Opinion ID: 2549552
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Issue 1. Did the district court violate the principles of Apprendi v. New Jersey and State v. Gould by approving the State's motion to try Kunellis as an adult?

Text: Kunellis argues that as a result of the district court's approval of the State's motion to waive juvenile court jurisdiction, the court subjected him to increased potential penalties without a jury's determination of necessary facts. This purported violation of the principles as enunciated in Apprendi v. New Jersey and State v. Gould raises constitutional issues, and our review is therefore unlimited. See Mudd v. Neosho Memorial Regional Med. Center, 275 Kan. 187, 197, 62 P.3d 236 (2003). We observe, however, that Kunellis failed to raise this issue until now. While we might overlook this failure to preserve the issue in order to prevent a denial of his fundamental rights pursuant to State v. Coleman, 271 Kan. 733, 735, 26 P.3d 613 (2001), we observe that we resolved this identical Apprendi argument against another defendant in State v. Jones, 273 Kan. 756, Syl. ¶ 5, 47 P.3d 783, cert. denied 537 U.S. 980 (2002). Kunellis' argument therefore has no merit.