Opinion ID: 2588256
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: unaggregating the sentence

Text: Anderson contends his 1979 offense retains its individuality despite aggregation of sentences and, therefore, upon serving his sentence for the 1979 offense he was entitled to have the offense removed and his parole eligibility, conditional release, and sentence term recalculated. Anderson cites Price v. State, 28 Kan. App.2d 854, 21 P.3d 1021, rev. denied 271 Kan. 1037 (2001), and Blomeyer for support. In Price, the issue was whether the petitioner was entitled to retroactive conversion under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq. Price had been sentenced to 5 to 20 years each on his convictions for aggravated burglary and rape, and his sentence had been aggregated to a term of 10 to 40 years. After serving 20 years, Price contended he had served his sentence for rape and that he was entitled to have his sentence converted. The Court of Appeals disagreed, ultimately finding that Price was ineligible for conversion because he had served his sentence for aggravated burglary first and was still serving his sentence for rape. 28 Kan. App.2d at 859. The Price court declined to adopt the State's argument that Price's sentences were being served simultaneously because they were aggregated. Instead, the court recognized that consecutive sentences are not treated as one when aggregated and the identity of each punishment is preserved. 28 Kan. App.2d at 857-58. In Blomeyer, the Court of Appeals was also faced with a claim that a prisoner was entitled to conversion of his sentence under the KSGA. Blomeyer had been convicted and sentenced initially to 1 to 5 years for conspiracy to deliver cocaine. While on parole, Blomeyer was convicted of two additional offenses. He was convicted of felony theft, receiving a sentence of 1 to 2 years, and felony burglary, receiving a sentence of 2½ to 8 years. Pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4608(c), the sentences for these offenses were imposed consecutive to each other and consecutive to his prior offense. In determining whether Blomeyer was entitled to conversion of his aggregated sentence, the Department of Corrections treated the three offenses as aggregated and determined that Blomeyer will still serving time for the first crime, the conspiracy to deliver cocaine, and was not entitled to conversion of his sentence. The Blomeyer court held that because Blomeyer had served longer than the 5-year maximum term on his original conviction for conspiracy to deliver cocaine, he was entitled to have his sentence converted. 22 Kan. App.2d at 386. At first blush, Price and Blomeyer seem to support Anderson's contention that after serving the maximum time on his initial offense the sentence on that offense is deemed to have been served. However, upon closer examination, the facts in those cases differ from those in this case and support the DOC's assertion that Anderson is not entitled to recalculation of parole eligibility, conditional release, and maximum dates without inclusion of his 1979 offense. In Price and Blomeyer, the issue was conversion of a sentence under the KSGA. Both courts recognized that the legislature intended the aggregation rules under K.S.A. 21-4608(f) to be used in determining the time to be served on multiple sentences, the sentence begins date, and parole eligibility and conditional release dates, and found that the aggregation rules do not apply for purposes of sentence conversion. Price, 28 Kan. App.2d at 858; Blomeyer, 22 Kan. App.2d at 385. The DOC contends that after aggregation, sentences lose their individual identities and become one sentence. This argument was specifically rejected by the Court of Appeals in Price, which stated: `Consecutive sentences may not be treated collectively as one for the aggregate term of all, and the identity of the punishment for each must be preserved.' 24 C.J.S., Criminal Law § 1582. In other words, a consecutive sentence `is one which commences at the termination of another term of imprisonment to which [an] accused has been sentenced. A prisoner serving the first of several consecutive sentences is not serving the other sentences ... the prisoner serves only one sentence at a time.' 24 C.J.S., Criminal Law § 1582. See State v. Bell, 6 Kan. App. 2d 573, 574, 631 P.2d 254 (1981) (defining `consecutive sentences' as sentences `following in a train, succeeding one another in a regular order.'). As a result, on July 1, 1993, Price was either on conditional release for aggravated burglary or for rape, but not for both offenses. 28 Kan. App.2d at 858. Anderson is essentially urging this court to create a mechanism for recalculation of parole eligibility, conditional release, and maximum dates after service of the maximum time on the first offense. The fact that each of Anderson's sentences retains its individual identity, however, does not entitle Anderson to have his sentence unaggregated for the purpose of sentence recalculation. Neither the statutes nor the regulations provide for such a recalculation. The legislature intended the aggregation rules to be used in making this calculation. See Price, 28 Kan. App.2d at 858; Blomeyer, 22 Kan. App.2d at 385. Anderson is required to serve additional time by the inclusion of his 1979 offense in the calculation because that was the legislature's intent. The judgments of the Court of Appeals and the district court are affirmed.