Kansas Supreme Court Decisions 2022
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: 123096
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for the first-degree premediated murder of her estranged husband, holding that Defendant was not entitled to reversal on her claims of error. Specifically, the Supreme…
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: 124737
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Defendant's most recent request for postconviction discovery of the ballistics report from her case, holding that the district court did not err by…
Date: December 2, 2022
Docket Number: 122557
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction for felony fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, holding that the court of appeals misapplied the standard…
Date: November 10, 2022
Docket Number: 123077
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions for two counts of violating the Kansas Offender Records Act, Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-4901 et seq., holding that holding that the registration directive in 22-4907(a)(12) is…
Date: October 28, 2022
Docket Number: 124493
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's "Motion to Set Aside and Correction of Illegal Sentence," holding that Kansas courts had jurisdiction to try and sentence Defendant. In…
Date: October 14, 2022
Docket Number: 124178
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence in part and vacated it in part, holding that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion by imposing a hard fifty life sentence for premeditated murder, but the judge…
Date: October 14, 2022
Docket Number: 124319
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's motion to modify his sentence under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-6628(c), which requires courts to modify sentences if certain sentencing provisions…
Date: September 30, 2022
Docket Number: 124071
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the district court denying Appellant's petition for postconviction DNA testing under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-2512, holding that the district court erred in summarily denying the…
Date: September 16, 2022
Docket Number: 122626
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of first-degree felony murder, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a…
Date: September 9, 2022
Docket Number: 123599
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's appeal from the denial of her request for custody of N.E., holding that the doctrine of stare decisis warranted this Court's…
Date: August 26, 2022
Docket Number: 122682
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction for driving under the influence (DUI), in violation of Kan. Stat. Ann. 8-1567(a)(3), holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction but that an…
Date: August 26, 2022
Docket Number: 122758
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals affirming and remanding this criminal case with directions, holding that there was no error in the district court's award of…
Date: August 19, 2022
Docket Number: 123323
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree premeditated murder and his sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for fifty years, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the…
Date: August 12, 2022
Docket Number: 121447
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal from the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the ruling of the district court that Catherine Roll did not have a statutory right to remain at Parsons State Hospital and…
Date: August 12, 2022
Docket Number: 122007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing two of the charges against Appellant, which arose under Wichita Municipal Ordinances (W.M.O.) 3.06.030.A and 3.30.030.A, holding that W.M.O.…
Date: August 5, 2022
Docket Number: 122039
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of his claims of error. Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1)…
Date: August 5, 2022
Docket Number: 124415
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Kan. Stat. Ann. 74-2113 defines the rank of major within the classified service under the Kansas Civil Service Act (KCSA), Kan. Stat. Ann. 75-2925 et seq., and that K.A.R. 1-7-4 does not…
Date: July 29, 2022
Docket Number: 121014
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction for violating the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) by failing to register, holding that the legislature's decision…
Date: July 29, 2022
Docket Number: 121269
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of first-degree murder and other crimes, holding that an assumed error and a prosecutorial error occurred in the proceedings below, but those errors did not require a…
Date: July 29, 2022
Docket Number: 122128
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search that led to the State charging…
Date: July 29, 2022
Docket Number: 122268
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing this case on the grounds that state law immunized Whichita Police Officer Dexter Betts's use of deadly force in self-defense, holding that Kan.…
Date: July 29, 2022
Docket Number: 124014
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of violating the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) by failing to register, holding…
Date: July 15, 2022
Docket Number: 124047
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's second pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence for offenses he committed in 1993, holding that the trial court correctly sentenced…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: 121503
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the trial court judge dismissing this case with prejudice after suppressing evidence as a discovery sanction, holding that, under…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: 122582
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the rulings of the lower courts against the City of Lansing in this dispute between municipalities in Leavenworth Country over the future and assets of a fire district, holding that an…
Date: July 1, 2022
Docket Number: 121053
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of a panel of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of possession of more than 3.5 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute,…
Date: July 1, 2022
Docket Number: 122162
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) concluding that Johnson County's valuations for the 2016 and 2017 tax years involving eleven Walmart and Sam's Club "big box" stores in the…
Date: July 1, 2022
Docket Number: 124156
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this lawsuit after its prior decision that a 2006 agreement between the cities of Spring Hill and Olathe was unenforceable as a governmental action…
Date: June 21, 2022
Docket Number: 125083
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court upheld the validity of Substitute for Senate Bill 563 (Sub. SB 563), holding that the Kansas State House and Kansas State Senate reapportionment maps contained within Sub. SB 563 contain no…
Date: June 21, 2022
Docket Number: 125092
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the lower court finding the legislative reapportionment in the map colloquially known as "Ad Astra 2" constitutionally deficient as a partisan and racial gerrymander, holding…
Date: June 17, 2022
Docket Number: 121411
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for failing to register as a violent offender in Shawnee County in November 2017, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction. Defendant's…
Date: June 17, 2022
Docket Number: 122897
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, holding that any error in this case did not affect the verdict and was therefore harmless. On appeal, Defendant…
Date: June 10, 2022
Docket Number: 122163
Justia Opinion Summary: After a planned methamphetamine purchase fell apart, the buyers attacked the sellers. Hillard was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the kidnapping, torture, and killing of Goodpaster and…
Date: June 10, 2022
Docket Number: 123613
Justia Opinion Summary: Bailey was convicted of aggravated criminal sodomy in 1988 for his role in an incident in the Wyandotte County jail. Bailey's third petition for forensic DNA testing of biological material from a rape kit was summarily…
Date: June 10, 2022
Docket Number: 124134
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Ross was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and criminal possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus nine months (consecutive) for criminal possession of a…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 121866
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for felony murder and aggravated robbery, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion in the proceedings below. On appeal, Defendant argued that the…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 123856
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Appellant's second direct appeal asserting claims that would have existed at the time the first appeal was filed, holding that the Court lacked jurisdiction over Appellant's untimely…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 123959
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily dismissing Defendant's motion filed under Kan. stat. Ann. 22-3501 seeking a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, holding that the district…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 124028
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily denying Defendant's motions to correct illegal sentences for three counts of first-degree murder and other crimes, holding that Defendant's claims…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 120726
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of felony murder with the underlying felony of attempted distribution of marijuana, holding that there was no error in the proceedings…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 120935
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court reversing the order of the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) affirming the determination of the Kansas Department of…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 121181
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree felony murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of child endangerment, and other crimes, holding that there was no error in the proceedings…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 121862
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of possessing methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia, rendered after a second trial, holding that there was no error, either individually or cumulatively,…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 123410
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions of two alternative counts of felony murder, holding that there was insufficient evidence to support the convictions. Defendant's first felony-murder conviction was…
Date: May 13, 2022
Docket Number: 117903
Justia Opinion Summary: In this consolidated workers compensation appeal arising from disputes between EagleMed, LLC, a critical care transportation service, and Travelers Insurance, a workers compensation insurance carrier, the Supreme Court…
Date: May 6, 2022
Docket Number: 122294
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Grandparents' appeal in this case involving a parentage issue and the enforceability of a "co-parenting agreement," holding that the current posture of this case left Grandparents without…
Date: May 6, 2022
Docket Number: 122525
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court summarily denying Defendant's pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that the district court did not err. Defendant was sentenced to life…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 120339
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, and criminal threat, holding that there was no prejudicial error in the proceedings below. Specifically, the Supreme Court…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 122645
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for premeditated first-degree murder and his sentence of life without the possibility of parole for fifty years, holding that there was no error in the proceedings…
Date: April 22, 2022
Docket Number: 121094
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case, the Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the district court and the court of appeals concluding that Kansas did not have "proximate result" jurisdiction under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-5106, holding…
Date: April 22, 2022
Docket Number: 121768
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the opinion of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Defendants' motions for dismissal and summary judgment, holding that there…
Date: April 22, 2022
Docket Number: 122331
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court revoking Defendant's probation and order him to serve his original prison sentence, holding that the district court's revocation of Defendant's probation…
Date: April 22, 2022
Docket Number: 123820
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence imposed following Defendant's plea of guilty to two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of felony theft, holding that the district court did not abuse its…
Date: April 15, 2022
Docket Number: 120611
Justia Opinion Summary: In this second appeal in a class action case alleging a breach of the implied duty to market gas and underpaid royalties the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court denying a class's motion to amend its…
Date: April 1, 2022
Docket Number: 121944
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of felony possession of methamphetamine, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use, and misdemeanor theft, holding that the district court did not…
Date: March 25, 2022
Docket Number: 114395
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motions filed under Kan. Stat. Ann. 60-1507 and Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504, holding that Defendant's section 60-1507 motion was untimely and…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: 122078
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a panel of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to the Kansas Workers Compensation Fund on the Fund's collateral action…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: 123302
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court entering judgment upon the jury's verdict and convicting Defendant of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and criminal possession of a weapon, holding…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: 123570
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to set aside a void judgment under Kan. Stat. Ann. 60-260(b)(4) and his motion to correct an illegal sentence under Kan. Stat. Ann.…
Date: March 11, 2022
Docket Number: 119747
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that the district court did not err in summarily denying Defendant's motion. A jury…
Date: March 11, 2022
Docket Number: 121888
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court dissolving a writ of habeas corpus and finding that Appellant was properly classified as a sex offender under…
Date: March 11, 2022
Docket Number: 123419
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence imposed by the district court in connection with his plea of guilty to two counts of felony first-degree murder, with kidnapping as the underlying felony, holding that there was no…
Date: March 4, 2022
Docket Number: 122271
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated robbery and his resulting sentences, holding that there was no reversible error. Defendant was found guilty by a jury…
Date: March 4, 2022
Docket Number: 122773
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to withdraw plea, which Defendant filed approximately seven years after he was convicted, holding that the district court did not…
Date: March 4, 2022
Docket Number: 122925
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Defendant's postsentencing motion to withdraw his plea of no contest to first-degree felony murder, holding that Defendant did not meet his burden to…
Date: March 4, 2022
Docket Number: 124849
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied an amended petition in mandamus and quo warranto filed by the Kansas Attorney General, on behalf of Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Scott Schwab and Wyandotte County Election Commissioner…
Date: February 25, 2022
Docket Number: 123302
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and criminal possession of a firearm, holding that there was no prejudicial error in the proceedings below. After he was…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 117034
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of two police officers in this complaint seeking money damages under various state law tort theories, holding that the…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 122680
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals vacating Defendant's sentence imposed following his plea of guilty to aggravated escape from custody, holding that the court of appeals erred in vacating…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 123831
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Appellant was convicted of criminal…
Date: February 11, 2022
Docket Number: 120434
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the panel of the court of appeals that applied the 2018 amendments to Kan. Stat. Ann. 8-1567, the driving under the influence (DUI) statute, to Defendant, who committed a DUI before, but was…
Date: February 11, 2022
Docket Number: 123515
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Defendant's motion for postconviction discovery, holding that Defendant failed to demonstrate that the district court's ruling constituted an abuse of…
Date: February 4, 2022
Docket Number: 122837
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of first-degree felony murder and one count each of intentional second-degree murder and attempted intentional second-degree murder, holding that Defendant…
Date: January 28, 2022
Docket Number: 120464
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's drug-related convictions stemming from law enforcement's seizure of forty-four pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop of a vehicle Defendant did not own or occupy, holding that…
Date: January 28, 2022
Docket Number: 122706
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the rulings of the district court and court of appeals that the district court had the authority to revoke Defendant's probation, holding that Defendant's probation revocation must be set aside…
Date: January 28, 2022
Docket Number: 123911
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court disciplined Respondent Marty K. Clark, a district magistrate judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, for violations of the Kansas Judicial Code by public censure, holding that because neither party had…
Date: January 21, 2022
Docket Number: 122584
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant for possession of methamphetamine and possession of an opiate, holding that there was no error. Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts…
Date: January 21, 2022
Docket Number: 90044
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence of death imposed in connection with his conviction for capital murder, holding that the sentence was not "imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other…
Date: January 21, 2022
Docket Number: 90198
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's death sentence imposed in connection with his conviction for capital murder, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on the penalty phase issues before the Court on remand…
Date: January 14, 2022
Docket Number: 122253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for possession of methamphetamine for insufficient evidence, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and that Defendant could not challenge the…
Date: January 14, 2022
Docket Number: 123753
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court denying Defendant's motion for a sentence modification under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-6628(c) and denied Defendant's newly raised claim of an illegal sentence,…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 121729
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the district court's decision to revoke Defendant's probation, holding that the district court failed to follow the statutory graduated sanctions…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 122301
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree premeditated murder, holding that the errors committed during Defendant's trial did not affect the jury's verdict. Specifically, the Supreme Court held…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 124205
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the district court's judgment declaring 2021 Senate Bill 40 invalid and unenforceable based on certain infirmities the court observed, holding that the district court erred by…
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