State v. Edwards

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION No. 117,303 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. STEVEN WADE EDWARDS, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; JEFFREY E. GOERING, judge. Opinion filed September 15, 2017. Affirmed.

Submitted for summary disposition pursuant to K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6820(g) and (h).

Before MALONE, P.J., LEBEN and POWELL, JJ.

LEBEN, J.: When a convicted felony offender violates the terms of probation, Kansas law generally provides that he or she receive an intermediate sanction, such as a short jail stay followed by a return to probation, rather than being sent to prison on the first violation. So Steven Wade Edwards appeals the district court's decision to revoke his probation on his first violation rather than giving him another chance.

But there's an exception to the general rule: intermediate sanctions aren't required when the offender commits a new felony. See K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 22-3716(c)(8). Edwards committed two murders while on probation; he pled guilty to the murders before the court revoked his probation. The district court did not err when it revoked his probation and sent him to prison.

On Edwards' motion, we accepted this appeal for summary disposition under K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6820(g) and (h) and Supreme Court Rule 7.041A (2017 Kan. S.

Ct. R. 48). The district court's judgment is affirmed.