Quinn v. State

522 P.3d 282
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedNovember 23, 2022
Docket124674
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 522 P.3d 282 (Quinn v. State) 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
Quinn v. State, 522 P.3d 282 (kanctapp 2022).

Opinion

CORRECTED OPINION1

No. 124,674

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

ROBERT QUINN, Appellant,

v.

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee.

1. The date the clerk of the appellate court issues the mandate in a case, which the court can shorten or extend at the court's discretion, is not tethered to the date the action is final for purposes of filing a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion.

2. The time frame for filing a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion runs from the date of the decision denying review, not the date the clerk of the appellate courts issues the mandate.

3. The date of the mandate issued by the clerk of the appellate courts does not change if a corrected mandate is subsequently filed.

4. A prisoner has no right to appointed counsel to help the prisoner file a K.S.A. 60- 1507 motion.

1 REPORTER'S NOTE: Quinn v. State, No.124,674, was corrected by adding additional language on pages 6-7 and amending language on page 10. 1 5. The doctrine of res judicata applies to a K.S.A. 60-1507 movant who seeks to raise issues which have previously been resolved by a final appellate court order in their criminal case.

Appeal from Wyandotte District Court; AARON T. ROBERTS, judge. Opinion filed November 23, 2022. Affirmed.

Rosie M. Quinn, of Rosie M. Quinn Attorney LLC, of Kansas City, for appellant.

Kayla Roehler, deputy district attorney, Mark A. Dupree Sr., district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before ARNOLD-BURGER, C.J., BRUNS and HURST, JJ.

ARNOLD-BURGER, C.J.: Robert Quinn appeals the summary denial of his claim for relief under K.S.A. 60-1507 as well as the court's failure to appoint an attorney to represent him. Because we find that Quinn was not entitled to an attorney to help him file a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion and because Quinn's motion is both untimely and barred by res judicata, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A jury convicted Quinn of rape in 2011. He appealed and this court affirmed his conviction. State v. Quinn, No. 109,321, 2015 WL 423653 (Kan. App. 2015) (unpublished opinion). In his direct appeal, he argued that the district court erred in denying him a new trial based on the ineffectiveness of his trial counsel, Charles Lamb. The district court held an evidentiary hearing on his claim of Lamb's ineffectiveness in which several witnesses including himself and Lamb testified. The court issued detailed findings in denying his motion. On appeal this court agreed that Quinn had failed to

2 establish that Lamb's representation was ineffective and affirmed his conviction. 2015 WL 423653, at *11. The clerk of the appellate courts issued the mandate in August 2015 after his petition for review was denied by the Supreme Court.

Over five years later, in January 2021, Quinn filed his only motion under K.S.A. 60-1507 alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and the "victim lied." In detailing his claim against Lamb he wrote, "He didn't request lie detector test. He didn't question her on her supposed rape." As to the veracity of the victim, he claimed "[s]he lied about using drugs that night" and "[s]he lied when she said I ripped her clothes." He asked that the court appoint a lawyer for him. Quinn did not make these specific claims about Lamb in his direct appeal although he made many others. The court denied the request and summarily denied his motion as untimely in September 2021. Quinn filed a timely notice of appeal in November 2021.

In March 2022, Quinn's appellate counsel filed a motion with the clerk of the appellate courts to recall the mandate it had issued in August 2015. She argued that the mandate did not adhere to the usual and customary procedures of mandates because it did not recite the denial of the petition for review by the Supreme Court or the date of it, did not have the seal of the court affixed to it, and the copy of the decision was not certified. This court granted the motion and issued a corrected mandate on April 19, 2022.

ANALYSIS

I. QUINN'S 60-1507 MOTION WAS UNTIMELY

Prisoners must file motions under K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 60-1507(f) for postconviction relief within one year of "[t]he final order of the last appellate court in this state to exercise jurisdiction on a direct appeal or the termination of such appellate jurisdiction." Here, the Kansas Supreme Court denied Quinn's petition for review in his

3 direct appeal on August 20, 2015. The clerk of the appellate courts issued the mandate August 25, 2015. Nothing else was filed by Quinn, such as a motion of rehearing or modification or a notice of intent to file a petition for a writ of certiorari. Quinn was therefore required to file any motion under K.S.A. 60-1507 no later than August 2016. His motion was not filed until January 2021, over four years after the statutory deadline.

Quinn argues, for the first time on appeal, that his K.S.A. 60-1507 motion was not untimely because the one-year time limit did not start until the filing of the corrected mandate in April 2022.

Generally, parties cannot raise issues on appeal that they did not raise before the trial court. See State v. Kelly, 298 Kan. 965, 971, 318 P.3d 987 (2014). There are a few exceptions to this rule that may be invoked at the discretion of the appellate court. State v. Gray, 311 Kan. 164, 170, 459 P.3d 165 (2020) (holding that the decision to review an unpreserved claim under an exception is a prudential one—even if one of these exceptions would support a decision to review a new claim, the appellate court need not do so). Quinn invokes such an exception here. He argues that it is a question of law that should determine this case.

Since the answer is clear in our existing caselaw and does not require any fact- finding by the district court, we elect to address Quinn's new claim.

a. Our standard of review is de novo.

Interpretation of an appellate court mandate and its effect is a question of law subject to de novo review. State v. Morningstar, 299 Kan. 1236, 1240-41, 329 P.3d 1093 (2014). Likewise, to the extent that our analysis requires statutory interpretation, our review is de novo. State v. Alvarez, 309 Kan. 203, 205, 432 P.3d 1015 (2019). And

4 finally, the interpretation of a Supreme Court rule, like interpreting a statute, is a question of law. Kansas Judicial Review v. Stout, 287 Kan. 450, 459, 196 P.3d 1162 (2008).

The most fundamental rule of statutory construction is that the intent of the Legislature governs if that intent can be established.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Quinn v. State
537 P.3d 94 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2023)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 P.3d 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinn-v-state-kanctapp-2022.