State v. McCloud

883 P.2d 775, 256 Kan. 178, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 135, 1994 WL 588383
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedOctober 28, 1994
DocketNo. 70,433
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 883 P.2d 775 (State v. McCloud) 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. McCloud, 883 P.2d 775, 256 Kan. 178, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 135, 1994 WL 588383 (kan 1994).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Davis, J.:

The defendant, Ike McCloud, was convicted of second-degree murder (K.S.A. 21-3402, a class B felony), unlawful possession of a firearm (K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4204[l][b], a class D felony), and attempted possession of cocaine (K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-3301 and K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 65-4127a, a class D felony). He was sentenced to a controlling term of 15 years to life, without probation or assignment to community corrections. His motion for modification was denied. He appeals his sentence, contending the trial court erred (1) by applying the gun statute (K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4618) to his unlawful possession of a firearm charge, (2) by failing to consider him for assignment to community corrections on the class D felonies, and (3) by failing to consider the legislative policy of K.S.A. 21-4601 and statutory factors set forth in K.S.A. 21-4606.

Shortly before 6:00 in the morning of June 29, 1992, Kansas City, Kansas, police officers responded to a 911 emergency call placed by the desk clerk of the Hallmark Inn in Kansas City, reporting a shooting involving one of the occupants of a room at the inn. Upon their arrival, officers heard shots and faced an apparent hostage situation. After nearly two hours of negotiations, the defendant surrendered. In the room with the defendant, the officers discovered the naked, dead body of a woman who had been shot in the head. In addition, police confiscated quantities of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and a semiautomatic handgun.

The defendant was charged by way of amended information; pursuant to a plea agreement he pled guilty to second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. He further pled no contest to the charge of attempted possession of cocaine.

[180]*180Sentencing was deferred pending a presentence investigation. The district attorney requested the court find 21-4618 applicable to the case. The court noted that the statute would only apply as to the charge of second-degree murder. Both counsel agreed.

The court imposed a sentence of 15 years to life for Count I, second-degree murder. As to Counts II and III, the court sentenced the defendant to a minimum term of two years and a maximum term of five years, to be served concurrent with the sentence imposed in Count I. The court noted that these three sentences would run consecutive to the sentence previously imposed for the conviction for which the defendant was on parole when he committed the current offenses. The court received, read, and considered the report from the Topeka Correctional Facility and, following a hearing, denied the defendant’s motion for modification.

(1) Application of 21-4618 to the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

In his opening remarks to counsel at the start of the sentencing hearing, the court observed: “The court further found on January the 19th that the gun statute applied as to Count I of the Amended Information [second-degree murder].” Also, when the court imposed sentence on the second-degree murder charge, it imposed the provision of 21-4618 inasmuch as a gun was used during the commission of the second-degree murder offense.

The journal entry of judgment applied 21-4618 to the second-degree murder charge and the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Both counsel agree, and this court concludes, that imposition of the gun statute on the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm was improper because unlawful possession of a firearm is not an Article 34 crime, or rape, or aggravated sodomy. Application of 21-4618 to this conviction was erroneous. However, where there exists a discrepancy between what the sentencing judge said and what the written judgment reflects, we have held that the oral sentence prevails. State v. Rice, 227 Kan. 416, 425, 607 P.2d 489 (1980). In this case, the oral sentence of the court correctly [181]*181limited application of the gun statute to the charge of second-degree murder.

In State v. Edwards, 252 Kan. 860, 852 P.2d 98 (1993), the identical situation occurred. In Edwards, the court had to vacate the defendant’s sentence for other reasons, but we acknowledged that, had this not been the case, “[ojrdinarily, this procedure [correction by deleting the same through amendment or a nunc pro tunc order] would adequately correct the error.” 252 Kan. at 871. We therefore remand for correction of the written journal entry of judgment by nunc pro tunc order reflecting the oral sentence of the court limiting application of 21-4618 to the second-degree murder conviction.

(2) Consideration of the defendant for assignment to community corrections on the class D felonies.

The defendant relies upon State v. Turner, 251 Kan. 43, 833 P.2d 921 (1992), contending that the sentence “must show that the trial court was aware of the presumptive status of community corrections and that it did consider (a) the sentencing factors, (b) individual treatment, and (c) the aggravating circumstances.” 251 Kan. 43, Syl.

In Turner, the defendant was convicted of aggravated assault (a class D felony) and sentenced to 2 to 10 years’ imprisonment. After Turner’s request for probation was denied, he appealed claiming the sentencing court had failed to consider the statutory presumption of assignment to Community corrections.

Unlike Turner, the defendant in this case was convicted not only of class D felonies but was also convicted of a class B felony, second-degree murder. His sentence for the class B felony, 15 years to life, was imposed under 21-4618, which precludes probation or assignment to community corrections. Moreover, the court in this case ordered that the sentences for the defendant’s class D felony convictions be served concurrent with the sentence imposed as to the class B felony conviction.

Under these circumstances, neither K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4606a (probation) nor K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4606b (presumptive sentence of assignment to a community correctional services pro[182]*182gram) apply. The two class D felony sentences merged into the class B felony sentence, which was correctly imposed under 21-4618. K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4618(1) provides that “probation, assignment to a community correctional services program or suspension of sentence

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

Related

State v. Curry
897 P.2d 1053 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
883 P.2d 775, 256 Kan. 178, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 135, 1994 WL 588383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mccloud-kan-1994.