Gant v. State

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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 116,115


IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

CHRISTOPHER D. GANT,
Appellant,

v.

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; JAMES R. FLEETWOOD, judge. Opinion filed August 25,
2017. Affirmed.

Michael P. Whalen, of Law Office of Michael P. Whalen, of Wichita, for appellant.

Lance J. Gillett, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt,
attorney general, for appellee.

Before PIERRON, P.J., GREEN and HILL, JJ.

Per Curiam: Christopher D. Gant appeals the dismissal of his second motion for
habeas corpus relief under K.S.A. 60-1507. The district court ruled that it was untimely
and dismissed it. It was untimely, and we uphold the dismissal. Gant also argues that he
was entitled to court-appointed counsel before the court summarily denied his motion
since the State had filed a written response to his motion. Under Supreme Court Rule
183(i) (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 222), a movant must show a substantial issue of law or triable
facts before the court must appoint counsel. Since Gant presented no substantial issue in
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his motion, we hold the court was correct when it refrained from appointing an attorney
to represent him.

Gant is serving a life sentence for felony murder and attempted aggravated
robbery. The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. State v. Gant, 288 Kan. 76,
201 P.3d 673 (2009). He filed his first K.S.A. 60-1507 motion in 2010. After a
preliminary hearing, the district court denied the motion and this court affirmed the
district court in Gant v. State, No. 105,187, 2012 WL 139456 (Kan. App. 2012)
(unpublished opinion). Gant later sought federal habeas corpus relief, which was denied.

Gant filed this second K.S.A. 60-1507 motion in July 2015. He recognized that
this was a second, successive motion, but argued that exceptional circumstances
permitted the district court to consider it. The exceptional circumstance Gant argued was
the intervening ruling of our Supreme Court in State v. Berry, 292 Kan. 493, 254 P.3d
1276 (2011) superseded by statute as stated in State v. Phillips, 295 Kan. 929, 287 P.3d
245 (2012). An explanation of Gant's argument is necessary at this point.

In Berry, the Supreme Court decided the old court-made rule that prevented the
giving of lesser included offense instructions in a felony murder case violated the statute
that authorized the giving of lesser included offense instructions. 292 Kan. at 503, 513-
14. In Gant's view, because of the holding in Berry, it would be manifestly unjust if the
court failed to consider his untimely motion based on Berry. Gant claimed two grounds
for relief. First, he is entitled to a new trial because the district court erred by failing to
give a lesser included instruction with the instruction on felony murder. Second, Gant
argued that his appellate counsel on direct appeal was ineffective for failing to argue this
instructional error.

Without holding a hearing, the district court denied the motion and found that
Gant's motion was untimely and did not show manifest injustice that would require its
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untimely consideration. Additionally, the district court found that the motion was
successive.

The law is well established pertaining to the summary denial of a K.S.A. 60-1507
motion. It is appropriate to do so when the motion, files, and records conclusively show
that the movant is entitled to no relief. Sola-Morales v. State, 300 Kan. 875, 881, 335
P.3d 1162 (2014). Unless there is some sufficient justification, a movant is not entitled to
relief if his or her K.S.A. 60-1507 motion is either untimely or successive. See State v.
Kelly, 291 Kan. 868, 872-74, 248 P.3d 1282 (2011). This is obviously a question of law
over which we exercise unlimited review. Bellamy v. State, 285 Kan. 346, 354, 172 P.3d
10 (2007).

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Gant's direct appeal on January 30, 2009.
Gant, 288 Kan. at 85. The 1-year time period began when the decision was rendered in
his direct appeal. See K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 60-1507(f)(1). Gant did not file this motion until
July 6, 2015—well outside the 1-year statute of limitation. But we must look a little
deeper; we too must look to see if it would be manifestly unjust to not consider his
motion.

Even though Gant's motion is untimely, courts may consider untimely motions to
prevent manifest injustice, according to K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 60-1507(f)(2). Manifest
injustice means actions that are "'obviously unfair'" or "'shocking to the conscience.'"
Kelly, 291 Kan. at 873 (quoting Ludlow v. State, 37 Kan. App. 2d 676, 686, 157 P.3d 631
[2007]). But recent amendments have changed what we can consider in such an inquiry.

In 2016, the Kansas Legislature limited what the courts could consider when
making a manifest injustice determination. L. 2016, ch. 58, sec. 2. Now, for the purposes
of finding manifest injustice under this law, the court's inquiry shall be limited to
determining why the prisoner failed to file the motion within the 1-year time limitation or
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whether the prisoner makes a colorable claim of actual innocence. Actual innocence is
defined in the statute. K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 60-1507(f)(2)(A). The question then arises,
should this statute be applied retroactively? A panel of this court has recently spoken on
this issue in Perry v. State, No. 115,073, 2017 WL 462659, at *3 (Kan. App. 2017)
(unpublished opinion), petition for rev. filed March 2, 2017.

We find the reasoning in Perry persuasive. The Perry panel held that the 2016
amendments to K.S.A. 60-1507(f)(2) should apply retroactively because retroactive
application would not violate a party's substantive or vested right. This is important
because our Supreme Court in Brennan v. Kansas Insurance Guaranty Ass'n, 293 Kan.
446, 460, 264 P.3d 102 (2011), ruled that a statute must only be applied prospectively if
retroactive application would prejudicially affect a party's substantive or vested rights.

The Perry court used the balancing test from Brennan to determine if these
statutory changes would violate a vested right. The Brennan factors are:

 the nature of the rights at stake (e.g., procedural, substantive, remedial);
 how the rights were affected (e.g., were the rights partially or completely
abolished by the legislation; was any substitute remedy provided); and
 the nature and strength of the public interest furthered by the legislation.
Brennan, 293 Kan. at 460.

In weighing these factors, the panel found that for the first factor the amendment is
clearly procedural. For the second factor, the panel found the amendment only partially
limits the inquiry of whether manifest injustice exists. Perry, 2017 WL 462659, at *3.
According to the panel, the amendment does not limit the court's ability to extend time to
prevent manifest injustice; rather, it only eliminates the second Vontress factor from the
calculation of whether manifest injustice exists. See Vontress v. State, 299 Kan. 607, 616,
325 P.3d 1114 (2014).
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For the third factor, the Perry panel found that considering the second Vontress
factor would essentially negate any time limitation imposed by the legislature on K.S.A.
60-1507 motions. Perry, 2017 WL 462659, at *3. Thus, the panel held that the limitation
that was added should apply retroactively. The Perry panel was correct—the statute is
procedural and should be applied retroactively. Therefore, we look to see why Gant failed
to file his motion on time.

Gant actually provides no reason why he did not file the motion until 2015. He did
not file this motion until July 6, 2015—3 years after the 2012 amendments to K.S.A. 21-
5109(b)(1) went into effect and 2 years after the amendments to K.S.A. 21-5402 went
into effect. See L. 2012, ch. 157, sec. 2; L. 2013, ch. 96, sec. 2. Gant relies on old law to
show manifest injustice. But Berry has been superseded by legislative action, and he did
not file his K.S.A. 60-1507 motion until after the change to the law. Thus, it is not
necessary to consider the motion to prevent manifest injustice. No relief can be extended
to him based on a legislatively overruled Supreme Court holding.

Instead of a claim of actual innocence as the recent amendment requires, Gant
makes a claim of legal innocence; he asserts that the jury could have found him guilty of
a lesser included offense of felony murder. This argument does not meet the requirements
of a colorable claim of actual innocence. The statute, K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 60-
1507(f)(2)(A), requires a movant to show factual, not legal, innocence to support a
finding of manifest injustice.

Because Gant's motion was untimely and he has not shown us that considering his
motion would prevent manifest injustice, we must conclude the district court correctly
denied his motion.

Finally, we turn to the issue of whether the district court erred by not appointing
an attorney to represent him after the State filed its response. A panel of this court has
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addressed a similar issue in Woods v. State, 52 Kan. App. 2d 958, 968, 379 P.3d 1134
(2016). In Woods, the movant filed a second K.S.A. 60-1507 motion, and the State filed a
response. The district court summarily denied Woods' motion. This court upheld the
summary dismissal, and when it considered a claim that Woods should have been
appointed counsel, the panel held that Woods was not entitled to counsel because his
motion did not present a substantial question of law or fact that would require at least a
preliminary hearing. 52 Kan. App. 2d at 968.

Here, the facts are similar to those in Woods. Gant's motion was properly denied
by the district court. Gant did not present a substantial question of law or fact that would
require at least a preliminary hearing. The district court, under these circumstances, was
not required to appoint an attorney for Gant.

Affirmed.