State v. Cogburn

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedApril 28, 2017
Docket115855
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Cogburn (State v. Cogburn) 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. Cogburn, (kanctapp 2017).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

Nos. 115,855 115,856

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,

v.

KEVIN A. COGBURN, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Wyandotte District Court; BILL L. KLAPPER, judge. Opinion filed April 28, 2017. Sentence vacated and case remanded with directions.

Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Sheryl L. Lidtke, chief deputy district attorney, Jerome A. Gorman, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before STANDRIDGE, P.J., MCANANY, J., and HEBERT, S.J.

Per Curiam: Kevin A. Cogburn appeals the district court's classification of his two 2011 Missouri burglary convictions as person felonies for purposes of scoring his criminal history. We find the district court's classification violated Cogburn's constitutional rights under Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 2276, 186 L. Ed. 2d 438 (2013), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), as applied by our state in State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018, 350 P.3d

1 1054 (2015). Accordingly, we vacate the sentence imposed and remand to the district court for resentencing.

FACTS

On February 3, 2016, Cogburn pled guilty in two criminal cases, which have been consolidated for appeal. In 15CR35, Cogburn pled guilty to attempted theft and possession of methamphetamine. In 15CR96, Cogburn pled guilty to aggravated battery.

A presentence investigation (PSI) report was prepared before sentencing. In 15CR96, the PSI indicated that Cogburn's criminal history score was B based on two prior 2011 second-degree burglary convictions in Missouri, both of which were classified as person felonies by the author of the PSI report. In 15CR35, the PSI report indicated that Cogburn's criminal history score was A based on three prior person felonies: the aggravated battery conviction in 15CR96 and the two prior 2011 second-degree burglary convictions in Missouri, both of which—again—were classified as person felonies by the author of the PSI report.

Before sentencing, Cogburn filed a written objection to the classification of his two prior Missouri burglary convictions as person offenses for purposes of scoring criminal history. At the sentencing hearing, the State argued the Missouri burglary convictions were properly classified as person offenses. In support of its argument, the State attached documents from the underlying Missouri convictions to establish that they were burglaries of inhabitable structures comparable to a dwelling under the Kansas burglary statute. After reviewing the documents submitted by the State and considering the arguments from both counsel, the court overruled Cogburn's objection.

2 ANALYSIS

Cogburn's only contention on appeal is that the district court erred in classifying his two 2011 Missouri burglary convictions as a person offenses. Whether a district court properly classified a defendant's prior burglary conviction as a person crime for purposes of scoring criminal history is a question of law over which an appellate court has unlimited review. See State v. Luarks, 302 Kan. 972, 976, 360 P.3d 418 (2015); State v. Taylor, 299 Kan. 5, 8, 319 P.3d 1256 (2014). We begin our analysis with the revised Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6801 et seq., which sets forth the procedure for classifying prior convictions to score criminal history.

K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e) governs the classification of prior out-of-state convictions like the one here. Under that subsection, the court first must determine whether the prior conviction is a misdemeanor or a felony based on the law of the state where the defendant was convicted. K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e)(2). In this case, the sentencing court properly classified Cogburn's prior convictions as felonies for purposes of scoring criminal history because Missouri treated the prior convictions as felonies. See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 569.170 (2000). Next, the court must determine whether to classify the prior out-of-state convictions as person or nonperson offenses. The court makes this determination by looking to see whether Kansas had a comparable offense at the time the defendant committed the current crime of conviction. K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3); State v. Keel, 302 Kan. 560, 590, 357 P.3d 251 (2015), cert. denied 136 S. Ct. 865 (2016). If there is no comparable offense in Kansas at the time the defendant committed the current crime of conviction, the out-of-state convictions are classified as nonperson offenses. K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3). If Kansas does have a comparable offense at the time the defendant committed the current crime of conviction, the court must refer to that comparable offense in Kansas in deciding whether to classify the prior out-of-state convictions as person or nonperson offenses. K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3).

3 To determine whether a Kansas statute is comparable to an out-of-state conviction, "'the offenses need only be comparable, not identical.'" State v. Williams, 299 Kan. 870, 873, 326 P.3d 1070 (2014) (quoting State v. Vandervort, 276 Kan. 164, 179, 72 P.3d 925 [2003], overruled on other grounds by State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018, 1032, 350 P.3d 1054 [2015]). Instead of identical, a comparable crime is one that is "'similar in nature and cover[s] a similar type of criminal conduct.'" State v. Riolo, 50 Kan. App. 2d 351, 353, 330 P.3d 1120 (2014) (quoting State v. Barajas, 43 Kan. App. 2d 639, 643, 230 P.3d 784 [2010]), rev. denied 302 Kan. 1019 (2015). Thus, K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6811(e) allows the sentencing court to classify prior out-of-state convictions as person felonies in scoring criminal history if the out-of-state offenses are similar in nature and cover a type of criminal conduct similar to a Kansas offense that is classified as a person felony. If the current comparable offense under the Kansas Criminal Code criminalizes some conduct as a person offense and other conduct as a nonperson offense, however, both the Kansas and United States Constitutions require further analysis to determine the propriety of classifying a prior out-of-state conviction as a person offense for purposes of scoring criminal history under K.S.A.

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

Related

Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Descamps v. United States
133 S. Ct. 2276 (Supreme Court, 2013)
State v. Urban
239 P.3d 837 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)
State v. Vandervort
72 P.3d 925 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2003)
State v. Barajas
230 P.3d 784 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2010)
Mathis v. United States
579 U.S. 500 (Supreme Court, 2016)
State v. Moore
377 P.3d 1162 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2016)
United States v. Trevon Sykes
844 F.3d 712 (Eighth Circuit, 2016)
Uhlmann v. Richardson
287 P.3d 287 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Riolo
330 P.3d 1120 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2014)
Scaife v. State
350 P.3d 1 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2015)
United States v. Rockwell
207 F. Supp. 3d 915 (W.D. Arkansas, 2016)
Henderson v. United States
207 F. Supp. 3d 1047 (W.D. Missouri, 2016)
Taylor v. United States
223 F. Supp. 3d 912 (E.D. Missouri, 2016)
State v. Brown
284 P.3d 977 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Taylor
319 P.3d 1256 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Williams
326 P.3d 1070 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Dickey
350 P.3d 1054 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Keel
357 P.3d 251 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Luarks
360 P.3d 418 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Cogburn, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cogburn-kanctapp-2017.