Johnson v. Schnurr

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedApril 24, 2020
Docket121889
StatusUnpublished

This text of Johnson v. Schnurr (Johnson v. Schnurr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Schnurr, (kanctapp 2020).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 121,889

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

HARVEY JOHNSON, Appellant,

v.

DAN SCHNURR, et al., Appellees.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Reno District Court; JOSEPH L. MCCARVILLE III, judge. Opinion filed April 24, 2020. Affirmed.

Harvey Johnson, appellant pro se.

Jon D. Graves, legal counsel, of Kansas Department of Corrections, for appellees.

Before GREEN, P.J., POWELL and SCHROEDER, JJ.

PER CURIAM: Harvey Johnson, acting pro se, appeals the summary dismissal of his K.S.A. 60-1501 motion. In that motion, he argued that the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) wrongly denied him program credits. Nevertheless, because Johnson has not established error, we affirm.

Johnson was convicted of a crime committed in 2006. Based on the record on appeal, it is unclear what crime Johnson committed in 2006. Even so, it seems that in 2010, while on postrelease supervision for his 2006 criminal case, Johnson committed a

1 new crime. It is also unclear what crime Johnson committed while on postrelease supervision in 2010.

It seems that when the district court sentenced Johnson for his new crime, it aggregated his remaining term of imprisonment in his 2006 criminal case with his new term of imprisonment in his 2010 criminal case. Under the KDOC's regulations, an "aggregated sentence" exists when the district court runs a defendant's sentences consecutively. K.A.R. 44-6-101(b)(3), (5).

Several years after his sentencing in the 2010 case, Johnson asked the KDOC to give him 120 program credits; these program credits would reduce his time spent in prison before becoming eligible for postrelease supervision in his 2010 criminal case. Johnson relied on the KDOC's Internal Management Policy and Procedure (IMPP) 11- 123 II.A.1, which stated that offenders serving sentences for crimes "committed on or after January 1, 2008, and before July 1, 2012, that include only Non-drug Grid level 4 through 10 offenders and Drug Grid level 3 and 4 offenses" were entitled to program credit. Johnson argued that he was eligible for program credit under IMPP 11-123A II.A.1. because only his 2010 criminal case sentence remained active as he had served his maximum possible prison sentence for his 2006 criminal case.

The KDOC denied Johnson's program credit request because Johnson's 2006 and 2010 criminal cases were aggregated. According to the KDOC, this meant that Johnson was still serving the sentence for his 2006 criminal case. On that basis, Johnson was still serving a sentence for a crime committed before January 1, 2008, making him ineligible for program credit under IMPP 11-123A II.A.1.

Next, Johnson asked the district court for relief under K.S.A. 60-1501, repeating the same arguments he made before the KDOC. The State responded that the district court should dismiss Johnson's K.S.A. 60-1501 motion because Johnson's 2006 criminal

2 case remained active based on the sentencing court's aggregation of Johnson's sentences in his 2006 and 2010 criminal cases.

The district court agreed with the State, dismissing Johnson's K.S.A. 60-1501 motion:

"After reviewing the new pleadings and hearing argument of the parties, the Court believes petitioner's argument can be summarized as his belief that when he has served what petitioner regards as the maximum term on his 2006 case that the case should be regarded as 'inactive' on his record so that he will then be eligible for his program credit to be applied against his 2010 sentence. "Respondent attached the response of the sentence computation unit that recites that petitioner's 2006 case was aggregated with his 2010 sentence so that petitioner's entire sentence must be served rather than only the portion remaining to be served on the 2006 case sentence. "The Court then concludes that petitioner is still serving on his aggregated sentence, which makes him ineligible for program credit."

Johnson timely appealed.

Did the District Court Err by Dismissing Johnson's K.S.A. 60-1501 Motion?

Appellate courts exercise unlimited review when considering the summary dismissal of a K.S.A. 60-1501 motion. Johnson v. State, 289 Kan. 642, 649, 215 P.3d 575 (2009). To succeed on a K.S.A. 60-1501 motion, the movant must allege "shocking and intolerable conduct or continuing mistreatment of a constitutional stature." 289 Kan. at 648. "[I]f, on the face of the petition, it can be established that petitioner is not entitled to relief, or if, from undisputed facts, or from uncontrovertible facts, such as those recited in a court record, it appears, as a matter of law, no cause for granting a writ exists," then summary dismissal is proper. 289 Kan. at 648-49.

3 On appeal, Johnson continues to argue that the KDOC wrongly denied him 120 days of program credits. Based on this belief, Johnson argues that this court should reverse the dismissal of his K.S.A. 60-1501 motion and order the district court to award him 120 days of program credit. Yet, there are significant problems with Johnson's argument.

To begin with, the State correctly points out that Johnson has not complied with Kansas Supreme Court Rule 6.02(a)(4) (2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 34). Rule 6.02(a)(4) provides that an appellant's brief must include "[a] concise but complete statement, without argument, of the facts that are material to determining the issues to be decided in the appeal. The facts included in the statement must be keyed to the record on appeal by volume and page number." And when an appellant does not comply with Rule 6.02(a)(4), "[t]he court may presume that a factual statement made without a reference to volume and page number has no support in the record on appeal." 2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 35. In other words, this court presumes that an appellant's factual statement is unsupported when that appellant violates Rule 6.02(a)(4).

Here, Johnson has clearly violated Rule 6.02(a)(4). Although Johnson cites to the appendix he attached to the end of his brief, he never cites to the record on appeal. Moreover, we note that Johnson's reliance on his appendix did not relieve Johnson of his burden to cite to the record on appeal. See Rule 6.02(b) (2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 35) (stating that "[w]hen an appendix is included, the statement of the case and the brief may make references to it, but the references are supplementary—and not in lieu of—the required references to the volume and page number of the record itself."). So, we may presume that each of Johnson's factual statements are without support. To that end, Johnson has provided no evidentiary support for his argument that the district court wrongly dismissed his K.S.A. 60-1501 motion.

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Johnson v. Schnurr, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-schnurr-kanctapp-2020.