State v. Luarks

360 P.3d 418, 302 Kan. 972, 2015 Kan. LEXIS 925
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedOctober 30, 2015
DocketNo. 106,643
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 360 P.3d 418 (State v. Luarks) 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. Luarks, 360 P.3d 418, 302 Kan. 972, 2015 Kan. LEXIS 925 (kan 2015).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Nuss, C.J.:

Richard Luarks raises two challenges to the district court’s calculation of his criminal history score and his resulting 172-month prison sentence. He generally contends the court erred by over-classifying all three of his pre-Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA) convictions as person felonies. And he also argues the classification as a person felony of one of those convictions— for burglary—was unconstitutional because it was based on a fact that was never proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Luarks’ arguments are controlled by our recent decisions in State v. Keel, 302 Kan. 560, 357 P.3d 251, (2015), and State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018, 350 P.3d 1054 (2015). Under Keel, we readily reject Luarks’ first argument regarding his pre-KSGA convictions for attempted rape and aggravated battery. But as for Luarks’ remaining pre-KSGA conviction for burglaiy, we agree with him. Under Dickey, its person classification was improperly based on the implicit judicial finding that he burglarized a dwelling, a fact never proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Accordingly, with only two person felony convictions attributable to Luarks instead of the three calculated by the district court, we vacate Luarks’ sentence and remand to that court for resentencing.

Facts and Procedural History

In 2011, a juiy convicted Luarks of one count of aggravated [974]*974battery. The charges arose from a July 2010 incident where Luarks stabbed his girlfriend’s neighbor at a Topeka apartment complex.

After Luarks’ conviction, court services prepared a presentence investigation report (PSI). The criminal histoiy worksheet in the PSI listed 18 prior convictions, including 3 adult person felony convictions before the KSGA became effective in 1993. See K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq.; L. 1992, ch. 239, § 1 (effective July 1, 1993). The person felonies in Luarks’ criminal histoiy worksheet are for the following convictions: (1) a 1981 conviction for attempted rape, (2) a 1986 conviction for aggravated battery, and (3) a 1981 conviction for burglaiy of a residence (collectively the “disputed convictions”). No other person felonies are contained in Luarks’ criminal history.

Based on the disputed convictions, Luarks’ criminal histoiy score was calculated as A. See K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 21-6809 (offender falls into criminal history categoiy A when offender’s criminal history includes three or more adult convictions or juvenile adjudications for person felonies, in any combination). At sentencing, Luarks did not object to his criminal history score, and the district court found it was correct and uncontroverted. Based in part on this finding, the court sentenced him to 172 months’ imprisonment.

A panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed Luarks’ convictions and sentence. State v. Luarks, No. 106,643, 2012 WL 6634395 (Kan. App. 2012) (unpublished opinion). Relevant to this appeal, the panel concluded there was no error in classifying the disputed convictions as person felonies, and consequently, it approved his criminal history score. 2012 WL 6634395, at *9.

This court granted Luarks’ petition for review under K.S.A. 20-3018(b), obtaining jurisdiction under K.S.A. 60-2101(b).

Analysis

Before proceeding to the merits of Luarks’ arguments, we must first determine whether they are preserved for appellate review. Luarks did not object at sentencing to his criminal histoiy score. So the State contends this failure precludes appellate review of Luarks’ constitutional argument, although it apparently concedes we may consider his statutory argument.

[975]*975Without addressing the State’s unexplained distinction between Luarks’ arguments, we conclude both issues are properly subject to our review. In Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1027, as here, the defendant failed to object at sentencing to his criminal history or the classification of the prior convictions on which it was based. While his direct appeal was pending, Dickey challenged the person classification of a prior juvenile burglary adjudication by filing a motion to correct illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1).

In addressing whether Dickey’s failure to object precluded appellate consideration of his motion, we concluded a defendant’s failure to object to “how [prior] convictions should be classified or counted as a matter of law for tire purpose of determining the defendant’s criminal history score will not prevent a subsequent challenge under K.S.A. 22-3504(1).” 301 Kan. at 1032. We based this conclusion on the language in K.S.A. 22-3504(1) authorizing a court to “correct an illegal sentence at any time,” noting such challenges necessarily raise a claim that the current sentence is illegal because it does not comply with tire applicable statutory provision regarding the term of punishment authorized. 301 Kan. at 1034.

Dickey’s rationale permits our consideration of Luarks’ arguments. Although Luarks has not filed a motion to correct illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1), the substance of his arguments is that the district court imposed an illegal sentence—i.e., one that does not comply with the applicable statutory provision regarding the term of punishment authorized—because the court misclassified several prior convictions. See 301 Kan. at 1034. We have statutory authority to consider illegal sentence issues for the first time on appeal. See K.S.A. 22-3504(1); Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1034.

Issue: The district court did not err by classifying Luarks’ convictions for attempted rape and aggravated battery as person felonies under KS.A. 2014 Supp. 21-6810(d)(6); but it did err by classifying his conviction for burglary as a person felony under KS.A. 2014 Supp. 21-6811(d).

Luarks first asserts the district court erred by classifying the disputed convictions as person felonies under K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 21-6810(d)(6). It provides that “unclassified felonies . . . shall be con[976]

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Bluebook (online)
360 P.3d 418, 302 Kan. 972, 2015 Kan. LEXIS 925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-luarks-kan-2015.