Opinion ID: 2612858
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: hard-40 sentence

Text: K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 provides certain notice requirements before a mandatory term of imprisonment of 40 years can be imposed following a conviction for first-degree murder. If a defendant is charged with murder in the first degree, the county or district attorney shall file written notice if such attorney intends, upon conviction or adjudication of guilt of the defendant, to request a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant should be required to serve a mandatory term of imprisonment of 40 years. Such notice shall be filed with the court and served on the defendant or the defendant's attorney at the time of arraignment. If such notice is not filed and served as required by this subsection, the county or district attorney may not request such a sentencing proceeding and the defendant, if convicted of murder in the first degree, shall be sentenced as otherwise provided by law, and no mandatory term of imprisonment shall be imposed hereunder. K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624(1). Peckham contends that the filing provision of K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 was not complied with and therefore the district court erred in imposing a mandatory 40-year term of incarceration. Peckham was arraigned on April 29, 1992, following a two-day preliminary hearing. At arraignment, or 10 minutes before arraignment, Peckham and his counsel were served with the State's notice of intent to seek the hard-40 sentence. However, a copy of the notice was not file stamped until the following day at 8:05 a.m. The file-stamped notice in the court's file is not an original notice and bears a photocopied signature. Peckham maintains that the delayed filing of the notice precludes the imposition of a mandatory term of imprisonment. Peckham first raised this issue after the jury returned a guilty verdict on August 14, 1992. Argument on this issue on August 17, 1992, reveals the following. Mr. Rathbun (defense counsel) informed the court that he was served with the notice on April 29, 1992, within 10 minutes before arraignment. Mr. Jennings (counsel for the State) recalled that he served the original of the notice on the defendant and his counsel, and he placed a copy of the notice on the judge's bench at that time. The record of arraignment is silent as to those events. However, the district judge stated that both he and his court reporter had a recollection of a copy of the notice being placed on the bench. Further, the judge stated, [T]he notice that was placed on the judge's bench, though, apparently was not file stamped until the next day, April 30th. This implies that the copy file stamped on April 30, 1992, at 8:05 a.m. was the same copy that Mr. Jennings had placed on the bench on April 29, 1992, at the defendant's arraignment. Peckham relies on State v. Deavers, 252 Kan. 149, 843 P.2d 695 (1992). There, the State neglected to give the defendant notice of its intent to seek the hard 40 sentence at arraignment which concluded just prior to the noon recess, but at 2:00 p.m. the same day the State requested another hearing and served notice on the defendant at that time. This court held that the notice requirement of 21-4624 is mandatory, and where the State fails to follow the requirement, the hard-40 sentence cannot be imposed. Prejudice to the defendant was shown by the mere fact that the defendant was subject to the enhanced sentence despite the State's failure to comply with the statute. This court asked a rhetorical question: If 2 hours and 20 minutes beyond the requirement of the statute is acceptable, at what time beyond the statutory requirement does a court determine failure to comply with the statute is unacceptable? 252 Kan. at 168. Thus, this court vacated the defendant's sentence. The argument the State makes is two-fold. First, the State suggests that the language of K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 does not require that notice be filed with the court at the time of arraignment. The State posits that K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 has two requirements: (1) notice must be filed with the court (but there is no time limit on the filing requirement) and (2) notice must be served on the defendant at the time of arraignment. The phrase at the time of arraignment applies only to the service on the defendant requirement and not to the filed with the court requirement, according to the State. Alternatively, the State argues that it did timely comply with the filing requirement by filing the notice with the district judge at the time of Peckham's arraignment. There is a basis for construing the time frame within which notice must be served on a defendant to be different from the time frame within which to file such notice with the court. Although both the filing and service requirements are set forth in the same sentence, the phrase at the time of arraignment applies only to service of the notice and not to the filing requirement. Contrary to the State's assertion, notice may not be filed with the court after arraignment. Notice can be filed with the clerk of the district court after the defendant is bound over for arraignment. (See K.S.A. 22-2905, which sets out the procedure for filing the information after the defendant is bound over for arraignment.) The filing of the notice with the court is a prerequisite to serving the defendant. The defendant shall be served with the statutory notice at the time of the arraignment pursuant to K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624. The State's second argument depends on whether it did file the notice with the judge. K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 60-205(e) provides that a judge may permit pleadings and other papers to be filed with him or her, in which event the judge shall note thereon the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the clerk. Although this statute is in the code of civil procedure, it may be considered applicable in criminal proceedings, there being no provision in the criminal procedures to the contrary. State ex rel. Owens v. Hodge, 230 Kan. 804, 808, 641 P.2d 399 (1982). If papers are filed with the judge, filing is complete when the judge personally accepts custody of the papers. Tobin Constr. Co. v. Kemp, 239 Kan. 430, Syl. ¶ 1, 721 P.2d 278 (1986). In Tobin Constr. Co., this court noted the similarity of 60-205(e) to Rule 5(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, under which [t]he judge's failure to forward the papers forthwith or to enter a necessary date does not prejudice the party attempting to comply with the filing requirement. 239 Kan. at 436. The critical question is whether the State filed its notice with the judge by placing a copy of the notice on the judge's bench at the time of arraignment. In denying Peckham's motion to preclude imposition of the hard-40 sentence, the district court stated: In addition to physically serving the defendant with written notice of the Hard 40, the State's attorney states here in open court that he also brought up a copy of it and laid it on the judge's bench. I have a recollection of that. My court reporter has a recollection of that. For whatever it's worth to mention that on the record now. But, the record is silent of that. I reviewed the record and there's nothing in the record to actually confirm that. But, I do have a specific recollection of it. The defendant is  oh, then the notice that was placed on the judge's bench, though, apparently was not file stamped until the next day, April 30th. This does not show that the judge permitted the notice to be filed with him or that he personally accepted custody of the notice. It implies that the copy of the notice which was ultimately file stamped by the clerk was the same copy which the State placed on the judge's bench. However, there is no way to know who was responsible for having that copy file stamped. Did the judge or his court reporter transmit the notice to the clerk, or did the State retrieve the notice from the judge's bench and deliver it to the clerk the next day? As noted by the trial judge, the transcript of arraignment does not show that the State gave a copy of its notice to the court. According to the trial judge, a copy  not the original  was placed on the judge's bench. The State did not indicate on the record that it was placing a copy of the notice on the judge's bench with the intent to satisfy the filing requirement of K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 rather than as a courtesy to the judge. We are dealing with what in 1992 was this state's equivalent to the death penalty. Thus, the State should follow the statute. Sloppy, incomplete records are insufficient to overcome the statutory mandate that if the State fails to file and serve the notice as required by K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624(1), the mandatory term of imprisonment of 40 years cannot be imposed. We conclude that in the absence of a record showing the district judge was furnished with the notice with the intent it be filed with the court pursuant to K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 60-205(e), there is not compliance with K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624(1) and the mandatory term of imprisonment of 40 years cannot be imposed. The record before us gives no indication the copy placed on the judge's bench was for any purpose other than as a courtesy, and the trial judge made no finding or comment that gives any indication the trial judge intended or contemplated that the copy placed on his bench was offered or accepted for filing pursuant to 60-205(e). In State v. Johnson, 255 Kan. 140, 871 P.2d 1246 (1994), we reaffirmed State v. Deavers, 252 Kan. 149, Syl. ¶ 6, where this court concluded: The notice provisions of K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 21-4624, the first-degree murder `hard-40' sentencing statute, are mandatory. Failure of the State to comply with such provisions requires a sentence imposed thereunder to be vacated. The sentence imposed under K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-4624 is vacated, and we remand for resentencing.