State v. Thomas

46 P.3d 543, 273 Kan. 750, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 300
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 31, 2002
DocketNo. 85,174
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 46 P.3d 543 (State v. Thomas) 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. Thomas, 46 P.3d 543, 273 Kan. 750, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 300 (kan 2002).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Larson, J.:

This appeal raises the apparent first impression question of whether K.S.A. 22-2302(2) grants an absolute right to a convicted person to obtain a copy of the affidavits or sworn testimony utilized to support the probable cause for his or her arrest warrant.

Vernon P. Thomas pled guilty by agreement to two counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery, two counts of felony theft, one count of burglary, and one count of misdemeanor theft in November 1994.

The trial court did not follow the State’s recommended sentence of 15 years to life because of the traumatic impact of Thomas’ crimes on the victims and lack of mitigating factors and sentenced [751]*751him to 30 years to life followed by a 33-month consecutive sentence.

Thomas’ four previous appeals, Nos. 74,253, 77,993,82,225, and 82,426, unpublished opinions, resulted in no affirmative relief except for a remand for resentencing on one count that did not affect his controlling sentence.

In May 1999, and while one of Thomas’ previous appeals was pending, he filed a motion to compel production requesting the district court to order its clerk to send him a copy of the affidavits or sworn testimony provided to the court in support of arrest and search warrants in his case. In the motion, he stated he would send any necessary fee to the clerk for the copies. The motion made reference to a prior request by letter to the clerk wherein the request was made pursuant to K.S.A. 22-2302(2).

The trial court denied the request, stating that since Thomas’ case was currently on appeal and he was represented by counsel, “[a]ny request for documentation must be made through counsel, as counsel may have access to the requested information.”

From this ruling, Thomas has appealed.

Our standard of review of the statutory provisions applicable to this appeal were summarized in KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., Inc., 262 Kan. 635, 643-44, 941 P.2d 1321 (1997):

“ ‘Interpretation of statutes is a question of law. The function of the court is to interpret the statutes, giving the statutes the effect intended by the legislature. State ex rel. Stephan v. Kansas Racing Comm’n, 246 Kan. 708, 719, 792 P.2d 971 (1990).
“As a general rule, statutes are construed to avoid unreasonable results. Wells v. Anderson, 8 Kan. App. 2d 431, 659 P.2d 833, rev. denied 233 Kan. 1093 (1983). Thére is a presumption that the legislature does not intend to enact useless or meaningless legislation. In re Adoption of Baby Boy L., 231 Kan. 199, Syl. ¶ 7, 643 P.2d 168 (1982).” City of Olathe v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 10 Kan. App. 2d 218, 221, 696 P.2d 409 (1985).
“In order to ascertain the legislative intent, courts are not permitted to consider only a certain isolated part or parts of an act, but are required to consider and construe together all parts thereof in pari materia. ...” Kansas Commission on Civil Rights v. Howard, 218 Kan. 248, Syl. ¶ 2, 544 P.2d 791 (1975).’ ”

In dealing with criminal statutes we are instructed that:

[752]*752“[C]riminal statutes must be strictly construed in favor of the accused. Any reasonable doubt about the meaning is decided in favor of anyone subjected to the criminal statute. The rule of strict construction, however, is subordinate to the rule that judicial interpretation must be reasonable and sensible to effect legislative design and intent. [Citations omitted.]” State v. Vega-Fuentes, 264 Kan. 10, 14, 955 P.2d 1235 (1998).

And,

“[t]he rule of strict construction means that ordinary words are to be given their ordinary meaning. Such a statute should not be so read as to add that which is not readily found therein or to read out what as a matter of ordinary English language is in it.” Matjasich v. Kansas Dept. of Human Resources, 271 Kan. 246, 252, 21 P.3d 985 (2001).

The statutory provision which is in issue in this appeal appears in K.S.A. 22-2302, which reads as follows:

“(1) If the magistrate finds from the complaint, or from an affidavit or affidavits filed with the complaint or from other evidence, that there is probable cause to believe both that á crime has been committed and that the defendant has committed it, a warrant for the arrest of the defendant shall issue ....
“(2) Affidavits or sworn testimony in support of the probable cause requirement of this section shall not be made available for examination without a written order of the court, except that such affidavits or testimony when requested shall be made available to the defendant or the defendant’s counsel for such disposition as either may desire.” (Emphasis added.)

The statute is part of Article 23, relating to preliminary proceedings; however, subsection (2) was added to Article 23 nine years after its enactment. L. 1970, ch. 129, § 22-2302; L. 1979, ch. 90, sec. 8.

Thomas argues that under the specific wording of K.S.A. 22-2302(2), he has the statutory right to examine any supporting affidavits or sworn testimony applicable to the establishment of probable cause necessary for the issuance of arrest or search warrants in his case. He specifically states he is not asserting any constitutional or other discovery right to the documents.

The State counters that the statute does not apply to post-conviction requests or, in the alternative, that because Thomas was represented by counsel he did not have a personal right under the statute to the documents.

[753]*753Although the statutes in issue have been placed in Article 23 of Chapter 22, which is headed “PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS,” nothing in the statutory language limits the application of the statute to pretrial matters. If it were so limited, the restrictions relating to third parties could arguably not apply after conviction, and affidavits and sworn testimony would be available without a written court order.

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

Related

State v. Haynes
Supreme Court of Kansas, 2025
State v. Marks
298 P.3d 1102 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2013)
State v. Dugan
276 P.3d 819 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Bee
207 P.3d 244 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2009)
State v. White
67 P.3d 138 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 P.3d 543, 273 Kan. 750, 2002 Kan. LEXIS 300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thomas-kan-2002.