State v. Kingsley

326 P.3d 1083, 299 Kan. 896, 2014 WL 2619912, 2014 Kan. LEXIS 282
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 13, 2014
DocketNo. 108,849
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 326 P.3d 1083 (State v. Kingsley) 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. Kingsley, 326 P.3d 1083, 299 Kan. 896, 2014 WL 2619912, 2014 Kan. LEXIS 282 (kan 2014).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Luckert, J.:

Alan W. Kingsley appeals from a summary denial of his pro se motion for relief from his first-degree murder conviction, which he filed pursuant to K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-260(b)(4), K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-260(b)(6), and K.S.A. 60-2606. The district court summarily denied Kingsley’s motion, concluding his claims are foreclosed under the doctrine of res judicata. We affirm that ruling and also hold that relief from a criminal conviction cannot be obtained pursuant to K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-260(b) or K.S.A. 60-2606.

Facts and Procedural Background

In 1991, a jury convicted Alan W. Kingsley of premeditated first-degree murder, in violation of K.S.A. 1990 Supp. 21-3401(a); aggravated robbery, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3427 (Weeks 1988); aggravated arson, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3719 (Weeks 1988); and forgery, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3710(b) (Weeks 1988). The sen[897]*897tencing court imposed three consecutive life sentences—a term of 15 years to life for aggravated robbery, life without parole for 40 years for premeditated murder, and another term of 15 years to life for aggravated arson. (This conviction was later reversed and remanded on direct appeal, reduced to a charge of arson, and re-sentenced to a term of 5 to 20 years, to run concurrent with his other sentences.) A sentence of 1 to 5 years for forgery was run concurrent with the other sentences.

During the jury trial, the court instructed the jury by giving the pattern premeditated murder instruction, PIK Crim. 2d 56.01. As it relates to Kingsley’s current arguments, the pertinent portion of the instruction stated: “Deliberately and with premeditation means to have thought over the matter beforehand.” After having received that instruction, Kingsley’s jury, while deliberating, asked for clarification of the time frame required for premeditation. The trial court further instructed: “Premeditation under the law does not require any specific time frame. Please review instruction No. 5,” which was PIK Crim. 2d 56.01. On direct appeal, Kingsley argued the judge’s response to the jury’s question, which incorporated the language about which Kingsley now complains, was erroneous. This court rejected Kingsley’s argument, citing State v. Patterson, 243 Kan. 262, 268-69, 755 P.2d 551 (1988), in which this court found the same instruction “ ‘correctly stat[ed] the law.’ ” State v. Kingsley, 252 Kan. 761, 770-72, 851 P.2d 370 (1993).

In another issue raised by Kingsley in his direct appeal, he argued his mandatory hard 40 life sentence should be vacated because the jury’s verdict on premeditated first-degree murder was not unanimous. The trial court had instructed the jury that Kingsley was charged in Count One with murder in the first degree, which required proof that the killing was done with premeditation. In addition, the court instructed that Kingsley was charged in Count Two with felony murder in the first degree, which required proof that the killing was done while in the commission of aggravated robbery. 252 Kan. at 785. Further, the trial court told the jury that its “agreement upon a verdict must be unanimous.” 252 Kan. at 786. The court gave the juiy two verdict forms—one for premeditated first-degree murder and another for first-degree felony mur[898]*898der. The jury indicated on each verdict form that it was unanimous in finding Kingsley guilty on the respective counts, thus indicating a unanimous finding of guilt on both premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree felony murder. Because the verdict form made it clear the jury was unanimous in finding Kingsley guilty of premeditated first-degree murder, this court rejected Kingsley’s argument and concluded he could be sentenced to a hard 40 life sentence for that conviction. 252 Kan. at 784-87.

After that appeal, Kingsley brought several collateral attacks on his convictions and sentences, all of which have been unsuccessful. See Kingsley v. McKune, 191 Fed. Appx. 748 (10th Cir. 2006) (unpublished opinion); State v. Kingsley, No. 96,059, 2007 WL 570298 (Kan. App.) (unpublished opinion), rev. denied 284 Kan. 949 (2007); Kingsley v. State, No. 90,133, 2004 WL 719260 (Kan. App.) (unpublished opinion), rev. denied 278 Kan. 846 (2004).

In the current case, Kingsley filed a pro se “Motion for Relief from Judgment” and accompanying memorandum of law in 2012, which was more than 19 years after the entry of the final order in his direct appeal. In the motion, Kingsley cited K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-260(b)(4), K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-260(b)(6), and K.S.A. 60-2606 as the procedural statutes entitling him to relief from his first-degree murder conviction and sentence. He asserted two substantive reasons his first-degree murder conviction should be reversed and his hard 40 sentence should be set aside. First, he claimed the trial court had “constructively amended the complaint and usurped legislative authority to define crimes when it instructed the jury that 'deliberately and with premeditation’ means to have thought over the matter beforehand as elements of first degree murder.” Second, he argued it was error to instruct the juiy on both premeditated murder and felony murder. On appeal, Kingsley’s counsel summarizes Kingsley’s second pro se argument on this point as a request for “relief from the Hard 40 Sentence, as it is not clear whether the Jury unanimously found him guilty of First Degree Premeditated Murder.”

In the district court, the State filed a response to Kingsley’s pro se motion, noting that Kingsley had raised the same issues in his direct appeal. Citing State v. Neer, 247 Kan. 137, 140-41, 795 P.2d [899]*899362 (1990), the State argued Kingsley s motion for relief from judgment was barred by the doctrine of res judicata. The district court adopted the State’s response as its findings of fact and conclusions of law and summarily denied the motion without appointing counsel or conducting a hearing. Kingsley filed a timely notice of appeal, and counsel was appointed to represent him. This court has jurisdiction under K.S.A. 2012 Supp.

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

Related

Sheppard v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2026
State v. Collins
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2026
State v. Goodpasture
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
Hernandez v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
Johnson v. Zmuda
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
State v. Reynolds
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
State v. Taylor
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2024
Stewart v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2024
Quinn v. State
537 P.3d 94 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2023)
In the Matter of Pretz
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2023
State v. Ward
522 P.3d 337 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022)
Baskin v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022
Quinn v. State
522 P.3d 282 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022)
State v. Masterson
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022
Goodpasture v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022
State v. Gleason
505 P.3d 753 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2022)
Landers v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022
State v. Tyler
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2022
Blacklock v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021
Harris v. State
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
326 P.3d 1083, 299 Kan. 896, 2014 WL 2619912, 2014 Kan. LEXIS 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kingsley-kan-2014.