Opinion ID: 2334796
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Right to Appeal and Relief

Text: The majority opinion and the Verge line of cases are also contrary to a point this court has emphasized: The right to appeal should not be unduly restricted. Martin, 232 Kan. at 780, 658 P.2d 1024. Further, we have generally held that a notice of appeal should be liberally construed and a defect in the notice should not be a basis for relief unless the defect results in prejudice to a party. See, e.g., Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. v. Americold Corporation, 293 Kan. 633, 270 P.3d 1074 (2011) (applying liberal construction to notice of appeal that did not include complete caption or all district court rulings). In Harpool, 246 Kan. 226, 788 P.2d 281, Martin, 232 Kan. 778, 658 P.2d 1024, Grimes, 229 Kan. 143, 622 P.2d 143, Whorton, 225 Kan. 251, 589 P.2d 610, and other cases such as State v. Wilkins, 269 Kan. 256, 7 P.3d 252 (2000), and State v. Ransom, 268 Kan. 653, 999 P.2d 272 (2000), we generally adopted the policy that our rules regarding a notice of appeal `should not be overly technical or detailed. The notice of appeal is not a device to alert the parties to all possible arguments on appeal. That is the purpose and function of the docketing statements and briefs filed by the parties.' Wilkins, 269 Kan. at 269, 7 P.3d 252 (quoting State v. Boyd, 268 Kan. 600, 999 P.2d 265 [2000]); see Bryson v. Wichita State University, 19 Kan.App.2d 1104, 1106, 880 P.2d 800, rev. denied 256 Kan. 994 (1994) (pointing to nonbinding nature of docketing statement's list of issues on appeal); but see Boyd, 268 Kan. at 605-08, 999 P.2d 265 (applying prejudice rule to ambiguity regarding judgment from which appeal was taken but distinguishing Kerby and G.W.A. ). Here, it cannot be denied that the State cited one ground for the appeal in its notice of appeala question reservedand yet ultimately sought relief from the district court's judgment rather than a prospective ruling in its brief. And, as the State admitted at oral argument, it never explicitly amended its notice of appeal. Yet, the citation in the notice of appeal was not required; it was superfluous. Under that circumstance, I would apply our liberal construction of a notice of appeal and strike the unnecessary statement. Of course, that would not be appropriate if doing so resulted in prejudice to Roland Berreth or if the Court of Appeals had been left to comb the record to determine the basis of jurisdiction. See Kerby, 259 Kan. at 105-06, 910 P.2d 836. Neither of those circumstances is present, however. Rather, Berreth and the Court of Appeals were clearly alerted to the nature of the relief sought by the State. In its brief to the Court of Appeals in Berreth I, the State made no attempt to present a question reserved. As Berreth points out, the State did not argue a ground for the court's consideration of a question reserved as it presumably would have done if that was the basis for the argument presented to the Court of Appeals. See State v. Skolaut, 286 Kan. 219, 225, 182 P.3d 1231 (2008) ([A]ppellate courts will accept appeal of questions reserved when the issues are `matters of statewide interest important to the correct and uniform administration of the criminal law and the interpretation of statutes.'). Rather, the State attacked Berreth's sentence, arguing the district judge erred in finding Berreth's sentence for aggravated kidnapping was multiplicitous with his crimes of criminal sodomy. In its second issue, the State cited K.S.A. 60-1507(f) to argue that Berreth's request for collateral relief was untimely. Consistent with the arguments it made throughout the brief, the State concluded by requesting that [t]he defendant's convictions should be reinstated. The district [j]udge's decision of March 9, 2005 ... should be reversed and the original sentence should be reimposed. In responding to these arguments in his Berreth I appellate brief before the Court of Appeals, Berreth clearly understood that the State was requesting relief from the judgment. Berreth did not object to a consideration of whether his conviction for aggravated kidnapping should have been vacated; he did not assert that the State was limited to a question reserved. Instead he argued his lesser sentence for kidnapping must be affirmed. The district court did not err. Further, as discussed by the majority, Berreth had asked the district court to consider the action as a K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding. Then, on appeal, in responding to the State's issue that the attack was untimely under K.S.A. 60-1507(f), Berreth did not argue that the statute did not apply; rather, he argued that it should not be applied retroactively. Because both parties argued the appeal on the basis of K.S.A. 60-1507, I disagree with the majority's characterization that the Court of Appeals sua sponte determined the jurisdictional basis for the appeal. Berreth made it clear he sought relief under K.S.A. 60-1507, and the State's brief clearly sought relief from an erroneous ruling it considered to have been decided under K.S.A. 60-1507. The State made the election the majority requires. The Berreth I court had jurisdiction to grant the remedy requested in the State's Berreth I brief by reversing Berreth's sentence after concluding the district judge erred in determining Berreth's sentences were multiplicitous. See State v. Berreth, No. 94,310, ___ Kan.App.2d ___, 2007 WL 806002 (Kan.App.2007) (unpublished opinion) ( Berreth I ). Yet, the majority in this appeal appears to hold that the State's focus in its Berreth II briefs on a question reserved erases the State's Berreth I argument. This conclusion means that a party's postjudgment actions can eviscerate the jurisdictional basis for a judgment. Such a principle would be contrary to all principles related to the finality of a judgment. The Berreth II Court of Appeals was justified in looking at the record in Berreth I and examining the basis for its own decision. The Berreth II Court of Appeals correctly determined the Berreth I judgment was valid and should not be set aside. I would affirm that holding. ROSEN, J., joins in the foregoing dissent.