Opinion ID: 2518358
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Did the Trial Court Err in Sentencing Kesselring?

Text: Kesselring argues that he was improperly sentenced for first-degree premeditated murder when there was no indication the jury made a unanimous finding of guilt on premeditated murder. We stated in Vontress : Where the sentencing court cannot ascertain whether the jury unanimously convicted the defendant of both premeditated murder and felony murder, the sentencing court has no authority for sentencing the defendant for premeditated murder. Vontress, 266 Kan. at 264. However, the State contends the trial court was well aware of this limitation and properly sentenced Kesselring for felony murder. According to the State, the trial court sentenced Kesselring to life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 years pursuant to K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 21-4706 and K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 22-3717(b)(2). K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 21-4706 provides that the sentence for off-grid crimes shall be imprisonment for life. K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 22-3717(b)(1) sets parole eligibility for first-degree premeditated murder at 25 years, while subsection (b)(2) sets parole eligibility for other off-grid offenses, which includes felony murder, at 20 years. The record reflects that this issue was raised at the sentencing hearing when defense counsel asked the trial court to make a finding that Kesselring would be parole eligible after 20 years rather than 25 because the jury did not specify whether it had convicted him under a theory of premeditation or felony murder. The prosecutor agreed that Kesselring would be parole eligible after 20 years but questioned whether the trial court needed to make a specific finding on the issue, stating that the Department of Corrections could make the determination. In announcing the life sentence, the trial court did not make a specific ruling as to Kesselring's parole eligibility; rather, the court simply sentenced Kesselring to imprisonment for life. However, the journal entry of sentencing reflects that Kesselring was sentenced to life with parole eligibility after 20 years for his first-degree murder conviction. Thus, the record makes clear that Kesselring was properly sentenced for felony murder, not premeditated murder. Kesselring's argument on this point fails.