Sunday, May 08, 2011

You don't have to register for that!

Janine Cox won in State v. Fredrick, No. 102,848 (Kan. April 29, 2011), obtaining an affirmance of the district court’s dismissal of the complaint in a Montgomery County prosecution for failure to register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act, K.S.A. 22-4901 et seq

The KSC described the facts of the case as follows:
On May 12, 1994, Fredrick was adjudicated a delinquent in the state of Minnesota, based principally upon his commission of acts designated in that state as criminal sexual conduct. The allegation was that when he was age 15, he touched the vagina of a 5-year- old child. Pursuant to Minnesota law, Fredrick was required to register in that state as a "predatory offender" for a period of time, ending on June 19, 2018.
At some point in time, Fredrick moved to the state of Kansas, albeit the record is unclear as to when the move occurred. What we do know is that on December 29, 2008, when Fredrick was 30 years old, the Montgomery County county attorney charged Fredrick with a severity level 5 person felony [for failing to register under KORA].
The district court granted Fredrick’s motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that Mr. Fredrick was not required to register in Kansas under KORA. The State appealed the decision. On appeal, the State argued that the overarching tenor of KORA reflects an intention that those persons with a juvenile adjudication in another state who move to Kansas must be required to register in Kansas for the same length of time that was required by the adjudicating state. The KSC rejected this argument, noting that K.S.A. 22-4906(i) states that a person “who has been convicted in another state, and who was required to register under that state's laws, shall register for the same length of time required by that state or Kansas, whichever length of time is longer.” The court noted that “convicted” is not the same as “adjudicated” and so held that the statute did not apply to Mr. Fredrick. Thus, the court affirmed the district court’s dismissal.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

May 2011 KSC docket

Here are the criminal cases on the KSC docket for May 17-23, 2011. These summaries are based on the issues listed in the briefs filed and may not very accurately or fully describe the actual issues in the cases. I recommend you review the briefs yourself if you would like more details.

May 17--Tuesday--a.m.
State v. Shane Marquis, No. 100,423 (Butler)
Probation revocation appeal (petition for review)
Matthew J. Edge
[Rvd/Rmd; Johnson; Aug. 19, 2011]
  • Right to confront at probation violation proceeding
State v. Anthony Kidd, No. 101,809 (Sedgwick)
Direct appeal; First-degree murder
Shawn E. Minihan
[Affirmed; Moritz; Dec. 2, 2011]
  • Failure to instruct on voluntary intoxication
  • Improper comment about "mug shot"
State v. David McDaniel, No. 101,634 (Seward)
Sentencing appeal (petition for review)
Patrick H. Dunn
[Affirmed; Beier; July 15, 2011]
  • Jurisdiction to impose restitution after sentencing

May 18--Wednesday--a.m.

State v. Scott Cheever, No. 99,988 (Shawnee)
Direct appeal; Capital murder and death sentence
Debra J. Wilson
[Affd/Rvd/Rmd; per curiam; Aug. 24, 2012]
[Modified opinion after SCOTUS reversal; Affirmed; Rosen; July 20, 2017]
  • Whether capital murder statute is constitutional
  • Improper admission of impeachment and rebuttal testimony
  • Failure to instruct on felony murder
  • Failure to strike biased juror
  • Improper dismissal of potential juror
  • Improper judicial comment on possible appeal
  • Failure to prove defendant over 18
  • Improper aggravating circumstance instructions
  • Improper mitigating circumstance instructions
  • Prosecutorial misconduct
  • Relaxed evidentiary standards at capital sentencing unconstitutional

May 19--Thursday--a.m.

State v. Rodolfo Gaona, No. 98,822 (Finney)
Direct appeal (petition for review); Rape/Agg Crim Sodomy
Matthew J. Edge
[Affd/Rvd/Rmd; Beier; March 2, 2012]
  • Improper admission of "expert" testimony
  • Failure to give lesser included offense
  • Improper exclusion of defense medical records
  • Improper admission of prior bad act evidence
  • Improper admission of prior consistent statements
State v. Xavier Miller, No. 100,247 (Wyandotte)
Direct appeal (petition for review); Second-degree murder (intentional)
Lydia Krebs
[Rvd/Rmd; Mortiz; Sept. 2, 2011]
  • Improper instruction on lesser offenses
  • Improper sympathy instruction
State v. Raymore Levy, No. 101,653 (Shawnee)
Direct appeal; Rape/Agg Crim Sodomy/Agg Ind Lib
Gerald E. Wells
[Affirmed; Biles; June 24, 2011]
  • Whether KSC should remand for proportionality inquiry
  • Ineffective assistance of counsel
  • Admission of "safetalk" interview violates Confrontation Clause

May 20--Friday--a.m.

State v. Bernard Preston, No. 98,629 (Johnson)
Direct appeal (petition for review); Possession with intent
Christina M. Waugh
[Rvd/Rmd; Biles; March 23, 2012]
  • Illegal stop
  • Illegal pat-down (no reasonable suspicion)
  • Illegal search (no probable cause)
  • Improper admission of refusal to consent to search
  • Improper admission of prior convictions
State v. Saul Miller, No. 99,232 (Saline)
Direct appeal (petition for review); Rape/Agg Crim Sodomy
Shawn E. Minihan
[Affirmed; Luckert; Oct. 28, 2011]
  • Retrial after mistrial violates Double Jeopardy
  • Prosecutorial misconduct
  • Improper admission of child statements under K.S.A.60-460(dd)
  • Admission of child's out of court statements violates Confrontation Clause
State v. William McKnight, No. 100,246 (Shawnee)
Sentencing appeal (petition for review)
Carl Folsom
[Rvd/Rmd; Rosen; Aug. 12, 2011]
  • Improper upward sentence modification after revocation