State v. Wheeler

949 P.2d 634, 24 Kan. App. 2d 616, 1997 Kan. App. LEXIS 192
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedDecember 12, 1997
Docket76,882
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 949 P.2d 634 (State v. Wheeler) 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. Wheeler, 949 P.2d 634, 24 Kan. App. 2d 616, 1997 Kan. App. LEXIS 192 (kanctapp 1997).

Opinion

PlERRON, J.:

Lawrence L. Wheeler appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for jail time credit. He requests credit for time spent in custody in Johnson County on a charge of indecent solicitation of a child which was dismissed prior to his being transferred to Sedgwick County to face multiple charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Wheeler was charged in Johnson County with the indecent solicitation of J.M., a 10-year-old boy. The charge alleged that Wheeler, while in Sedgwick County, sent a letter to J.M. in Johnson County soliciting sexual acts. J.M. received the letter on August 31, 1993. Wheeler was arrested and held in Johnson County from January 9, 1995, to July 26, 1995, on that charge.

In Sedgwick County, Wheeler was charged with multiple counts of aggravated indecent liberties with J.M. Wheeler also faced charges of burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and theft in another Sedgwick County case. The indecent liberties charges were not filed in Sedgwick County until June 6,1995. Wheeler was *617 arrested for these charges in the Johnson County jail on July 27, 1995. He remained in the Johnson County jail until transported and arraigned in Sedgwick County on July 28, 1995.

Wheeler pled guilty to all the Sedgwick County charges. On the four counts of aggravated indecent liberties, the district court sentenced Wheeler to concurrent terms of 51 months’ imprisonment. Wheeler filed a motion for additional credit for time served while in the Johnson County jail. The court granted Wheeler 2 days’ jail time credit for the time he spent in the Johnson County jail on the Sedgwick County charges. However, the court denied any jail time credit for the time Wheeler was held in Johnson County on the charge of indecent solicitation of a child.

Wheeler argues the district court erred in denying his motion for jail time credit for the 200 days he spent in the Johnson County jail before his transfer to Sedgwick County.

Pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4614, a sentencing court is required to give a defendant credit for time spent in jail pending the disposition of the defendant’s case. See State v. Babcock, 226 Kan. 356, 363, 597 P.2d 1117 (1979) (the legislature has required credit for jail time, and no discretion is granted to the court in allowing same); Payton v. State, 22 Kan. App. 2d 843, Syl. ¶ 2,923 P.2d 1059 (1996) (inmate has statutory right to receive jail time credit). Interpretation of K.S.A. 21-4614 is a question of law, and our review is unlimited. See State v. Robinson, 261 Kan. 865, Syl. ¶ 1, 934 P.2d 38 (1997).

K.S.A. 21-4614 provides:

“In any criminal action in which the defendant is convicted upon a plea of guilty or trial by court or jury or upon completion of an appeal, the judge, if he or she sentences the defendant to confinement, shall direct that for the purpose of computing defendant’s sentence and his or her parole eligibility and conditional release dates thereunder, that such sentence is to be computed from a date, to be specifically designated by the court in the sentencing order of the journal entry of judgment or the judgment form, whichever is delivered with the defendant to the correctional institution, such date shall be established to reflect and shall be computed as an allowance for the time which the defendant has spent incarcerated pending the disposition of the defendant’s case.”

Kansas courts interpreting K.S.A. 21-4614 have specifically held that jail time credit is earned only for the time spent in jail solely *618 on account of the offenses for which the defendant is being sentenced. See State v. Calderon, 233 Kan. 87, Syl. ¶ 8, 661 P.2d 781 (1983); Campbell v. State, 223 Kan. 528, Syl. ¶¶ 1, 2, 575 P.2d 524 (1978); State v. Jenkins, 10 Kan. App. 2d 8, Syl. ¶ 1, 690 P.2d 396 (1984).

There does not appear to be a Kansas case on point, and neither party has cited a case with a similar factual scenario to our situation. In his brief, Wheeler relies on Brodie v. State, 1 Kan. App. 2d 540, 571 P.2d 53 (1977), as supporting authority. Brodie appears to contradict Wheeler’s position. Brodie escaped from prison after being convicted of second-degree murder. The time line of the case is as follows:

• ' 1/ 3/74 — Brodie escaped from custody

• 3/19/74 — Brodie reapprehended

• 5/31/74 — Brodie extradited to California to face murder charges

• 7/31/74 — California murder charges dismissed without prejudice

• 8/26/74 — California refiles murder charges

• 12/18/75 — California murder charges dismissed for lack of prosecution

• 4/14/76 — Brodie returned to Kansas and Kansas State Penitentiary

Brodie argued he was entitled to jail time credit against his Kansas conviction of second-degree murder, and on the subsequent conviction for escape, for the time he was in custody in the California jail (5/31/74 - 4/14/76). The district court denied Brodie’s request because he had escaped from prison. This court held that Brodie was not entitled to credit on his second-degree murder conviction since his confinement in California was the result of the California murder charges or the Kansas escape charge. The Brodie court remanded the case to the district court for a determination, among other things, of whether Brodie was held during the periods of 7/31/74 - 8/26/74 and 12/18/75 - 4/14/76 solely on his sentence for escape. If so, he was entitled to credit for that time on the escape charge only. 1 Kan. App. 2d at 541-43.

*619 The court did not grant credit for the period of approximately 18 months during which Brodie was involved with the California murder proceedings. Brodie did not get jail time credit because he was being prosecuted for the California murders, even though those charges were later dismissed.

In Wheeler’s case, the Sedgwick County charges of indecent liberties were not filed until June 6, 1995, and Wheeler was not arrested on those charges until July 27, 1995.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
949 P.2d 634, 24 Kan. App. 2d 616, 1997 Kan. App. LEXIS 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wheeler-kanctapp-1997.