State v. McAlister

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the district court's summary denial of Defendant's 2015 motions to correct his allegedly illegal sentences imposed in 1996, holding that subsequent changes in the law did not render Defendant's sentences illegal for purposes of a Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504(1) motion to correct an illegal sentence.In his section 22-3504 motions Defendant asserted that his sentences were barred on an incorrect criminal score because his pre-Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA) burglary convictions should have been classified as nonperson felonies. In denying Defendant's motions, the district court found them to be procedurally barred. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that, pursuant to the Supreme Court's opinion in State v. Dickey, 380 P.3d 230 (Kan. 2016) (Dickey II), the motions were not procedurally barred and that Dickey II required that Defendant's pre-KSGA convictions be classified as nonperson felonies. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Defendant's sentences were legal when pronounced and were final before the change in the law upon which Defendant relied, and therefore, the district court correctly denied Defendant's section 22-3504 motions. View "State v. McAlister" on Justia Law