State v. Thomas

At issue was whether Defendant had an obligation to register as a violent offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA), Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-4901 et seq., when the district court never made a finding on the record that a stiletto heel - the object Defendant used to commit aggravated battery with a deadly weapon - was a deadly weapon.The court of appeals upheld Defendant’s conviction but vacated her registration requirement and remanded the case to the district court to determine if the high-heel shoe she used in the commission of the crime constituted a deadly weapon requiring registration under the KORA. The Supreme Court reversed in part and vacated the court of appeals’ remand order, holding (1) Defendant met her burden of designating a record sufficient to establish that no duty to register existed; and (2) the absence of a court-made finding on the record that Defendant used a deadly weapon was not a sentencing error amenable to the remedy of a remand, and the court of appeals is reversed only insofar as it improperly prolonged these proceedings. View "State v. Thomas" on Justia Law