the district court’s denial of his K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 60-1501 petition. See State v. Bruce, No. 85,952, unpublished opinion filed October 12, 2001. Anderson claims (1) the district court erred in finding he was not entitled to credit for time spent on parole on a prior offense; (2) application of K.S.A. 21-4608(f)(5) *38 to the prior offense violated the Ex Post Facto clause of the United States Constitution; and (3) the district judge erred in finding Anderson was not entitled to have his present sentence unaggregated for sentence computation purposes after serving the maximum time on his 1979 offense.

In January 1980, Anderson was sentenced to 5 to 20 years on one count of aggravated robbery committed in October 1979. His sentence commenced October 23, 1979. Prior to completing his sentence, Anderson was paroled on June 28,1984. In March 1986, Anderson was sentenced to a term of 3 to 10 years on two counts of forgery and one count of possession of cocaine committed in 1985 while he was on parole. Anderson was also sentenced to a term of 3 to 10 years for burglary and theft committed while he was on parole in 1986. Anderson was given 3 years, 6 months, and 22 days of prior penal credit, making his sentence begins date June 7,1982, on those convictions. These sentences were ordered to run consecutive to each other and consecutive to his sentence for the 1979 offense. At that time, Anderson’s controlling term was 11 to 40 years.

Anderson was again paroled. Because of events that occurred while on parole in 1993, Anderson was convicted and sentenced in July 1994 to a term of 1 to 2 years for aggravated false imprisonment and an aggravated weapons violation. Anderson was credited with 6 years, giving him a sentence begins date of February 2,1988, on this conviction. The 1994 sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the prior sentences. Anderson’s controlling term was 12 to 42 years.

Anderson filed a grievance with his Unit Team in November 1999, alleging his sentence had been illegally modified when it was aggregated. Anderson also claimed he had been denied jail credit and credit for time served on parole. The Unit Manager found Anderson’s sentence had been correctly calculated. The Warden concurred with the Unit Manager’s finding. In December 1999, Anderson appealed to the Secretary of Corrections. The Secretaiy of Corrections approved the findings of the Unit Team and the Warden.

*39 On January 3, 2000, Anderson filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court, pursuant to K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 60-1501. Anderson requested that the court order the Department of Corrections (DOC) to grant him credit for time served on parole on his 1979 offense, asserting that the failure to grant him credit violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution. Anderson also requested that the DOC be ordered to recalculate his controlling term without considering his 1979 offense because that sentence had been satisfied. The DOC filed a response and motion to dismiss. A hearing was held on February 22, 2000. The district court found that Anderson’s sentence had been properly computed and denied Anderson relief. A timely notice of appeal was filed.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. The Court of Appeals found Thomas v. Hannigan, 27 Kan. App. 2d 614, 6 P.3d 933 (2000), controlling and held that the failure to grant Anderson credit for time spent on parole did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. The Court of Appeals also found Anderson’s contention that his sentence for the 1979 offense had expired 20 years after his sentence date to be “nonsensical” and without merit. This court granted Anderson’s petition for review. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to K.S.A. 20-3018(b).

CREDIT FOR TIME SPENT ON PAROLE

Anderson contends the district court erred in finding that he was not entitled to credit for the time spent on parole for his 1979 offense. Determination of the amount of credit for time spent on parole is a matter of statutory interpretation. Interpretation of a statute is a question of law over which an appellate court’s review is unlimited. State v. Palmer, 262 Kan. 745, 748, 942 P.2d 19 (1997). In construing statutes and determining legislative intent, several provisions of an act, in pari materia, must be construed together with a view of reconciling and bringing them into workable harmony, if possible. Unrau v. Kidron Bethel Retirement Services, Inc., 271 Kan. 743, Syl. ¶2, 27 P.3d 1 (2001).

CONFLICT BETWEEN STATUTES

Pursuant to K.S.A.' 21-4608(c), a person convicted and sentenced *40 for a crime committed while on parole for a felony is required to serve the new sentence consecutive to the term or terms for which the person was on parole. See K.S.A. 1992 Supp. 21-4608(3) and K.S.A. 1986 Supp. 21-4608(3).

“When indeterminate sentences are imposed to be served consecutively to sentences previously imposed in any other court or the sentencing court, the aggregated mínimums and máximums shall be computed from the effective date of the subsequent sentences which have been imposed as consecutive. For the purpose of determining the sentence begins date and the parole eligibility and conditional release dates, the inmate shall be given credit on die aggregate sentence for time spent imprisoned on the previous sentences, but not exceeding an amount equal to the previous minimum sentence less the maximum amount of good time credit that could have been earned on the minimum sentence. For the purposes of computing the maximum date, the inmate shall be given credit for all time spent imprisoned on the previous sentence. This method for computation of the maximum sentence shall be utilized for all sentences computed pursuant to this subsection after July 1, 1983.” K.S.A. 21-4608(f)(4).

See K.S.A. 1992 Supp. 21-4608(6)(d).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 P.3d 1, 274 Kan. 37, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-bruce-kan-2002.