State v. Spencer

70 P.3d 1226, 31 Kan. App. 2d 681
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJune 20, 2003
Docket88,924
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 70 P.3d 1226 (State v. Spencer) 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. Spencer, 70 P.3d 1226, 31 Kan. App. 2d 681 (kanctapp 2003).

Opinion

Larson, J.:

We determine in this appeal if Tadisha Yong Spencer’s constitutional rights were violated when her invoking of her Fifth Amendment rights in the preparation of the risk needs assessment of the presentencing investigation (PSI) report resulted in her being placed on probation with community corrections rather than probation with court services.

We find no constitutional violation and affirm the trial court.

Spencer was charged with one count of criminal use of a financial card in September 2001. As the result of plea negotiations, tire charge was reduced to attempted criminal use of a financial card, a severity level 10 felony. The parties agreed to recommend the low grid box imprisonment term and probation with court services. The court accepted tire plea and found Spencer guilty.

Spencer’s criminal history score was “H,” and an offense severity level of 10 was presumptive probation, with an underlying sentencing range of 5-6-7 months. At the sentencing, the court imposed a 5-month sentence but noted Spencer had made no statement in the PSI report and had declined to participate in the required risk needs assessment by invoking her rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The court stated:

“Well, when the defendant declines to participate with the risk needs assessment, thereby putting us in a position where we don’t have a valid risk needs assessment that can be completed the court scores that high . . . .”
“. . . She has the right to decline the information. . . . We’re not going to score lower by default. That results in a low risk needs assessment score by eveiy defendant that comes before the Court, unless the criminal history score is— independently, automatically would create a high score.”
“. . . Under these circumstances, she has to be scored high because otherwise the whole risk needs process loses even die last shred of credibility and liability.”

The court placed Spencer on probation with community corrections intensive supervision, stating that if she did well she could be transferred to standard probation.

Spencer appeals, contending the trial court erred in placing her on community corrections probation instead of court services probation because it used her exercise of her Fifth Amendment priv *683 ilege against self-incrimination during the PSI preparation process as a basis for its actions.

The State counters by arguing Spencer may not complain about the conditions of her probation, the appellate court has no jurisdiction to review a presumptive sentence, and the United States Supreme Court case relied on by Spencer, Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314, 143 L. Ed. 2d 424, 119 S. Ct. 1307 (1999), related to the length of a drug sentence, which is not in issue in our case.

It is true that we have no jurisdiction to consider an appeal from a presumptive sentence, K.S.A. 21-4721(c)(1); Sta6te v. Flores, 268 Kan. 657, 659, 999 P.2d 919 (2000), but the issue raised relates to a constitutional violation in determining the terms and conditions of the probation granted.

In discussing probation in State v. Windom, 23 Kan. App. 2d 429, 432, 932 P.2d 1019, rev. denied 262 Kan. 969 (1997), we said:

“Kansas courts have consistently recognized that probation is a privilege granted by the sentencing court and the court has broad power and authority in imposing conditions of probation so long as such conditions do not violate statutory law or constitute an abuse of discretion by the court. See State v. Walbridge, 248 Kan. 65, 68, 805 P.2d 15 (1991). The court in State v. Starbuck, 239 Kan. 132, 133, 715 P.2d 1291 (1986), stated: ‘Probation from serving a sentence is an act of grace by the sentencing judge and is granted as a privilege, not as a matter of right. The judge, when granting probation, has broad powers to impose conditions designed to serve the accused and the community.’
“Although the imposition of the KSGA [Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act] has curbed the district court’s discretion in awarding prison or nonimprisonment sentences, if probation is granted, the district court’s discretion in imposing conditions along with the probation has remained the same. See K.S.A. 21-4610(c).”

The specific language of K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 21-4610(c) authorizes the trial court to assign a defendant granted probation to a community correctional services program, as was done in this case. There is no question the trial court was within its discretion in determining the conditions to impose on Spencer for her probation.

Spencer does not counter either of the above contentions of the State but centers her appeal on the contention that her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated because *684 the trial court used her silence during the PSI report preparation to grade her risk needs assessment as being high, resulting in the imposition of more stringent conditions to her probation.

Spencer s reliance on Mitchell, 526 U.S. 314, to compel her to be placed on court services probation is misplaced. Mitchell pled guilty to distributing cocaine but reserved the right to contest the drug quantity at sentencing. She had been informed she faced a mandatory 1-year minimum in prison for distributing cocaine but a 10-year minimum for conspiracy if the government could show she distributed over the required 5 kilograms.

At the sentencing hearing, codefendants testified to regular sales by Mitchell that exceeded the 5 kilogram threshold and another witness testified that she had sold her 2 ounces of cocaine. Mitchell put on no evidence and argued the only reliable evidence showed she had sold only 2 ounces of cocaine.

The federal district court ruled, as the result of her plea, that Mitchell had no right to remain silent about the crime’s detail, found the codefendants’ testimony put her over the 5 kilogram threshold thus mandating the 10-year minimum sentence, and noted Mitchell’s failure to testify was a factor in persuading the court to rely on the codefendants’ testimony. After being affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court reversed. 526 U.S. at 321.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 P.3d 1226, 31 Kan. App. 2d 681, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-spencer-kanctapp-2003.