State v. Brown

80 P.3d 404, 32 Kan. App. 2d 24, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 1053
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMay 16, 2003
DocketNo. 89,046
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 80 P.3d 404 (State v. Brown) 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
State v. Brown, 80 P.3d 404, 32 Kan. App. 2d 24, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 1053 (kanctapp 2003).

Opinion

Pierron, J.:

Marcus T. Brown appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3504. We affirm.

While serving sentences for burglary' and obstructing legal process, Brown escaped from the work release unit at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility on July 18, 2000. A day later, he turned himself in to authorities.

On September 12, 2000, Brown pled no contest to attempted aggravated escape from custody. The charging information did not include either of the crimes for which Brown was in custody at the time of his escape. Brown’s criminal history included four nonperson felonies and four misdemeanors, which equated to a criminal history score of E. Brown objected to his criminal history, but this was overruled.

On May 20, 2002, Brown filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3504. A hearing was held May 24, 2002; Brown’s motion was denied.

[25]*25Brown argues that his criminal history score was incorrectly determined to be E because his prior convictions should not have been included in his criminal history score pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(ll). Specifically, Brown contends his prior crimes could not be included in his criminal history score because they are elements of attempted aggravated escape from custody.

This issue involves interpretation of the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act, K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq., and this court’s review is unlimited. State v. Bolin, 266 Kan. 18, 24, 968 P.2d 1104 (1998).

“Criminal statutes must be strictly construed in favor of the accused. Any reasonable doubt about the meaning is decided in favor of anyone subjected to the criminal statute.' The rule of strict construction, however, is subordinate to the rule that judicial interpretation must be reasonable and sensible to effect legislative design and intent. [Citation omitted.]” State v. McGill, 271 Kan. 150, 154, 22 P.3d 597 (2001).

Central to the analysis of this issue is the statutory subsection under which Brown was convicted. Both the complaint and journal entry of conviction indicated that Brown was charged and convicted under K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810 but provided no section or subsection. However, a close inspection of die record strongly suggests that Brown was convicted under K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(a)(7). This was verified by Brown in his brief.

Brown’s presentence investigation (PSI) report lists the violated statute as K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(a)(2) and (7). K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(a)(2) does not appear appropriate because that section pertains only to individuals in custody due to juvenile charges or adjudications. The crimes for which Brown was incarcerated at the time of his escape were adult nonperson felonies.

Also, severity level 7 was indicated on the complaint, journal entry, and PSI report for the attempted escape charge. Because Brown was convicted of attempted aggravated escape, the severity level of his crime of conviction was required to be lowered two levels from that indicated for the completed crime. K.S.A. 21-3301(c). The only subsections for which a severity level 5 is indicated are (a)(2), (a)(7), (b)(2), and (b)(7). K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(c)(2), (4). K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(b) does not pertain to the present case, as it requires tire use or threat of violence to [26]*26effectuate escape, which is not indicated within the record. As mentioned, subsection (a)(2) also does not apply. Finally, subsection (a)(7) requires that the escapee be incarcerated at an institution listed under K.S.A. 75-5202. Hutchinson Correctional Facility satisfies this requirement. Hence, it is reasonable to conclude Brown was convicted under K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810(a)(7).

K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-3810 provides: “Aggravated escape from custody is: (a) Escaping while held in lawful custody . . . (7) upon incarceration at a state correctional institution as defined in K.S.A. 75-5202 and amendments thereto, while in the custody of the secretary of corrections.”

K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(ll) provides:

“Prior convictions of any crime shall not be counted in determining the criminal history category if they enhance the severity level or applicable penalties, elevate the classification from misdemeanor to felony, or are elements of the present crime of conviction. Except as otherwise provided, all other prior convictions will be considered and scored.” (Emphasis added.)

In support of his argument, Brown cites State v. Taylor, 262 Kan. 471, 939 P.2d 904 (1997). Although Taylor is helpful in the disposition of the present case, it does not appear to be controlling. Taylor was charged with aggravated escape from custody under K.S.A. 21-3810(a). The Taylor court held that all charges listed in the information for the new crime used to fulfill the element of “in lawful custody” could not be used to enhance a defendant’s criminal history pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(ll), but that all other crimes could, and in fact should, be used to compute the criminal history score under that same statute. 262 Kan. at 479-80.

The key to the rationale in Taylor appears to be a portion of the aggravated escape statute that does not pertain to the present case due to amendment. At the time of Taylor, K.S.A. 21-3810(a) required, inter alia, that the escapee be “in lawful custody

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Related

State v. Thacker
292 P.3d 342 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2013)
State v. Perez-Moran
80 P.3d 361 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 P.3d 404, 32 Kan. App. 2d 24, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 1053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-brown-kanctapp-2003.