Court Opinion

ID: 9955796
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-29 15:04:39.967111+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:21.801758
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

                                             No. 124,174

                                         STATE OF KANSAS,
                                             Appellee,

                                                   v.

                                  DEANTE LAPAKA WATLEY JONES,
                                           Appellant.

                                   SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

        K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 22-3602(a) prohibits most appeals by criminal defendants who
plead guilty or nolo contendere except motions attacking a sentence under K.S.A. 60-
1507 and its amendments by prisoners in custody. It does not permit direct appeal of a
district court's ruling on a self-defense immunity claim under K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21-5231
when a defendant subsequently pleads guilty or nolo contendere in the same proceeding.

        Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion filed January 6, 2023.
Appeal from Reno District Court; JOSEPH L. MCCARVILLE III, judge. Oral argument held January 31,
2024. Opinion filed March 29, 2024. Judgment of the Court of Appeals dismissing the appeal is affirmed
on the issue subject to review.

        Kai Tate Mann, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the briefs for
appellant.

        Andrew R. Davidson, deputy district attorney, argued the cause, and Thomas Stanton, district
attorney, Derek Schmidt, former attorney general, and Kris W. Kobach, attorney general, were with him
on the briefs for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by
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       BILES, J.: Deante Lapaka Watley Jones pled guilty to two counts of aggravated
battery after the district court rejected his self-defense immunity claim. He appeals,
arguing the district court was wrong to reject his self-defense argument. A Court of
Appeals panel dismissed the appeal after concluding it lacked appellate jurisdiction
because of his guilty plea. State v. Jones, No. 124,174, 2023 WL 119911, at *2-3 (Kan.
App. 2023) (unpublished opinion). On review, we agree with the panel.

                       FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

       Jones shot two people during a confrontation. The State charged him with two
felony counts of aggravated battery. Jones sought to dismiss the charges based on self-
defense immunity. The district court rejected his argument after an evidentiary hearing.
He eventually pled guilty to those two counts.

       After sentencing, Jones appealed, raising two issues: whether the court erred in
denying his self-defense claim, and whether the Kansas Offender Registration Act,
K.S.A. 22-4901 et seq., violates the compelled speech doctrine under the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution. The panel dismissed the first issue for lack
of appellate jurisdiction and declined to reach the second claim as unpreserved. Jones,
2023 WL 119911, at *6.

       Unsatisfied, Jones sought review from this court, which we granted on the first
issue only. Our jurisdiction is proper. K.S.A. 20-3018(b) (providing for petitions for
review of Court of Appeals decisions); K.S.A. 60-2101(b) (Supreme Court has
jurisdiction to review Court of Appeals decisions upon petition for review).

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                                          ANALYSIS

       Jones argues the panel had jurisdiction to consider the district court's denial of his
immunity claim, even though he later pled guilty. Whether appellate jurisdiction exists is
a question of law subject to unlimited review. State v. Clark, 313 Kan. 556, 560, 486 P.3d
591 (2021). Similarly, statutory interpretation presents a question of law subject to
unlimited review. State v. Newman-Caddell, 317 Kan. 251, 259, 527 P.3d 911 (2023).

Discussion

       K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 22-3602(a) prohibits most appeals by defendants who plead
guilty or nolo contendere "except that jurisdictional or other grounds going to the
legality of the proceedings may be raised by the defendant as provided in K.S.A. 60-1507,
and amendments thereto." (Emphasis added.) Jones argues his appeal falls within this
jurisdictional exception. He claims the district court lost its authority to accept his plea
because it wrongfully denied his self-defense immunity motion. See K.S.A. 2022 Supp.
21-5231. His logic seems to require an appellate court to affirm such a denial before a
district court can continue with the case or accept a plea. We disagree.

       In State v. Smith, 311 Kan. 109, 456 P.3d 1004 (2020), the court rejected a
somewhat similar claim when the defendant pled guilty to refusing to submit to an
alcohol or drug test and driving while a habitual violator. There, the defendant's plea
came after the district court rejected his constitutional challenge to the statute
criminalizing test refusal. He appealed the convictions, arguing the court did not have
jurisdiction to convict him under an unconstitutional statute. A Court of Appeals panel
declined to consider this claim finding it lacked appellate jurisdiction. The Smith court
affirmed the panel, stating that K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 22-3602(a)'s language generally
prohibits appeals from pleas but allows prisoners in custody to still file motions under

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K.S.A. 60-1507. 311 Kan. at 121-22. It held permitting appellate jurisdiction over any
"jurisdictional or other grounds going to the legality of the proceedings" would make it
too easy to evade the statutory prohibition against appeals after a guilty plea. 311 Kan. at
114.

       Similarly, Jones was convicted after he pled guilty, and now he directly appeals
from his convictions. Smith's interpretation of K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 22-3602(a) controls.
We do not have appellate jurisdiction to review the merits of his claim.

       Judgment of the Court of Appeals dismissing the appeal is affirmed on the issue
subject to review.

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