Case Title: State v. Murdock

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 2014-05-02T00:00:00Z

Document:
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS 
 
No. 104,533 
 
STATE OF KANSAS, 
Appellee, 
 
v. 
 
JIMMY MURDOCK, 
Appellant. 
 
 
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 
 
1. 
K.S.A. 21-4711(e) governs the classification of out-of-state crimes/convictions as 
person or nonperson offenses. It provides in part that if the state of Kansas does not have 
a comparable offense, the out-of-state conviction must be classified as a nonperson 
offense. 
 
2. 
A fundamental rule for sentencing is that the person convicted of a crime is 
sentenced in accordance with the sentencing provisions in effect at the time the crime was 
committed. 
 
3. 
The appellate rule that the penalty parameters for an offense are fixed as of the 
date of the commission of the offense is fair, logical, and easy to apply. 
 
4. 
Kansas did not begin classifying crimes as person or nonperson offenses until 
1993 when the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act, K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq., was enacted. 
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5. 
When calculating a defendant's criminal history that includes out-of-state 
convictions committed prior to enactment of the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act, 
K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq., the out-of-state convictions must be classified as nonperson 
offenses. Prior caselaw contrary to this holding is overruled. 
 
Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion filed September 9, 
2011. Appeal from Shawnee District Court; NANCY E. PARRISH, judge. Opinion filed May 2, 2014. 
Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the district court is reversed. Judgment of the district court is 
reversed and remanded with directions.  
 
Patrick H. Dunn, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause, and Ryan Eddinger, of 
the same office, was on the brief for appellant.  
 
Jodi E. Litfin, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Natalie Chalmers, assistant district 
attorney, Chadwick J. Taylor, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were on the brief for 
appellee. 
 
The opinion of the court was delivered by 
 
BILES, J.:  Jimmy Murdock argues the district court erroneously calculated his 
criminal history score during a sentencing proceeding by treating two prior out-of-state 
convictions from 1984 and 1990 as person crimes instead of nonperson crimes. The issue 
is rare because these prior out-of-state offenses were committed before enactment of the 
Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq., and the KSGA does 
not expressly provide how such offenses should be classified. We conclude these 
convictions should be treated as nonperson offenses. Accordingly, we reverse the Court 
of Appeals and the district court and remand for resentencing with directions to classify 
the two prior out-of-state convictions as nonperson offenses. 
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FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 
 
Murdock pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of 
robbery for crimes occurring in December 2008. To calculate his sentence, the district 
court found Murdock had two Illinois robbery convictions from 1984 and 1990 and a 
1996 Kansas robbery conviction. It classified all three prior convictions as person 
offenses, which gave Murdock three or more adult convictions for person felonies. This 
treatment placed him in criminal history category A under K.S.A. 21-4709. Murdock was 
sentenced to 233 months' imprisonment for the first aggravated robbery conviction and 
concurrent 36-month sentences for the remaining two convictions. He would have fallen 
within criminal history category C if the two out-of-state convictions had been designated 
as nonperson offenses, resulting in a lesser sentence. See K.S.A. 21-4709; K.S.A. 21-
4704. 
 
Murdock timely appealed his sentences to the Court of Appeals, arguing the two 
out-of-state convictions were wrongly classified as person offenses. The Court of 
Appeals affirmed the district court in State v. Murdock, No. 104,533, 2011 WL 4031550, 
at *3 (Kan. App. 2011) (unpublished opinion). Murdock petitioned for this court's 
review, which was granted under K.S.A. 20-3018(b), with this court obtaining 
jurisdiction under K.S.A. 60-2101(b).  
 
ANALYSIS 
 
The issue is whether the district court improperly scored Murdock's criminal 
history because it classified his two Illinois robbery convictions as person offenses. 
Murdock argues both crimes should have been scored as nonperson offenses under 
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K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8). In the alternative, he contends this court should determine the 
legislature intended to designate pre-1993 convictions as nonperson offenses. 
 
Standard of Review 
 
This case turns on the interpretation of several sentencing statutes. Statutory 
interpretation is a question of law subject to unlimited appellate review. State v. Guder, 
293 Kan. 763, 765, 267 P.3d 763 (2012). If a statute is plain and unambiguous, appellate 
courts do not speculate about legislative intent or resort to canons of construction or 
legislative history. State v. Coman, 294 Kan. 84, 92, 273 P.3d 701 (2012).  
 
Classifying pre-KSGA convictions 
 
In scoring criminal history under the KSGA, distinctions are made between person 
and nonperson crimes. Compare K.S.A. 21-3427 (aggravated robbery is a person offense) 
with K.S.A. 21-3701 (theft is a nonperson offense). Generally speaking, person crimes 
are weighted more heavily than nonperson crimes. See K.S.A. 21-4709. 
 
K.S.A. 21-4711(e) governs the classification of out-of-state crimes/convictions. It 
states in pertinent part: 
 
"The state of Kansas shall classify the [prior out-of-state] crime as person or nonperson. 
In designating a crime as person or nonperson comparable offenses shall be referred to. If 
the state of Kansas does not have a comparable offense, the out-of-state conviction shall 
be classified as a nonperson crime." K.S.A. 21-4711(e). 
 
The KSGA does not define comparable offense, but this court has previously held a 
comparable offense is determined by comparing the elements of the crimes, stating that 
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"the offenses need only be comparable, not identical." State v. Vandervort, 276 Kan. 164, 
179, 72 P.3d 925 (2003).  
 
Murdock does not dispute that his out-of-state robbery convictions are comparable 
to the Kansas crime of robbery, and a review of the elements of those crimes supports 
this admission. Compare Ill. Com. Stat. ch. 270 5/18-1(a) (2003) with K.S.A. 21-3426. 
But one must also identify the correct version of our Kansas statute to make this 
comparison, which is where Murdock's dispute draws its focus. 
 
Kansas did not begin categorizing crimes as person or nonperson offenses until 
1993 when the KSGA was adopted. See L. 1992, ch. 239, sec. 1 (KSGA effective July 1, 
1993). When Murdock was convicted of the Illinois robberies (which were felony 
offenses) in 1984 and 1990, Kansas simply defined robbery as a "class C felony." K.S.A. 
21-3426 (Ensley 1981). The record does not disclose the dates when the out-of-state 
offenses were committed, but K.S.A. 21-3426 (Ensley 1981) was not amended from the 
prior enactment in 1969 until 1992. See K.S.A. 21-3426 (historical notes). Therefore, it is 
obvious the same penalty provision was in effect at the time Murdock committed his out-
of-state offenses. In December 2008, when Murdock committed the current crimes of 
conviction, Kansas defined robbery as a "severity level 5, person felony." K.S.A. 21-
3426.  
 
Murdock argues the comparable offense to his Illinois robbery convictions is 
K.S.A. 21-3426 (Ensley 1981)—the statute in effect when the Illinois crimes were 
committed. He notes K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8), which pertains to scoring unclassified crimes, 
states:  "Unless otherwise provided by law, unclassified felonies and misdemeanors, shall 
be considered and scored as nonperson crimes for the purpose of determining criminal 
history." This statute, he reasons, requires his Illinois convictions to be treated as 
nonperson offenses based on this court's holding in State v. Williams, 291 Kan. 554, Syl. 
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¶ 4, 244 P.3d 667 (2010), that the comparable Kansas offenses must be determined as of 
the date the defendant committed the out-of-state crimes. 
 
In the Williams case, Williams had pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft 
for crimes occurring in 2005 and 2006. Her criminal history was scored based on five 
State of Washington convictions for identity theft that she had committed between 
December 2001 and September 2002. At the time Williams committed those out-of-state 
crimes, Kansas classified identity theft—the comparable offense—as a person offense, 
but it had reclassified that crime as a nonperson offense by the time Williams committed 
and was sentenced for her Kansas crimes. The parties disputed whether the comparable 
offense should be determined as of the date of her Kansas sentencing, when she 
committed the Kansas offenses, or when Williams committed the prior Washington 
offenses.  
 
The Williams court held that in the absence of a statutory directive a comparable 
offense should be determined as of the date the prior crime was committed. This 
outcome, the court reasoned, was "consistent with our fundamental rule of sentencing for 
a current in-state crime:  sentencing in accordance with the penalty provisions in effect at 
the time the crime was committed." 291 Kan. at 560. The court further held that fixing 
the penalty parameters for an offense "'as of the date of the commission of the offense is 
fair, logical and easy to apply.'" 291 Kan. at 560 (quoting Vanderwort, 276 Kan. at 180). 
 
Since then, the Court of Appeals has followed Williams when the prior out-of-state 
offense was committed after the sentencing guidelines were adopted in 1993. See, e.g., 
State v. McKinney, No. 102,906, 2010 WL 5185779, at *1 (Kan. App. 2010) 
(unpublished opinion) (scoring a 2002 Oklahoma conviction based on the designation for 
the comparable Kansas offense at the time the Oklahoma offense was committed). But 
the Court of Appeals, including the Murdock panel, has adopted a different rule when the 
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prior out-of-state crimes were committed before Kansas adopted the person/nonperson 
offense designation in 1993.  
 
The Murdock panel held that pre-1993 offenses should be designated based on the 
current guidelines offenses, reasoning:  "Kansas courts have routinely classified pre-1993 
offenses as either person or nonperson for criminal history purposes by comparing the 
offenses to current guidelines offenses." (Emphasis added.) Murdock, 2011 WL 4031550, 
at *2; see State v. Mitchell, No. 104,833, 2012 WL 1649831, at *7 (Kan. App. 2012) 
(unpublished opinion), petition for rev. filed June 4, 2012; State v. Mims, No. 103,044, 
2011 WL 4563068, at *5 (Kan. App. 2011) (unpublished opinion). 
 
Notably, this reference to "current guidelines offenses" is ambiguous. For 
example, how is the panel's rule applied in cases like Williams when the legislature 
modified the classification after the KSGA was adopted? Seemingly, the rule would 
conflict with this court's controlling law as stated in Williams. In addition, the view 
followed by the Court of Appeals in these cases is troubling because it originated in a 
series of Court of Appeals cases that predate this court's Williams decision. See, e.g., 
State v. Henderson, No. 100,371, 2009 WL 2948657, at *3 (Kan. App. 2009) 
(unpublished opinion), rev. denied 290 Kan. 1099 (2010); State v. Boster, No. 101,009, 
2009 WL 3738490, at *4 (Kan. App. 2009) (unpublished opinion), rev. denied 290 Kan. 
1096 (2010). The Murdock panel did not address Williams in its analysis despite citing it 
as holding "comparable Kansas offenses are determined by the date the defendant 
committed the prior out-of-state offenses" while summarizing Murdock's claims. 
Murdock, 2011 WL 4031550, at *1 (citing Williams, 291 Kan. at 560-62). 
 
The panel did cite Farris v. McKune, 259 Kan. 181, 185-86, 911 P.2d 177 (1996), 
as sufficiently analogous to support its holding. Murdock, 2011 WL 4031550, at *2. But 
Farris is not applicable because it addresses the Department of Corrections' conversion 
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of three offenders' preguidelines sentences to the sentencing guidelines, which was 
controlled by K.S.A. 21-4724(c)(1). The Farris court held that "'[i]n converting a 
sentence, the legislature intended that the Department of Corrections use records 
available to it to determine what the defendant did when the crime was committed and 
convert that crime to an analogous crime existing after July 1, 1993.'" 259 Kan. at 195 
(quoting State v. Fierro, 257 Kan. 639, 650, 895 P.2d 186 [1995]). The KSGA lacks a 
similar provision for persons who were not imprisoned at the time the KSGA was 
enacted. 
 
 
In the absence of a statutory directive, we are left with our decision in Williams 
that the comparable Kansas offense should be determined as of the date the out-of-state 
offenses were committed. Even though the State seeks a different rule in this appeal, we 
must emphasize we adopted the current rule at the State's urging in Williams. See 291 
Kan. at 559 (State argued this court should score the Washington offenses according to 
their Kansas equivalents when the Washington offenses were committed).  
 
Our analysis in Williams is indistinguishable from the analysis applicable to the 
circumstances presented here, and the same policy considerations continue to apply. 
Using the date the prior out-of-state crime was committed to calculate a defendant's 
criminal history score is "consistent with our fundamental rule of sentencing for a current 
in-state crime:  sentencing in accordance with the penalty provisions in effect at the time 
the crime was committed." 291 Kan. at 560. Moreover, fixing the penalty parameters as 
of the date the crime was committed is fair, logical, and easy to apply. 291 Kan. at 560. 
Applying that rule, robbery as defined in K.S.A. 21-3426 (Ensley 1981) is the 
comparable Kansas offense. The penalty provision of that pre-1993 statute classifies 
robbery as a class C felony, and it does not designate the offense as person or nonperson. 
 
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Finally, since the statute does not specify whether it is a person or nonperson 
offense, Murdock argues it must be scored as a nonperson offense under K.S.A. 21-
4710(d)(8), which provides that "unclassified felonies and misdemeanors, shall be 
considered and are scored as nonperson offenses for the purposes of determining criminal 
history." The plain language of the statute seems to apply in this circumstance, although 
the legislature refers to person or nonperson offenses as "designations," not 
"classifications," in K.S.A. 21-4711(e), (g). Notably, neither of these terms is defined in 
K.S.A. 21-4703.   
 
Murdock's view is misplaced. And although there may be other twists placed on 
the statute, it is likely K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8) was adopted to address the scoring of a very 
limited number of current criminal statutes that do not categorize the crimes as person or 
nonperson offenses. See, e.g., K.S.A. 21-4213 (unlawful failure to report a wound is a 
"class C misdemeanor"); K.S.A. 21-4218 (unauthorized possession of a firearm on the 
grounds of or within certain state buildings is a "class A misdemeanor"); K.S.A. 21-4312 
(unlawful disposition of animals is a "class C misdemeanor"); K.S.A. 21-4409 
(knowingly employing an alien is a "class C misdemeanor"). And we believe it unlikely 
the legislature intended that K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8) govern all pre-1993 convictions. 
 
But there is no statutory mechanism either through K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8) or 
another KSGA provision allowing us to draw a distinction between the current guidelines 
sentencing statutes and the pre-1993 criminal statutes. We hold that Murdock's two prior 
out-of-state convictions must be scored as nonperson offenses under K.S.A. 21-
4710(d)(8) following our controlling Williams precedent. We recognize this rule results 
in the classification of all pre-1993 crimes as nonperson felonies—an outcome the State 
characterizes as unreasonable. But the solution to the State's complaint sits with the 
legislature. 
 
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As noted above, the legislature enacted K.S.A. 21-4724(c)(1), instructing the 
Department of Corrections to recalculate certain inmates' criminal history classifications 
"as if the [prior] crime were committed on or after July 1, 1993." The legislature can 
amend the KSGA to address this issue as well if it deems an amendment appropriate.   
 
We overrule all Court of Appeals decisions applying the rule recited by the Court 
of Appeals panel in this case. We reverse the Court of Appeals and the district court and 
remand for resentencing with directions to classify the prior out-of-state convictions as 
nonperson offenses.    
 
* * * 
 
 
ROSEN, J., dissenting:  I respectfully dissent from the majority's opinion finding 
that all out-of-state crimes/convictions committed prior to 1993 must be classified as 
nonperson offenses. Further, as a result of this decision, all in-state convictions prior to 
1993, regardless of how violent or heinous, appear to be subject to the same outcome. I 
would adopt the reasoning of the Court of Appeals that such a conclusion leads to an 
unreasonable result and ignores the purpose and design of the Kansas Sentencing 
Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq. 
 
 
In 1989, the Kansas Legislature established the Kansas Sentencing Commission 
and directed the Commission to develop a sentencing guidelines model or grid, based on 
fairness and equity, that provides a mechanism for linking justice and correction policies. 
The purpose of the sentencing guidelines model was to establish rational and consistent 
sentencing standards which reduce sentence disparity, including, but not limited to, racial 
and regional biases that existed under then current sentencing practices. As a result, the 
Commission identified and prioritized a set of goals to be attained in developing a 
uniform sentencing guidelines system, the first three of which are germane to this appeal: 
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1. To develop a set of guidelines that promotes public safety by 
incarcerating violent offenders; 
 
 
2. To reduce sentence disparity to ensure the elimination of any 
racial, geographical or other bias that may exist; 
 
 
3. To establish sentences that are proportional to the seriousness of 
the offense and the degree of injury to the victim. 
 
K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 74-9101(b). 
 
 
Ultimately, the Commission recommended a presumptive sentencing system, 
represented by sentencing grids for both nondrug and drug offenses, that attempts to 
provide an appropriate sentence for a crime based upon the crime of conviction and the 
individual's criminal history. See, e.g., K.S.A. 21-4704. In 1993, the legislature passed 
S.B. 423, which incorporated both the sentencing guidelines and the substantive changes 
to the criminal code correlating with the guidelines. See L. 1993, ch. 291 (effective July 
1, 1993). 
 
 
I include this brief history of our current sentencing structure to highlight the 
significance of the person/nonperson offense designation as it relates to current and prior 
crimes. The KSGA was enacted in part to address concerns regarding disparity in 
sentencing practices across the state. See K.S.A. 21-4702. One such glaring disparity was 
the treatment of nonviolent property crimes in our urban, suburban, and rural district 
courts. Offenders convicted of property crimes with similar criminal histories were more 
likely to face incarceration depending upon the geographic location of the crime as 
opposed to any consideration of the nature of the crime, public safety, or recidivism. The 
designation of person/nonperson crimes is an integral component of the sentencing 
guidelines that addresses this disparity by distinguishing between those crimes that 
12 
 
 
 
warrant the most severe penalties and those that now require consideration of nonprison 
sanctions prior to incarceration. Generally, the presumptive sentence for nonperson 
crimes is supervised probation as opposed to prison, depending on the offender's criminal 
history. The majority properly recognizes that "person crimes are weighted more heavily 
than nonperson crimes." Slip op. at 4.   
 
 
While there is some merit to Murdock's statutory construction arguments, another 
principle of statutory construction takes precedence.  
 
"As a general rule, criminal statutes must be strictly construed in favor of the 
accused. Any reasonable doubt as to the meaning of the statute is decided in favor of the 
accused. This rule of strict construction is nevertheless subordinate to the rule that 
judicial interpretation must be reasonable and sensible to effect legislative design and 
intent." State v. Gracey, 288 Kan. 252, 257-58, 200 P.3d 1275 (2009). 
 
 
First, I would clarify the majority's finding that Murdock's reliance on K.S.A. 21-
4710(d)(8) is "misplaced." Slip op. at 9. The statute provides that "unclassified felonies 
and misdemeanors, shall be considered and are scored as nonperson offenses for the 
purposes of determining criminal history." The plain language of the statute does not 
apply in this circumstance. "Unclassified felonies," as used in this statute, refers to the 
limited number of felonies that were not classified at a specific severity level, not to the 
designation of a crime as being a person/nonperson offense. For example, possession of 
drugs without a stamp affixed, K.S.A. 79-5208—was an unclassified felony prior to 1994 
(see L. 1994, ch. 291, sec. 83); altering a vehicle identification number, K.S.A. 8-113—is 
an unclassified felony; and a number of other Chapter 8 driving offenses are or were at 
one time unclassified felonies.  
 
 
K.S.A. 21-4501(f) describes and fixes the punishment for unclassified felonies:  
 
13 
 
 
 
 
"Unclassified felonies, which shall include all crimes declared to be felonies 
without specification as to class, the sentence for which shall be in accordance with the 
sentence specified in the statute that defines the crime. If no sentence is provided in the 
statute, the offender shall be sentenced as for a class E felony." 
 
 
Clearly, K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(8) has no application in this matter. Finding that this 
statute provides no mechanism to draw a distinction between current sentencing statutes 
and the pre-1993 criminal statutes, the majority, relying on State v. Williams, 291 Kan. 
554, 244 P.3d 667 (2010), concluded that all pre-1993 out-of-state convictions must be 
scored as nonperson offenses. Slip op. at 9. 
 
 
The majority's holding would mean that almost no crime committed before 1993, 
no matter how violent or serious, could be specified as a person felony in scoring the 
criminal history for a crime committed post-1993. This simply is an intolerable result and 
completely compromises a sentencing structure that has as its primary goal protecting 
society from its most violent criminals. 
 
 
I would distinguish Williams and limit its holding to the facts of that case. The 
prior crimes in question were identity thefts and all committed post-1993 and, thus, 
subject to a person/nonperson offense designation. At the time Williams committed her 
prior crimes, identity theft was designated as a person offense, but it had been changed to 
a nonperson offense by the time she was convicted and sentenced for her current crimes. 
We were confronted with the question of which designation applies to the prior crimes, 
not which designation to apply when one does not exist. I would simply narrow the 
application of the Williams' holding to the facts of that scenario, i.e., when there is a 
change in the person/nonperson offense designation of a prior conviction—not to all pre-
1993 offenses for which the designation of nonperson/person crimes was neither 
envisioned nor determined. 
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As the district court did here, Kansas courts have routinely designated pre-1993 
offenses as either person or nonperson for criminal history purposes by comparing the 
offenses to current guidelines offenses. This approach also harmonizes the statutory 
requirement contained in K.S.A. 21-4724(c)(1) directing the Department of Corrections 
to convert pre-1993 crimes/convictions for inmates to the analogous crimes existing after 
July 1, 1993, on the applicable sentencing guidelines grid for criminal history purposes. 
As we relied on for validating our holding in Williams, this resolution is fair, logical, and 
easy to apply. There is simply no justification for altering the method that both district 
and appellate courts have utilized for over two decades in making this determination.  
 
 
To now treat all pre-1993 crimes, 22 years after the enactment of the KSGA, as 
nonviolent nonperson crimes completely overlooks our sentencing structure, purpose, and 
design. It is a result that unexpectedly opens the prison gates to inmates who have a long 
history of committing violent crimes and pose the greatest threat to the public's safety. 
For these reasons I dissent. 
 
 
LUCKERT and MORITZ, JJ., join in the foregoing dissent.