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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

No. 114,008

STATE OF KANSAS,

Appellee,

v.

ESSEX SIMS,

Appellant.

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

1.

An appellate court reviews a district court's summary denial of a motion to correct 

an illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) de novo because the reviewing court has the 

same access to the motions, records, and files. The reviewing court, like the district court, 

must determine whether the documents conclusively show the defendant is not entitled to 

relief. 

2.

Whether a sentence is illegal is a question of law over which an appellate court has 

unlimited review. An illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) is one: (a) imposed by a 

court without jurisdiction; (b) that does not conform to the statutory provisions, either in 

the character or the term of the punishment authorized; or (c) that is ambiguous with 

respect to the time and manner in which it is to be served. 

3.

Under the KSGA, the legislature intended for all prior convictions and juvenile 

adjudications, including those convictions and adjudications occurring before KSGA 
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implementation, to be considered and scored for purposes of determining an offender's 

criminal history score. 

4.

A pre-KSGA conviction and/or adjudication must be classified as either a person 

or nonperson offense by comparing the criminal statute under which the prior offense 

arose to the comparable post-KSGA criminal statute. The comparable post-KSGA 

Kansas criminal statute is the one in effect at the time the current crime of conviction was 

committed. 

5.

The legislature has the power to affix punishments by designating prior offenses as 

person or nonperson offenses for the purposes of calculating the sentence for a current 

crime of conviction under the KSGA. The exercise of this legislative authority does not 

implicate the constitutional protections described in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 

466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000).

Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; JOHN J. KISNER, JR., judge. Opinion filed June 9, 2017. 

Affirmed.

Carl F.A. Maughan, of Maughan Law Group LC, of Wichita, and Sean M.A. Hatfield, of the 

same firm, were on the brief for appellant. 

Boyd K. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, 

attorney general, were on the brief for appellee.
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The opinion of the court was delivered by

BILES, J.: Essex T. Sims was convicted of a 1995 aggravated battery and 

sentenced under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 1994 Supp. 21-

4701 et seq. In calculating his criminal history, the sentencing court included a 1992 

juvenile adjudication for aggravated assault, which it classified as a person felony. In 

2015, Sims moved to correct what he claimed was an illegal sentence. The district court 

summarily denied relief. We reject each assertion of error and affirm.

We hold: (1) Sims is not entitled to have the 1992 juvenile adjudication for 

aggravated assault classified as a nonperson offense under State v. Murdock, 299 Kan. 

312, 319, 323 P.3d 846 (2014) (regarding person/nonperson classification of prior out-ofstate offenses for purposes of calculating criminal history score), overruled by State v. 

Keel, 302 Kan. 560, 357 P.3d 251 (2015), cert. denied 136 S. Ct. 865 (2016); (2) the 

KSGA's person/nonperson classification of pre-KSGA offenses does not violate the Sixth 

Amendment's prohibition on nonjury factual findings that increase a defendant's 

sentence; and (3) the district court did not deprive Sims of a statutory right to a hearing 

when it summarily denied relief.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A jury convicted Sims of felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one 

count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and one count of 

criminal possession of a firearm. These crimes occurred in March 1995. The presentence 

investigation revealed two prior offenses: a 1992 juvenile adjudication for theft scored as 

a nonperson felony and a 1992 juvenile adjudication for aggravated assault scored as a 

person felony.
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The sentencing court imposed a life sentence for the felony-murder conviction. 

Applying a criminal history score of "C," the district court imposed a consecutive 75-

month sentence for one of the aggravated battery convictions. This court affirmed his 

convictions in State v. Sims, 262 Kan. 165, 936 P.2d 779 (1997).

In 2015, Sims filed a motion to correct the aggravated battery sentence, arguing 

the sentencing court used an incorrect criminal history score because the 1992 aggravated 

assault was misclassified as a person crime. For that proposition, Sims relied on 

Murdock. The district court summarily denied the motion. Sims timely appealed. 

Jurisdiction is proper. See K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 22-3601(b)(3) (Supreme Court has 

jurisdiction over a case in which life sentence is imposed); State v. Sims, 294 Kan. 821, 

823-24, 280 P.3d 780 (2012) (Supreme Court has jurisdiction over motion to correct an 

illegal sentence filed in a case in which defendant received a life sentence).

ANALYSIS

Under K.S.A. 22-3504(1), the court may correct an illegal sentence at any time. 

Sims argues the district court erred summarily denying his motion because (1) his preKSGA aggravated battery offense should be reclassified as a nonperson offense under 

Murdock, 299 Kan. 312; (2) the person/nonperson classification cannot be applied to his 

pre-KSGA crime under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 

L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000); and (3) the court's summary denial of his motion violated his

statutory right to a hearing. 

An illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) is one: (1) imposed by a court 

without jurisdiction; (2) that does not conform to the statutory provisions, either in 

character or the term of the punishment authorized; or (3) that is ambiguous with respect 
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to time and manner in which it is to be served. State v. Gilbert, 299 Kan. 797, 801, 326 

P.3d 1060 (2014).

Standard of review

An appellate court reviews a district court's summary denial of a motion to correct 

an illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1) de novo because the appellate court has the 

same access to the motions, records, and files. Gilbert, 299 Kan. at 801. The question on 

appeal is whether the documents conclusively show the defendant is not entitled to relief. 

299 Kan. at 801.

There is no relief under Murdock

Sims first argues his prior aggravated assault offense must be reclassified under 

Murdock. At the time of Sims' current aggravated battery offense, the KSGA required 

that "[a]ll prior adult felony convictions . . . will be considered and scored" and that "[a]ll 

juvenile adjudications which would constitute a person felony will not decay or be 

forgiven." K.S.A. 21-4710(d)(2), (6). But the act was mostly silent on how to determine 

whether a pre-KSGA offense should be scored as a person or nonperson crime. Keel, 302 

Kan. at 572.

In Murdock, the court held a defendant's out-of-state felony convictions for 

robbery that were committed before the KSGA's 1993 enactment were improperly 

classified as person felonies for sentencing purposes. 299 Kan. at 319. The applicable 

KSGA provision required that prior out-of-state crimes be categorized as person or 

nonperson offenses by referring to "comparable" Kansas offenses. 299 Kan. at 314 

(quoting K.S.A. 21-4711[e]). But since the statute did not provide direction on whether to 

compare the out-of-state offense to the comparable Kansas offense as codified at the time 
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of the out-of-state offense or as codified at the time of the current conviction, the court 

held the robbery convictions should have been classified as nonperson felonies. 299 Kan. 

at 319. The court acknowledged "this rule results in the classification of all out-of-state 

pre-1993 crimes as nonperson felonies." 299 Kan. at 319.

But while Sims' illegal sentence appeal was pending, Murdock was overturned. 

See Keel, 302 Kan. at 589. The Keel court held, "[T]he classification of a prior conviction 

or juvenile adjudication as a person or nonperson offense for criminal history purposes 

under the KSGA is determined based on the classification in effect for the comparable 

Kansas offense at the time the current crime of conviction was committed." 302 Kan. at 

590.

In his brief, Sims acknowledges Keel. But he also notes the Keel mandate was 

stayed pending a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court and 

"respectfully submits the arguments in support of the reversal of the district court's 

decision on this case based upon Murdock, in order to preserve the arguments and issues 

for future review." Notably, the Court denied the petition for certiorari in Keel on January 

11, 2016, and the mandate issued on January 29, 2016.

Based on Keel, Sims' argument that Murdock should be extended to control the 

classification of his in-state pre-KSGA offense fails. The general rule in Kansas is that an 

overruling decision is applied to all similar cases pending as of the date of the overruling 

decision, regardless of when the cause of action accrued. State v. Waterberry, 248 Kan. 

169, 172, 804 P.2d 1000 (1991); see also Murphy v. Nelson, 260 Kan. 589, 597, 921 P.2d 

1225 (1996) (citing Waterberry, 248 Kan. 169, Syl. ¶ 1). Sims' motion was pending on 

appeal when Keel was decided, and Sims advances no substantive argument why this 

general rule should not apply and why Keel should not control his case.
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Because Sims' case is controlled by Keel, the court need not address his argument 

that K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6810(d) and (e) violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United 

States Constitution by statutorily altering the rule announced in Murdock and applying 

that change retroactively. Since Keel construed the statute regarding person/nonperson 

classifications that was in effect at the time Sims committed his aggravated battery 

offense, the 2016 statute is not being retroactively applied to him. Keel, 302 Kan. at 590-

91 (noting court's construction of statute in effect at time of defendant's crime to permit 

person classification of pre-KSGA offenses obviated need for ex post facto analysis).

Applying Keel, the sentencing court properly classified Sims' pre-KSGA 

aggravated assault adjudication as a person felony. At the time Sims committed his 

current crime, K.S.A. 21-3410 defined "aggravated assault" in a manner consistent with 

the definition of the crime at the time of his prior offense and classified the crime as a 

severity level 7, person felony. Compare K.S.A. 21-3410 (defining "aggravated assault" 

as an assault committed with a deadly weapon; while disguised to conceal identity; or 

with intent to commit any felony) with K.S.A. 21-3410 (Ensley 1988) (defining 

"aggravated assault" as unlawfully assaulting or striking at another with a deadly weapon; 

threatening or menacing another while disguised to conceal identity; or assaulting another 

with intent to commit any felony). Cf. State v. Vandervort, 276 Kan. 164, 179, 72 P.3d 

925 (2003) (holding closest Kansas "approximation" to out-of-state statute under which 

conviction arose was comparable offense for classification purposes, rejecting argument 

that elements must be identical, and noting "[f]or purposes of determining criminal 

history, the offenses need only be comparable, not identical"), overruled on other 

grounds by State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018, 350 P.3d 1054 (2015).
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The person/nonperson classification is a question of law

Sims next argues his prior aggravated assault offense must be reclassified as a 

nonperson crime because "[r]etroactively defining the past crimes of conviction as person 

crimes changes the elements upon which the defendant was sentenced and increases the 

sentence based upon [a] finding of fact beyond [the] mere existence of a prior criminal 

conviction." This argument is without merit because the statutory person/nonperson 

classification for a prior crime for the purposes of determining the crime's effect on the 

sentence for the current conviction is within the legislature's power to affix punishment. 

See State v. Collier, 306 Kan. ___, ___ P.3d ___ (No. 114,304, filed June 2, 2017), slip 

op. at 10 (rejecting identical argument). 

Summary denial was appropriate

Finally, Sims argues the district court erred by denying his motion without a 

hearing. He contends the plain language of "K.S.A. 22-3504 grants the defendant the 

right to a hearing to correct an illegal sentence, and to be personally present with the 

assistance of counsel." This argument is without merit because the motions, records, and 

files in the present case conclusively show Sims is not entitled to relief. Therefore, the 

district court did not err by summarily denying the motion. See State v. Gray, 303 Kan. 

1011, 1013, 368 P.3d 1113 (2016) (When a defendant files a motion to correct illegal 

sentence, a district court may dismiss the motion without a hearing or appointment of 

counsel if "'"'"the motion, files, and records of the case conclusively show the defendant 

is not entitled to relief."'"'"); see also Collier, slip op. at 11 (applying Gray to reject 

identical arguments on facts nearly identical to Sims' case).

Affirmed.