State v. Miles

130 P.3d 1198, 35 Kan. App. 2d 211, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 1279
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedOctober 7, 2005
DocketNo. 93,260
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 130 P.3d 1198 (State v. Miles) 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. Miles, 130 P.3d 1198, 35 Kan. App. 2d 211, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 1279 (kanctapp 2005).

Opinion

Rulon, C.J.:

Defendant Maurice Miles appeals the sentence imposed for his conviction for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, arguing the conduct proscribed by K.S.A. 65-4159(a) is identical to the conduct proscribed by K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3). Under the reasoning of State v. McAdam, 277 Kan. 136, 83 P.3d 161 (2004), the defendant contends he should have been sentenced to the lesser of the penalties prescribed by the two statutes, a severity level 4 offense. We affirm.

[212]*212The State charged the defendant with manufacture of methamphetamine, in violation of K.S.A. 65-4159(a), or in the alternative, attempted manufacture of methamphetamine, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3301 and K.S.A. 65-4159(a); unlawful possession of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, in violation of K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 65-7006(a); and possession of drug-manufacturing paraphernalia, in violation of K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3).

Pursuant to plea negotiations, the defendant entered a plea of nolo contendere to the charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. In exchange, the State dismissed the remaining counts. Consistent with the holding of McAdam, the district court sentenced the defendant to 26 months based upon a severity level 3 drug felony conviction. The sentence was ordered to run consecutive to a Missouri sentence.

The defendant contends the district court should have sentenced him for a severity level 4 drug felony because some of the conduct proscribed in K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3) is identical to the conduct proscribed by K.S.A. 65-4159(a). Where two statutes with differing penalties proscribe identical conduct, a criminal defendant may be sentenced only to the lesser of the two penalties. See McAdam, 277 Kan. at 145-46.

Despite the defendant’s failure to raise this issue before the district court, this court possesses jurisdiction to review this sentencing claim on a direct sentencing appeal. See State v. Barnes, 278 Kan. 121, 123-24, 92 P.3d 578 (2004). The issue raised in this appeal requires this court to construe the pertinent statutes, which is a question of law subject to unlimited review. See State v. Maass, 275 Kan. 328, 330, 64 P.3d 382 (2003).

K.S.A. 65-4159(a) provides: “Except as authorized by tire uniform controlled substances act, it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture any controlled substance or controlled substance analog.” Methamphetamine is a controlled substance within the meaning of the statute. See K.S.A. 65-4150(a) and K.S.A. 65-4107(d)(3).

K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3) states: “No person shall use or possess with intent to use: . . . any drug paraphernalia to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, [213]*213process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, sell or distribute a controlled substance in violation of the uniform controlled substances act.”

“Drug paraphernalia” is statutorily defined as

“all equipment, products and materials of any land which are used or intended for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the uniform controlled substances act.” K.S.A. 65-4150(c).

K.S.A. 65-4150(c) then proceeds to list some examples of drug paraphernalia.

The fundamental rule of statutory interpretation is that the intent of the legislature, where ascertainable, governs. Pieren-Abbott v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue, 279 Kan. 83, 88, 106 P.3d 492 (2005). If the language of the statute is unambiguous, the intent of the legislature is presumably effected therein, and the appellate court need not resort to legislative histoiy or rules of construction. See State v. Campbell, 279 Kan. 1, 6, 106 P.3d 1129 (2005).

In Campbell, our Supreme Court considered the similar question of whether K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3) and K.S.A. 65-7006(a) proscribed identical conduct. The statutory definitions were important to the Campbell court’s determination that the statutes prohibited overlapping conduct which was at issue in the case. See Campbell, 279 Kan. at 16.

“The conduct prohibited by K.S.A. 65-7006(a) is a defendant’s act of knowingly possessing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine with the intent to use the product to manufacture a controlled substance. The conduct prohibited by K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3) is a defendant’s act of knowingly possessing drug paraphernalia with the intent to use it to manufacture a controlled substance. The definition of drug paraphernalia in K.S.A. 65-4150(c) includes products and materials of any land’ which are intended for use in manufacturing a controlled substance. Thus, the conduct prohibited by K.S.A. 65-4152(a)(3) may include a defendant’s act of knowingly possessing a product with the intent to use it to manufacture a controlled substance.

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Related

State v. Denny
172 P.3d 57 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2007)
State v. Malm
154 P.3d 1154 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2007)
State v. Fanning
135 P.3d 1067 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 P.3d 1198, 35 Kan. App. 2d 211, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 1279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-miles-kanctapp-2005.