Terning v. Meyer

• Decision Date: 23 June 2022
• Docket Number: 20-3249-EFM
• Parties: AARON TERNING, Petitioner, v. SHANNON MEYER, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

AARON TERNING, Petitioner,
v.
SHANNON MEYER, Respondent.

No. 20-3249-EFM

United States District Court, D. Kansas

June 23, 2022

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ERIC F. MELGREN, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

In 2008, Petitioner Aaron Terning pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to 330 months' imprisonment with 36 months of post-release supervision. In 2018, Terning's 36-month post-release supervision was modified to a term of lifetime post-release supervision. He is currently incarcerated at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas.

Before the Court is Terning's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1). Terning seeks relief on the basis that he was not informed of the possibility of lifetime post-release supervision as part of his sentence, and he contends that the district court improperly refused his request to withdraw his plea. Having reviewed the record, and for the reasons discussed below, the Court denies Terning's petition.

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I. Factual and Procedural Background

In July 2007, Terning and Stephen Greger abducted a 14-year-old girl from her home. They took the girl to a shed at Greger's house, shackled her to a table, and repeatedly raped her. The next morning, they took her to the woods and chained her up between two trees. The girl managed to escape and identified Terning and Greger as the perpetrators.

The State initially charged Terning with aggravated kidnapping, two counts of rape, and aggravated sodomy. The State later amended the complaint to include only aggravated kidnapping and rape but also filed a motion for an upward durational departure based on the brutality of the conduct and the victim's age.

Terning entered into a plea agreement on the morning of trial, September 22, 2008. He would plead no contest to the charges, and the State would withdraw its upward-departure motion. The State reserved the right to seek any authorized sentence, and Terning reserved the right to seek a downward departure.

At the plea hearing, the district court informed Terning that the aggravated kidnapping and rape charges each carried a possible punishment of 147 to 653 months in prison, depending on his criminal history score. The district court did not discuss any term of post-release supervision. Terning stated that he understood the possible punishment and that he entered the plea freely and voluntarily. When Terning entered the plea, he was 37 years old. The court accepted the plea.

At sentencing on November 12, 2008, the district court denied Terning's request for a downward departure. The court again gave the possible imprisonment range as 147 to 653 months for each charge. Although Terning had no previous criminal record and thus had a criminal history of I, the district court found that the severity of the crimes necessitated an aggravated sentence under the sentencing guidelines. Thus, the district court sentenced Terning to 165 months'

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imprisonment for each crime, to be served consecutively. Accordingly, he was sentenced to 330 months in prison. The district court also imposed 36 months of post-release supervision.

Terning filed an appeal, but it was summarily dismissed. Due to procedural delays, the mandate in Terning's direct appeal was not issued until May 2017. In 2015, during the time Terning's direct appeal was pending, the State filed a motion pursuant to K.S.A. § 22-3504 to correct an illegal sentence asserting that the district court improperly designated the aggravated kidnapping charge as the primary one instead of the rape charge. Had the district court designated rape as the primary crime, Terning should have received a lifetime term of post-release supervision instead of 36 months. The State withdrew the motion because Terning's direct appeal was not final.

After the mandate was issued in May 2017, Terning filed a pro se motion similar to the State's previous 2015 motion, asserting that he was illegally sentenced to 36 months of post-release supervision instead of lifetime supervision. After Terning filed his motion, the State also filed a motion stating that the district court should have sentenced Terning to lifetime post-release supervision. The district court appointed counsel to represent Terning.

On October 10, 2017, Terning moved to withdraw his original plea asserting that his plea was not knowingly and voluntarily made because he was not informed of the lifetime post-release supervision period. The...