Title: State v. Verge

State: kansas

Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court

Document:

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS 
 
No. 124,493 
 
STATE OF KANSAS, 
Appellee, 
 
v. 
 
ROBERT LEE VERGE, 
Appellant. 
 
 
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 
 
 
1. 
Neither the citizenship nor the heritage of a defendant constitutes a key ingredient 
to a court's jurisdiction in criminal prosecutions. 
 
2. 
Kansas courts have jurisdiction to try, convict, and sentence individuals who 
commit violations of Kansas criminal laws in the state of Kansas.  
 
Appeal from Dickinson District Court; BENJAMIN J. SEXTON, judge. Opinion filed October 28, 
2022. Affirmed. 
 
Sam S. Kepfield, of Hutchinson, was on the brief for appellant.  
 
Kristafer R. Ailslieger, deputy solicitor general, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were on the 
brief for appellee. 
 
 
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The opinion of the court was delivered by 
 
ROSEN, J.:  Robert Lee Verge asks the courts to vacate his 1998 conviction of 
capital murder and other charges. He asserts that Kansas state courts had no jurisdiction 
to try or sentence him because he was not a citizen of Kansas or the United States and 
was a resident of Missouri when he committed the crimes. 
 
In 1997, Verge and another man murdered two people in Dickinson County, 
Kansas, and committed other crimes at the victims' residence. After a jury convicted him, 
the court sentenced Verge to a hard 40 life term and consecutive terms for the other 
crimes. The conviction was affirmed in State v. Verge, 272 Kan. 501, 34 P.3d 449 (2001), 
but this court remanded for resentencing of the non-capital crimes because the upward 
departures violated his rights under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 
2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), and State v. Gould, 271 Kan. 394, 23 P.3d 801 (2001). 
 
Over the following years, Verge filed a variety of motions collaterally attacking 
his conviction and sentence. All these challenges were either denied or dismissed. 
 
On April 21, 2021, Verge filed the motion in the present case, captioned a Motion 
to Set Aside and Correction of Illegal Sentence. He appears to allege that no Kansas 
district court had jurisdiction to convict or sentence him because he was a "natural living 
soul, Indigenous Native Moorish-American National" who resided in Missouri at the time 
of the murders. 
 
Following a hearing, at which Verge repeatedly demanded that the judge prove the 
source of his jurisdiction over him, the court denied the motion. He took a timely appeal 
to this court under K.S.A. 60-2101(b) and K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 22-3601. 
 
 
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Verge's arguments can be difficult to follow. He apparently argues that, as a 
resident of Missouri at the time of the murders, he was not subject to the jurisdiction of 
Kansas courts. He also contends he is not a citizen of the United States; he is instead a 
"natural living soul, Indigenous Native Moorish-American National" and is therefore not 
subject to the jurisdiction of any of the states or federal government. In addition, he 
seems to argue he is a corporate entity in Missouri and therefore not subject to long-arm 
diversity jurisdiction. 
 
The existence of in personam jurisdiction is a question of law subject to de novo 
review. See, e.g., Merriman v. Crompton Corp., 282 Kan. 433, 439, 146 P.3d 162 (2006). 
We conclude Verge was properly subject to the jurisdiction of the trial and sentencing 
court.  
 
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they 
reside." U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Verge's birth certificate shows he was born in 
Jackson County, Missouri, on March 11, 1974. Any person who is born in the United 
States is a United States citizen, and it does not matter whether the person consented to 
citizenship. See 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a) (2018).  
 
Furthermore, one does not lose one's citizenship simply by renouncing it. 
Americans cannot effectively renounce their citizenship by mail, through an agent, or 
while residing in the United States because of the provisions of section 349(a)(5) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act. See 8 U.S.C. § 1481(a)(5) (2018). The Secretary of 
State has developed a legally enforceable set of procedures for renouncing citizenship, 
including an oath of renunciation and a form. See 22 C.F.R. § 50.50 (2022). Verge is 
therefore a citizen of the United States.  
 
 
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In any event, whether Verge is a citizen of Kansas or of the United States or of 
some other political entity does not affect the outcome of this case. The United States 
Constitution states that a criminal trial is to take place in the state in which the crime was 
committed. U.S. Const. amend. VI. Verge committed his crime in Kansas, and Kansas 
courts therefore have jurisdiction to try, convict, and sentence him. 
 
It is the duty of all residents of this country, both citizens and noncitizens of the 
United States, to obey the laws of both the national and state governments. See, e.g., 
Carlisle v. United States, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 147, 148, 21 L. Ed. 426 (1872) (Aliens 
domiciled in the United States "are bound to obey all the laws of the country, not 
immediately relating to citizenship, during their residence in it, and are equally amenable 
with citizens for any infraction of those laws."); United States v. James, 328 F.3d 953, 
954 (7th Cir. 2003) ("Laws of the United States apply to all persons within its borders."); 
Leonhard v. Eley, 151 F.2d 409, 410 (10th Cir. 1945) (alien residents must comply with 
state and federal laws); United States v. White, 480 Fed. Appx. 193, 194 (4th Cir. 2012) 
(unpublished opinion) ("Neither the citizenship nor the heritage of a defendant constitutes 
a key ingredient to a . . . court's jurisdiction in criminal prosecutions . . . .") 
 
This general principle applies to people purporting to have immunity from 
complying with laws because of their Moorish-American identity. See, e.g., Caldwell v. 
Wood, No. 3:07cv41, 2010 WL 5441670, at *17 (W.D.N.C. 2010) (unpublished opinion) 
(petitioner's allegation that membership in the Moorish-American Nation entitled him to 
ignore state laws was "ludicrous"); Bond v. N.C. Dept. of Corr., No. 3:14-CV-379-FDW, 
2014 WL 5509057, at *1 (W.D.N.C. 2014) (unpublished opinion) ("courts have 
repeatedly rejected arguments . . . by individuals who claim that they are not subject to 
the laws of the . . . individual States by virtue of their 'Moorish American' citizenship"); 
Allah El v. District Attorney for Bronx County, No. 09 CV 8746(GBD), 2009 WL 
3756331, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (unpublished opinion) (person's "purported status as a 
 
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Moorish-American citizen does not enable him to violate state . . . laws without 
consequence"). 
 
We agree with the conclusions of these other courts. Kansas courts had 
jurisdiction to try and sentence Verge. The judgment of the district court is affirmed.