Beck v. State

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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 115,786

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

DAVID LEE BECK,
Appellant,

v.

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Ford District Court; VAN Z. HAMPTON, judge. Opinion filed December 2, 2016.
Affirmed.

Submitted for summary disposition pursuant to K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6820(g) and (h).

Before SCHROEDER, P.J., BUSER, J. and WALKER, S.J.

Per Curiam: David Lee Beck appeals the district court's denial of his motion to
correct an illegal sentence, arguing the district court erred in calculating his criminal
history score. This court granted Beck's motion for summary disposition in lieu of briefs
pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 7.041A (2015 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 67). Our review of the
record reveals no error by the district court. We affirm Beck's sentence based on a
criminal history score of A.

On October 7, 2010, Beck pleaded guilty to one count of robbery. A presentence
investigation report was prepared indicating a 1980 Kansas conviction for burglary, a
1981 Kansas conviction for kidnapping, a 1981 Kansas conviction for robbery, and a
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1982 Kansas conviction for rape. The district court found Beck's criminal history score
was A and sentenced him to 122 months' imprisonment.

Beck subsequently filed a motion to correct illegal sentence pursuant to State v.
Murdock, 299 Kan. 312, 313, 323 P.3d 846 (2014), overruled by State v. Keel, 302 Kan.
560, 357 P.3d 251 (2015), cert. denied 136 S. Ct. 865 (2016), arguing the district court
erred in scoring his pre-1993 convictions as person felonies. The district court denied
Beck's motion.

Beck acknowledges Murdock was explicitly overruled by our Supreme Court in
Keel, 302 Kan. 560, Syl. ¶ 9. This court is bound to follow Kansas Supreme Court
precedent, absent some indication the Supreme Court is departing from its previous
position. State v. Belone, 51 Kan. App. 2d 179, 211, 343 P.3d 128, rev. denied 302 Kan.
1012 (2015). Accordingly, Murdock cannot be applied to the claims Beck raises on
appeal since Murdock was explicitly overruled by Keel.

"Because it is a fundamental rule of sentencing that the penalty parameters for a crime are
established at the time the crime was committed, the classification of a prior conviction
or juvenile adjudication for criminal history purposes under the KSGA must be based on
the classification in effect for the comparable offense when the current crime of
conviction was committed." Keel, 302 Kan. 560, Syl. ¶ 9.

Here, when Beck's current crime of conviction occurred, kidnapping, robbery, and rape
were classified as person felonies. Thus, Beck's criminal history score has three person
felonies which support the district court's determination Beck had a criminal history score
of A. We find no error and affirm Beck's sentencing based on a criminal history score of
A.

Affirmed.