In State v. Long, No. 98,736 (Feb. 26, 2010), the Kansas Court of Appeals recently reversed a defendant’s sentence because the district court had improperly included a misdemeanor conviction in the defendant’s criminal history. The court held that the prior misdemeanor conviction should not have been used to increase Long’s sentence because Long did not have an attorney for the misdemeanor, even though he had faced the possibility of jail time for it. The court relied on State v. Youngblood, 288 Kan. 659 (2009), a recent Kansas Supreme Court case with a similar holding. This is one of a number of reasons why a prior conviction might not count in a defendant’s criminal history score.
At Bell Folsom, P.A., our attorneys have a history of thoroughly examining our clients’ criminal history. Carl Folsom, a partner at Bell Folsom, P.A., once saved a client 8 years in prison based on his investigation of the client’s alleged criminal history. In that case, the prosecution claimed that the client had three prior “person misdemeanors” on his record, which increased the client’s sentence by 8 years. The client’s trial attorney did not object to this criminal history or the higher sentence that was imposed. On appeal, however, Mr. Folsom tracked down the records for these misdemeanors and discovered that one of the prior misdemeanors had been dismissed (so there was no actual conviction). Mr. Folsom discovered that another one of the misdemeanors had actually been committed by the client’s brother! Mr. Folsom filed a motion with the court, and the client’s sentence was reduced by 8 years.
The holdings in Long and Youngblood reiterate how important it is for criminal defense attorneys to vigorously examine all “prior convictions” that the prosecution is trying to use to increase a defendant’s sentence. Some attorneys fail to spend the time or resources to properly examine a defendant’s criminal history score. That will not happen at Bell Folsom, P.A. Our attorneys will pour over every detail of your case in order to make sure you do not spend one day in jail that you are not required to under the law. Contact us immediately so we can start solving your problems.