State v. Sims

• Decision Date: 09 June 2017
• Docket Number: No. 114,008,114,008
• Citation: 395 P.3d 413
• Parties: STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Essex SIMS, Appellant.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

395 P.3d 413

STATE of Kansas, Appellee,

v.Essex SIMS, Appellant.

No. 114,008

Supreme Court of Kansas.

Opinion filed June 9, 2017

Carl F.A. Maughan, of Maughan Law Group LC, of Wichita, and Sean M.A. Hatfield, of the same firm, were on the brief for appellant.

Boyd K. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by Biles, J.:

Essex T. Sims was convicted of a 1995 aggravated battery and sentenced under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 1994 Supp. 21-4701 et seq . In calculating his criminal history, the sentencing court included a 1992 juvenile adjudication for aggravated assault, which it classified as a person felony. In 2015, Sims moved to correct what he claimed was an illegal sentence. The district court summarily denied relief. We reject each assertion of error and affirm.

We hold: (1) Sims is not entitled to have the 1992 juvenile adjudication for aggravated assault classified as a nonperson offense under State v. Murdock , 299 Kan. 312, 319, 323 P.3d 846 (2014) (regarding person/nonperson classification of prior out-of-state offenses for purposes of calculating criminal history score), overruled by State v. Keel , 302 Kan. 560, 357 P.3d 251 (2015), cert. denied ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 865, 193 L.Ed.2d 761 (2016) ; (2) the KSGA's person/nonperson classification of pre-KSGA offenses does not violate the Sixth Amendment's prohibition on nonjury factual findings that increase a defendant's sentence; and (3) the district court did not deprive Sims of a statutory right to a hearing when it summarily denied relief.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A jury convicted Sims of felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. These crimes occurred in March 1995. The presentence investigation revealed two prior offenses: a 1992 juvenile adjudication for theft scored as a nonperson felony and a 1992 juvenile adjudication for aggravated assault scored as a person felony.

The sentencing court imposed a life sentence for the felony-murder conviction. Applying a criminal history score of "C," the district court imposed a consecutive 75–month sentence for one of the aggravated battery convictions. This court affirmed his convictions in State v. Sims , 262 Kan. 165, 936 P.2d 779 (1997).

In 2015, Sims filed a motion to correct the aggravated battery sentence, arguing the sentencing court used an incorrect criminal history score because the 1992 aggravated assault was misclassified as a person crime. For that proposition, Sims relied on Murdock . The district court summarily denied the motion. Sims timely appealed. Jurisdiction is proper. See K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 22-3601(b)(3) (Supreme Court has jurisdiction over a case in which life sentence is imposed); State v. Sims , 294 Kan. 821, 823–24, 280 P.3d 780 (2012) (Supreme Court has jurisdiction over motion to correct an illegal sentence filed in a case in which defendant received a life sentence).

ANALYSIS

Under K.S.A. 22-3504(1), the court may correct an illegal sentence at any time. Sims argues the district court erred summarily denying his motion because (1) his pre-KSGA aggravated battery offense should be reclassified as a nonperson offense under Murdock , 299 Kan. 312, 323 P.3d 846 ; (2) the person/nonperson classification cannot be applied to his pre-KSGA crime under Apprendi v. New Jersey , 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed. 2d 435 (2000) ; and (3) the court's summary denial of his motion violated his statutory right to a hearing.

An illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) is one: (1) imposed by a court without jurisdiction; (2) that does not conform to the statutory provisions, either in character or the term of the punishment authorized; or (3) that is ambiguous with respect to time and manner in which it is to be served. State v. Gilbert , 299 Kan. 797, 801, 326 P.3d 1060 (2014).

Standard of review

An appellate court reviews a district court's summary denial of a motion to correct an illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) de novo because the appellate court has the same access to the motions, records, and files. Gilbert , 299 Kan. at 801, 326 P.3d 1060. The question on appeal is whether the documents conclusively show the defendant is not entitled to relief. 299 Kan. at 801, 326 P.3d 1060.

There is no relief under Murdock

Sims first argues his prior aggravated assault offense must be reclassified under Murdock. At the time of Sims' current aggravated battery offense, the KSGA required that "[a]ll prior adult felony convictions ... will be considered and scored" and that "[a]ll juvenile adjudications which would constitute a person felony will not decay or be forgiven." K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(2), (6). But the act was mostly silent on how to determine whether a pre-KSGA offense should be scored as a person or nonperson crime. Keel , 302 Kan. at 572, 357 P.3d 251.

In Murdock , the court held a defendant's out-of-state felony convictions for robbery that were committed before the KSGA's 1993 enactment were improperly classified as person felonies for sentencing purposes.

299 Kan. at 319, 323 P.3d 846. The applicable KSGA provision required that prior out-of-state crimes be categorized as person or nonperson offenses by referring to "comparable" Kansas offenses. 299 Kan. at 314, 323 P.3d 846 (quoting K.S.A. 21-4711[e] ). But since the statute did not provide direction on whether to compare the out-of-state offense to the comparable Kansas offense as codified at the time of the out-of-state offense or as codified at the time of the current conviction, the court held the robbery convictions should have been classified as nonperson felonies. 299 Kan. at 319, 323 P.3d 846. The court acknowledged "this rule results in the classification of all out-of-state pre-1993 crimes as nonperson felonies." 299 Kan. at 319, 323 P.3d 846.

But while Sims' illegal sentence appeal was pending, Murdock was overturned. See Keel , 302 Kan. at 589, 357 P.3d 251. The Keel court held, "[T]he classification of a prior conviction or juvenile adjudication as a person or nonperson offense for criminal history purposes under the KSGA is determined based on the classification in effect for the comparable Kansas offense at the time the current crime of conviction was committed." 302 Kan. at 590, 357 P.3d 251.

In his brief, Sims acknowledges Keel . But he also notes the Keel mandate was stayed pending a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court and "respectfully submits the arguments in support of the reversal of the district court's decision on this case based upon Murdock , in order to preserve the arguments and issues for future review." Notably, the Court denied the petition for certiorari in Keel on January 11, 2016, and the mandate issued on January 29, 2016.

Based on Keel , Sims' argument that Murdock should be extended to control the classification of his in-state pre-KSGA offense fails. The general rule in Kansas is that an overruling decision is applied to all similar cases pending as of the date of the overruling decision, regardless of when the cause of action accrued. State v. Waterberry , 248 Kan. 169, 172, 804 P.2d 1000 (1991) ; see also Murphy v. Nelson , 260 Kan. 589, 597, 921 P.2d 1225 (1996) (citing Waterberry , 248 Kan. 169, Syl. ¶ 1, 804 P.2d 1000 ). Sims' motion was pending on appeal when Keel was decided, and Sims advances no substantive argument why this general rule should not apply and why Keel should not control his case.

Because Sims' case is controlled by Keel , the court need not address his argument that K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6810(d) and (e) violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution by statutorily altering the rule announced in Murdock and applying that change retroactively. Since Keel construed the statute regarding person/nonperson classifications that was in effect at the time Sims committed his aggravated battery offense, the 2016 statute is not being retroactively applied to him. Keel , 302 Kan. at 590–91, 357 P.3d 251 (noting court's construction of statute in effect at time of defendant's crime to permit person classification of pre-KSGA offenses obviated need for ex post facto analysis).

Applying Keel , the sentencing court properly classified Sims' pre-KSGA aggravated assault adjudication as a person felony. At the time Sims...