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STATE v. BOOKER III (2021)

Court of Appeals of Kansas.2021-03-26No. No. 123,144

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's denial of Booker's motion to correct an illegal sentence, finding that sentencing him on the more severe aggravated sexual battery conviction—rather than the lesser included offense of sexual battery—does not constitute an illegal sentence under Kansas law.

Robert Booker III was convicted by jury of both aggravated sexual battery and sexual battery, with the latter being a lesser included offense of the former. The district court vacated the sexual battery conviction and sentenced Booker to 55 months for aggravated sexual battery. Years later, Booker filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing that because he was convicted of both crimes, he should have been sentenced only on the lesser offense. The appellate court rejected this argument, holding that a motion to correct an illegal sentence cannot be used to challenge a conviction itself, and that Kansas law permits sentencing on the more severe offense when a defendant receives multiplicitous convictions based on the same conduct.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether sentencing on a more severe conviction when jury convicts of both felony and lesser included misdemeanor offense constitutes an illegal sentence
  • Proper use and scope of motion to correct illegal sentence procedure
  • Treatment of multiplicitous convictions arising from the same criminal conduct

Procedural posture

Booker appealed the district court's summary denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence filed under K.S.A. 22-3504, challenging a 55-month sentence imposed for aggravated sexual battery after jury conviction on both that charge and the lesser included offense of sexual battery.

Authorities cited

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Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Robert H. Booker III appeals the district courts denial of his motion to correct illegal sentence. We granted Bookers motion for summary disposition in lieu of briefs pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 7.041A (2020 Kan. S. Ct. R. 47). The State responded to Bookers motion by agreeing that summary disposition was appropriate. Based on our review of the record, we do not find that the district court erred in denying Bookers motion to correct illegal sentence. Thus, we affirm.

In 2014, a jury convicted Booker of aggravated sexual battery and sexual battery, which had been submitted to the jury as a lesser included offense. At sentencing, the district court vacated Bookers sexual battery conviction because it was a lesser included offense of his other conviction, which was more severe. The district court sentenced Booker to 55 months in prison, awarded him credit for time already served, and imposed lifetime postrelease supervision.

Booker appealed on grounds unrelated to this appeal and did not argue that insufficient evidence supported his aggravated sexual battery conviction. Nor did Booker argue the district court should have dismissed his aggravated sexual battery conviction instead of his sexual battery conviction. Another panel of this court affirmed Bookers conviction and sentence. State v. Booker, No. 113,846, 2016 WL 5012325, at *9 (Kan. App. 2016) (unpublished opinion).

On February 26, 2020, Booker filed his present motion to correct illegal sentence under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 22-3504. In that motion, he argued he should have only received a sentence for sexual battery, not aggravated sexual battery, because the jury convicted him of both crimes. The district court summarily denied his motion because it presented “no substantial questions of fact or law.” Booker timely appeals.

A sentence is illegal when it is imposed by a court without jurisdiction; it does not conform to the applicable statutory provisions, either in character or the term of punishment; or it is ambiguous about the time and manner in which it is to be served. K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 22-3504(c)(1); see State v. Hambright, 310 Kan. 408, 411, 447 P.3d 972 (2019).

Booker argues that because the jury found him guilty of both aggravated sexual battery, a felony, and the lesser included offense of sexual battery, a misdemeanor, he should have been sentenced only for the lesser crime, rendering his sentence to the higher severity level crime illegal. Because he was sentenced to the higher severity level crime, he argues the district court erred in denying his motion to correct illegal sentence.

We disagree with Booker because his real complaint is about his conviction for aggravated sexual battery. A motion to correct an illegal sentence is not the proper procedural vehicle to reverse a conviction. “K.S.A. 22-3504 is solely a vehicle to correct a sentence.” State v. Gilbert, 299 Kan. 797, 801, 326 P.3d 1060 (2014).

Moreover, “sexual battery is a lesser included offense of aggravated sexual battery.” State v. Pfannenstiel, 302 Kan. 747, 753, 357 P.3d 877 (2015); see K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 21-5109(b) (defining lesser included offense). When a defendant receives multiplicitous convictions, as is the case here, “the defendant should be sentenced only on the more severe offense.” State v. Winters, 276 Kan. 34, 43, 72 P.3d 564 (2003); see State v. Craig, 311 Kan. 456, 463, 462 P.3d 173 (2020) (upholding district courts imposition of sentence on more severe crime when jury convicted defendant of two offenses based on same criminal act). It is also proper for the district court to vacate the lesser conviction. See State v. Turbeville, 235 Kan. 993, 995, 686 P.2d 138 (1984); see also K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 21-5109(b) (“defendant may be convicted of either the crime charged or a lesser included crime, but not both.”).

The district court properly sentenced Booker to the more severe offense of aggravated sexual battery and his sentence is not illegal under the parameters set by K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 22-3504.

Affirmed.

Per Curiam: