State v. Cameron

281 P.3d 143, 294 Kan. 884, 2012 WL 3056034, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 436
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 27, 2012
DocketNo. 103,093
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 281 P.3d 143 (State v. Cameron) 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
State v. Cameron, 281 P.3d 143, 294 Kan. 884, 2012 WL 3056034, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 436 (kan 2012).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Luckert, J.:

As required by K.S.A. 22-3717(d)(l)(G), the district court in this case sentenced Andray S. Cameron, in part, to lifetime postrelease supervision for his convictions of three counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child. On appeal, Cameron argues his sentence to lifetime postrelease supervision is a disproportionate and cruel and/or unusual punishment that violates § 9 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Cameron also argues the district court erred by not recognizing the court had the discretion to sentence him to a shorter postrelease supervision term of 24 months under a different statutory subsection, K.S.A. 22-3717(d)(1)(B).

We reject Cameron’s arguments regarding the constitutionality of his sentence, concluding the lifetime postrelease supervision sentence is not disproportionate to the seriousness of Cameron’s crime, is not grossly disproportionate to the sentences imposed for other crimes in Kansas or similar crimes in other states, and is not categorically unconstitutional. We also reject his argument that the district court had discretion to sentence him to a postrelease supervision term of 24 months, finding there is no reasonable doubt that the Kansas Legislature intended the more severe penalty of lifetime postrelease supervision must be imposed when a defendant is sentenced for a sexually violent crime. Consequently, we affirm Cameron’s sentence.

[886]*886Facts and Procedural Background

Cameron pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3511(a), a severity level 5 person felony. A person commits aggravated indecent solicitation of a child by “[e]nticing or soliciting a child under the age of 14 years to commit or to submit to an unlawful sexual act.” K.S.A. 21-3511(a).

Under the facts of this case, 45-year-old Cameron was married to the victim’s biological grandmother, making him the stepgrand-father of the 12-year-old female victim. According to the factual statement offered by the State as the basis for the plea, Cameron’s wife was “raising” the victim at the time of the incident. The State proffered that the victim told her grandmother that Cameron “put his thing up and down on her butt, soliciting her to engage in acts of an unlawful sexual nature, those acts being — act of sexual intercourse, and an act of criminal sodomy, and an act of lewd fondling of [the victim.]” The State also proffered that Cameron admitted to police that he had been drinking heavily. Cameron, after initially denying the allegations, in a second interview “confessed to waking up with an erect penis and pressing that against the back side of [the victim] and soliciting her for the sex acts described previously.” The district court accepted Cameron’s plea and found him guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent solicitation involving enticement to commit or submit to sexual intercourse, sodomy, and lewd fondling or touching.

As part of the plea agreement, it was agreed that Cameron would be sentenced to 24 months’ postrelease supervision. The district court determined, however, it could not follow the plea agreement because K.S.A. 22-3717(d)(l)(G) expressly mandates lifetime post-release supervision for sexually violent offenders; Cameron’s offense meant he fell within the mandate. The court offered Cameron the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea, but Cameron decided not to withdraw his plea and instead chose to ask that the plea agreement be enforced. Cameron also filed a motion requesting a downward departure from lifetime postrelease supervision and a motion arguing lifetime postrelease supervision was cruel [887]*887and/or unusual punishment under the Kansas Constitution and the United States Constitution. Cameron’s motion was essentially the same as that of the defendant in State v. Mossman, No. 103,111 (this day decided), who was represented by the same trial counsel.

Specifically, Cameron noted that K.S.A. 22-3717(d)(l)(G) provides that an individual convicted of a sexually violent crime committed on or after July 1, 2006, who is released from prison “shall be released to a mandatory period of postrelease supervision for the duration of the person’s natural life.” An individual sentenced to lifetime imprisonment under K.S.A. 21-4643 is excepted from this requirement. Included in the definition of sexually violent crimes is the crime of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, Cameron’s crime of conviction in all three counts in this case. See K.S.A. 22-37l7(d)(2)(G).

Mandatory lifetime postrelease supervision includes a general requirement that the person cannot commit a new criminal offense and may include several other specific “conditions targeted toward facilitating rehabilitation, restitution, and safe reintegration into society. [Citation omitted.]” State v. Gaudina, 284 Kan. 354, 359, 160 P.3d 854 (2007). These conditions may include payment of costs, fines, and restitution; completing educational requirements; performing community service; reporting to a supervising officer; and abiding by other special conditions allowed by administrative regulations and orders. K.S.A. 21-4703(p) (defining “postrelease supervision”); K.S.A. 22-3717(m) (listing possible conditions). In addition to discussing these general conditions, Cameron, in his motion, stressed the potential of life in prison if he violates his postrelease conditions by committing a new felony. See K.S.A. 75-5217(c) (“upon revocation [of postrelease supervision], the inmate shall serve the entire remaining balance of the period of postrelease supervision”). Both the restrictions that accompany lifetime post-release supervision and the potential for life in prison, Cameron argued in his motion, makes the sentence disproportionate.

At sentencing, the district court denied Cameron’s motion for a sentencing departure. In addition, citing State v. Freeman, 223 Kan. 362, 367, 574 P.2d 950 (1978), the district court rejected [888]*888Cameron’s contention that lifetime postrelease supervision is unconstitutional.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
281 P.3d 143, 294 Kan. 884, 2012 WL 3056034, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cameron-kan-2012.