State v. Robertson
State v. Robertson
Opinion
Joshua J. Robertson appeals from the district court's summary dismissal of his pro se motion, which he calls a combined "motion to correct illegal sentence" and "motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction." In the combined motion, he invokes K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504 as the basis for jurisdiction and requests his convictions be reversed. We affirm the summary denial of Robertson's motion because he cannot collaterally attack a conviction through a motion to correct an illegal sentence filed under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504 that claims a defective complaint meant the district court lacked jurisdiction to convict. We also hold the district court lacked jurisdiction over Robertson's motion to dismiss. Finally, we decline to consider the motion as one filed under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507 because such a motion is procedurally barred.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A jury convicted Robertson of first-degree murder, arson, and aggravated burglary for his role in the death of his girlfriend's mother, Patricia Self. This court affirmed his convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See
State v. Robertson
,
Since then, Robertson has raised various challenges to his convictions and sentences. The district court referenced five other district court orders addressing Robertson's collateral attacks. Three of those attempts have reached this court. In one, Robertson vainly sought relief through a motion to correct illegal sentence filed under K.S.A. 22-3504. See
State v. Robertson
,
In his current appeal, Robertson invokes K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504 as the sole basis for jurisdiction. He asserts his status as a sovereign and criticizes the way his name appears in the charging document. He further asserts the document charges a trust, not a person. According to him, these shortcomings cause a fatal defect in the charging document that deprived the district court of jurisdiction to convict him. Thus, he argues, his convictions should be reversed. He also contends Kansas statutes are commercial contracts, and he reserves his rights not to perform under the statutes.
The district court summarily denied relief. It held the motion lacked any legal or factual *900 basis and consisted of "nothing more than a futile exercise in semantics and a poor attempt to fashion arguments out of thin air."
Robertson appealed. His appeal came directly to this court because he has been convicted of a homicide and sentenced to life in prison. See K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3601(b)(3) ; see
Robertson
,
ANALYSIS
Robertson asks us to reverse his convictions and vacate his sentences. The State responds by arguing the district court lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief Robertson seeks. We first consider the State's jurisdiction argument because, if a district court lacks jurisdiction to correct an illegal sentence, an appellate court lacks jurisdiction to do so on appeal. See
State v. McCoin
,
Article 3, section 1 of the Kansas Constitution grants "[t]he judicial power of this state" to the "supreme court, district courts, and such other courts as are provided by law." Kan. Const. art. 3, § 1. But a court can exercise this power only when it has jurisdiction as granted by article 3 of the Kansas Constitution. Article 3, § 3 of the Kansas Constitution grants this court "such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law." Kan. Const. art. 3, § 3. And article 3, § 6 (b) grants district courts "such jurisdiction in their respective districts as may be provided by law." Kan. Const. art. 3, § 6 (b). See generally
State v. Dunn
,
Generally, under Kansas statutes, a district court has jurisdiction over a criminal case until it enters judgment and the time for appeal has expired. Unless a specific statute grants jurisdiction beyond that point in the proceedings, a district court lacks jurisdiction to consider postconviction motions. See
State v. Hemphill
,
We hold Robertson's challenge to his convictions cannot be supported by a motion under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504. Then, liberally construing his motion to dismiss as divisible from his motion to correct illegal sentence, we hold there is no independent basis for jurisdiction over that motion. And we determine he cannot seek dismissal under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507.
K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504
K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504(1) allows a defendant to raise an illegal sentence issue at any time, except in some circumstances. See
State v. Neal
,
*901
Robertson contends his sentence is illegal, but he attacks his convictions, arguing the charging instrument was defective because it named him as an individual, not a sovereign, and used an incorrect version of his name. We have repeatedly emphasized a motion to correct an illegal sentence is not an appropriate vehicle to reverse a conviction because of a defective charging document. E.g.,
State v. Trotter
,
Robertson argues a different rule applies when the district court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the conviction and impose a sentence. But Robertson has cited no decision that holds a defendant may use K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3504(1) to challenge a personal jurisdiction flaw arising from a defective complaint. In arguing the district court lacked
personal
jurisdiction over him, he fails to discuss the general rule that a "want of jurisdiction of the person or thing may be waived."
State v. Grimsley
,
In
Breedlove
, the defendant was a minor at the time of his offenses. Because of his age, his case should have begun in juvenile court unless an exception allowed the State to bypass juvenile court. The State conceded no exception applied. The
Breedlove
court held the failure to begin the case in juvenile court deprived the district court of subject matter jurisdiction. The court noted the general rule that a party cannot waive subject matter jurisdiction and held "a court without jurisdiction cannot convict or sentence because any judgment would be void."
The
Breedlove
court also noted other cases in which convictions had been reversed because the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. In these cases, convictions were reversed because either an issue about the defendant's competency had been raised but not resolved or a jury convicted the defendant of a crime neither charged nor a lesser included offense of the charged crime.
No Kansas decision cited by Robertson or that we have found supports his jurisdictional argument. But our caselaw does make clear that Robertson cannot succeed because he attacks a defect in the complaint, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction because the complaint incorrectly listed his name and improperly identified him as a trust, not an individual. In other words, he does not deny he was the actor who allegedly performed the criminal conduct and charging and obtaining custody over the alleged criminal actor is the object of criminal personal jurisdiction. See
United States v. Benabe
,
There, Christopher M. Trotter attacked his sentence based on an alleged charging document deficiency. We contrasted such a claim, which we have repeatedly rejected,
*902
from one in which a sentence follows a district court's failure to apply the statutory requirement of suspending a proceeding to determine competency if the district court has found reason to believe the defendant was incompetent.
Recently, we restated these rules in
Horton
,
This review of our caselaw makes clear that only a case fitting within a narrow exception will support granting a motion to correct an illegal sentence that attacks the underlying conviction rather than sentence. Such narrow exceptions apply when a Kansas statutory scheme has deprived the district court of the power to act in a criminal matter. E.g.,
Breedlove
,
For these reasons, we conclude Robertson's attempt to obtain relief through a motion to correct an illegal sentence fails. Even if we assume that Robertson has correctly alleged that the criminal complaint was defective because it named him as a trust, not an individual, and used an incorrect version of his name, a motion to correct an illegal sentence is not an appropriate vehicle to reverse his convictions. If Robertson wishes to pursue relief from the underlying convictions, he must find another avenue through which to do so. See
Horton
,
Motion to Dismiss and K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507
Robertson also labels his motion as a "motion to dismiss." But he cites no statutory basis for us to have jurisdiction over a motion to dismiss besides K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 22-3505, and we hold none exists. That said, at times we have liberally construed a postconviction pro se motion seeking relief from a conviction as a motion under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507. See, e.g.,
State v. Swisher
,
First, Robertson had earlier pursued relief under 60-1507, and that statute is clear that a district court is not "required to entertain a second or successive motion." K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507(c) ; see
Trotter
,
Second, Robertson's motions were filed outside the one-year period for seeking 60-1507 relief and Robertson does not argue manifest injustice would support extending this limitation. See K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507(f)(1), (2). Thus, Robertson would be procedurally barred from relief even if we convert it to a motion under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 60-1507. See
Trotter
,
*903 CONCLUSION
Robertson has failed to establish that his sentence was illegal. And even if we liberally construe his motion to reverse his conviction as a 60-1507 motion, he cannot overcome the procedural hurdles of the motion being successive and being filed outside the statutory time limit. We, therefore, hold that the district court did not err in summarily dismissing Robertson's motion.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Joshua ROBERTSON, Appellant.
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published