State v. Barnes

1
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 114,107

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee,

v.

ROBERT JOE BARNES,
Appellant.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Finney District Court; MICHAEL L. QUINT, judge. Opinion filed September 30,
2016. Sentence vacated and case remanded with directions.

Caroline M. Zuschek, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Brian R. Sherwood, assistant county attorney, Susan Lynn Hillier Richmeier, county attorney, and
Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before GARDNER, P.J., BUSER and STANDRIDGE, JJ.

STANDRIDGE, J.: Robert Joe Barnes appeals the district court's decision to deny
his motion to correct an illegal sentence. Specifically, Barnes argues that the sentencing
court erred in classifying his 1978 Texas burglary conviction as a person felony for
criminal history purposes, which resulted in an illegal sentence. Barnes claims that the
district court's misclassification involved impermissible judicial factfinding prohibited by
Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 2276, 186 L. Ed. 2d 438 (2013), and
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), as
applied by our state in State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018, 350 P.3d 1054 (2015). For the
2
reasons stated below, we vacate Barnes' sentence and remand to the district court for
further proceedings in order to determine if Barnes is entitled to relief.

FACTS

On October 19, 2009, Barnes pled no contest to one count of attempted failure to
register as required by the Kansas Offender Registration Act, K.S.A. 22-4901 et seq., a
severity level 7 person felony. The presentence investigation (PSI) report prepared before
sentencing indicated that Barnes' criminal history score was a C, based in part on a prior
1978 conviction of burglary in Spearman, Texas, which was classified as a person felony.
While Barnes objected to some criminal history listed on his PSI report, he did not
specifically object to the conviction of burglary or to his criminal history score of C at the
time of sentencing. On January 6, 2010, Barnes was sentenced to 24 months' probation
with an underlying prison term of 27 months.

In September 2011, the district court revoked Barnes' probation and imposed the
original sentence of 27 months in prison. Barnes subsequently appealed the revocation of
his probation, which was upheld on appeal. See State v. Barnes, No. 107,880, 2014 WL
642948 (Kan. 2014) (unpublished opinion).

On January 15, 2015, Barnes filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence based on
State v. Murdock, 299 Kan. 312, 323 P.3d 846 (2014), overruled by State v. Keel, 302
Kan. 560, 357 P.3d 251 (2015), cert. denied 136 S. Ct. 865 (2016). On May 21, 2015, the
district court denied the motion on three grounds: (1) invited error, (2) res judicata, and
(3) nonretroactivity of Murdock. The next day, however, our Supreme Court issued its
decision in Dickey, upon which Barnes now relies to support his appeal from the district
court's decision to deny his motion to correct illegal sentence.


3
ANALYSIS

Whether a sentence is illegal within the meaning of K.S.A. 22-3504 is a question
of law over which this court has unlimited review. A sentence is illegal if: (1) a court
imposes it without jurisdiction; (2) it does not conform to the applicable statutory
provision, either in character or the term of authorized punishment; or (3) it is ambiguous
with respect to the time and manner in which it is to be served. State v. Taylor, 299 Kan.
5, 8, 319 P.3d 1256 (2014). Whether a prior conviction should be classified as a person or
nonperson offense is also a question of law subject to unlimited review. Keel, 302 Kan. at
571.

The State's procedural arguments

The State contends that this court need not reach the question of illegal sentence
because (1) K.S.A. 22-3504 is the incorrect procedural vehicle for Barnes' claim; (2)
Barnes is not entitled to have Dickey retroactively applied to his case; and (3) Barnes has
waived his right to challenge his sentence as illegal.

1. Incorrect procedural vehicle

The State argues that Barnes' sentence is not illegal as contemplated by K.S.A. 22-
3504(1) because Barnes makes a constitutional claim, which does not make a sentence
illegal under Kansas law. See, e.g., State v. Warrior, 303 Kan. 1008, Syl., 368 P.3d 1111
(2016) ("A motion to correct illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504[1] is an improper
procedural vehicle for a constitutional claim.").

But Dickey held that a challenge to a criminal history score is proper under K.S.A.
22-3504 because it is a claim that the sentence does not conform to the applicable
statutory provision regarding the authorized punishment. 301 Kan. at 1034; see State v.
Luarks, 302 Kan. 972, 975, 360 P.3d 418 (2015) (claim alleging misclassification of prior
4
convictions as person offenses "necessarily raise[s] a claim that the current sentence is
illegal because it does not comply with the applicable statutory provision regarding the
term of punishment authorized"); State v. Neal, 292 Kan. 625, 631, 258 P.3d 365 (2011)
(challenge to criminal history score necessarily challenges sentence that criminal history
score helped produce). This court is bound to follow Kansas Supreme Court precedent,
absent some indication the court is departing from its previous position. State v. Belone,
51 Kan. App. 2d 179, 211, 343 P.3d 128, rev. denied 302 Kan. 1012 (2015). We see no
indication the Supreme Court is departing from its position and find that Barnes' motion
to correct an illegal sentence was an appropriate means of advancing his claim
concerning the classification of his prior conviction.

2. Retroactive application of Dickey

The State contends that Dickey may not be retroactively applied to Barnes' case,
which became final in 2010, well before Dickey was decided. As a general rule, "when an
appellate court decision changes the law, that change acts prospectively and applies only
to all cases, state or federal, that are pending on direct review or not yet final on the date
of the appellate court decision." State v. Mitchell, 297 Kan. 118, Syl. ¶ 3, 298 P.3d 349
(2013).

However, the court's holding in Dickey is not a "change in the law" under that
analysis, but rather an application of the constitutional rule announced in Apprendi and
clarified by Descamps. See Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1021 ("[C]lassifying Dickey's prior
burglary adjudication as a person felony violates his constitutional rights as described
under Descamps and Apprendi."); State v. Martin, 52 Kan. App. 2d 474, 484, 369 P.3d
959 (2016) ("Descamps provided a means by which to determine whether certain
sentencing determinations violated Apprendi, and Dickey applied that framework to
Kansas criminal history determinations."). Accordingly, the date Apprendi was decided is
the relevant date for purposes of the retroactivity analysis. State v. Gould, 271 Kan. 394,
5
23 P.3d 801 (2001). In Gould, the court indicated that all post-Apprendi cases must
comply with the constitutional rule announced in that case:

"Our holding on the constitutionality of upward departures under the KSGA
[Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act] has no retroactive application to cases final as of
June 26, 2000, the date Apprendi was decided. However, the new constitutional
sentencing rule established by Apprendi must be applied here and in all cases pending on
direct appeal or which are not yet final or which arose after June 26, 2000. [Citation
omitted.]" (Emphasis added.) Gould, 271 Kan. at 414.

Barnes' claim seeking relief from an illegal sentence in this case arose well after
Apprendi; therefore, applying the Apprendi constitutional analysis set forth in Dickey is
not an improperly retroactive application of that law. Cf. Whisler v. State, 272 Kan. 864,
36 P.3d 290 (2001) (direct appeal final prior to Apprendi decision, so Apprendi was not
retroactively applied). Our finding in this regard corresponds with this court's finding in
Martin:

"[W]e find that retroactivity analysis is not applicable when it is determined by a court
that a constitutional error affects the defendant's criminal history score resulting in an
illegal sentence. The legislative directive in K.S.A. 22-3504(1) allows courts to correct an
illegal sentence at any time. Thus, we conclude that a claim under Dickey may be brought
by a defendant in a motion to correct illegal sentence even when the time for direct
appeal has passed and the defendant's sentence is final." 52 Kan. App. 2d at 483-84.

As the court did in Martin, we conclude Barnes is not procedurally barred from obtaining
relief from an illegal sentence based on the fact that Barnes' case was final when the
Supreme Court's opinion in Dickey was filed.




6
3. Waiver

The State argues Barnes has waived his right to challenge any alleged error by the
district court in classifying his prior conviction for burglary as a person offense for
purposes of calculating his criminal history score. In Kansas, waiver is defined as the
voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known right and the expression of an
intention not to insist upon what the law affords. See Prather v. Colorado Oil & Gas
Corp., 218 Kan. 111, 117, 542 P.2d 297 (1975); Jones v. Jones, 215 Kan. 102, 116, 523
P.2d 743 (1974). "Waiver must be manifested in some unequivocal manner by some
distinct act or by inaction inconsistent with an intention to claim forfeiture of a right."
Patrons Mut. Ins. Ass'n v. Union Gas System, Inc., 250 Kan. 722, 725-26, 830 P.2d 35
(1992). Thus, in order for a waiver to be constitutionally valid, the record must
affirmatively reflect that the defendant personally (1) understood the specific right or
rights being waived; and (2) either by action or inaction, established that he or she
unequivocally intended to waive the specific right or rights.

The State contends that waiver precludes the court from considering Barnes'
motion to correct an illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504(1). Specifically, the State
argues that Barnes waived his right to object to the court's use of his prior conviction
from Texas in calculating his criminal history score because he failed to lodge an
objection to the Texas conviction as part of his criminal history at sentencing.

But the facts here do not establish waiver for the purpose of precluding Barnes
from challenging an illegal sentence. Barnes' failure to object to this conviction in his
criminal history does not establish Barnes personally knew he was voluntarily and
intentionally waiving his right to later ask the court to correct misclassification of a prior
conviction as a person offense in his criminal history. The conclusion that waiver does
not preclude Barnes from challenging an illegal sentence is consistent with Kansas
Supreme Court precedent. In Dickey, the court declared that "a stipulation or lack of an
7
objection regarding how those convictions [listed in the criminal history] should be
classified or counted as a matter of law for the purpose of determining the defendant's
criminal history score will not prevent a subsequent challenge under K.S.A. 22-3504(1)
of his or her prior convictions." 301 Kan. at 1032. The same analysis applies here. Barnes
did not waive his right to obtain relief from an illegal sentence by failing to lodge an
objection to a conviction in his criminal history.

The merits: an illegal sentence

Given the absence of any procedural bar, we turn to the merits of Barnes' claim
that the district court erred in classifying his 1978 Texas burglary conviction as a person
offense for purposes of calculating his criminal history score, which rendered his
sentence illegal.

The method of scoring out-of-state convictions is set out in the revised Kansas
Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6801 et seq. The first step is
to determine whether there is a Kansas statute comparable to the other state's statute that
governed the prior conviction. K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3). If no comparable
Kansas statute exists, the court must score the out-of-state felony as a nonperson felony.
K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3). If a comparable Kansas statute is found, the KSGA
directs us to use the statutory version in effect on the date the current crime of conviction
was committed. K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6811(e)(3).

At the time Barnes committed his current crime, the Kansas burglary statute
provided, in relevant part:

"Burglary is knowingly and without authority entering into or remaining within
any:
(a) Building, manufactured home, mobile home, tent or other structure which is a
dwelling, with intent to commit a felony, theft or sexual battery therein;
8
(b) building, manufactured home, mobile home, tent or other structure which is
not a dwelling, with intent to commit a felony, theft or sexual battery therein; or
(c) motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, railroad car or other means of conveyance
of persons or property, with intent to commit a felony, theft or sexual battery therein.
"Burglary as described in subsection (a) is a severity level 7, person felony."
K.S.A. 21-3715.

The Texas burglary statute that forms the basis for Barnes' prior conviction in
1978 provided, in relevant part:

"(a) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the
owner, he:
(1) enters a habitation, or a building (or any portion of a building)
not then open to the public, with intent to commit a felony or
theft; or
(2) remains concealed, with intent to commit a felony or theft, in a
building or habitation; or
(3) enters a building or habitation and commits or attempts to
commit a felony or theft.
. . . .
"(c) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section, an offense under
this section is a felony of the second degree.
"(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the first degree if:
(1) the premises are a habitation; or
(2) any party to the offense is armed with explosives or a deadly
weapon; or
(3) any party to the offense injures or attempts to injure anyone in
effecting entry or while in the building or in immediate flight
from the building." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.02 (West 1974).

Texas defined the word "habitation" to mean "a structure or vehicle that is adapted
for the overnight accommodation of persons" and "building" to mean "any enclosed
9
structure intended for use or occupation as a habitation or for some purpose of trade,
manufacture, ornament, or use." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.01(1), (2) (West 1974).

Considering the Kansas and Texas burglary statutes together, we have no trouble
concluding as a matter of law that they are broadly comparable. The question remains,
however, as to whether it was proper for the district court to classify Barnes' prior Texas
burglary conviction as a person offense under the comparable Kansas burglary statute. In
order to resolve this issue, we turn once again to the version of the KSGA in effect at the
time of Barnes' current conviction, which explained how prior burglary convictions were
to be scored:

"(d) Prior burglary adult convictions and juvenile adjudications will be scored for
criminal history purposes as follows:
(1) As a prior person felony if the prior conviction or adjudication was classified
as a burglary as described in subsection (a) of K.S.A. 21-3715 and amendments thereto.
(2) As a prior nonperson felony if the prior conviction or adjudication was
classified as a burglary as described in subsection (b) or (c) of K.S.A. 21-3715 and
amendments thereto." K.S.A. 21-4711(d).

Relying on Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 2276, 186 L. Ed.
2d 438 (2013), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d
435 (2000), Barnes argues the district court erroneously classified his prior conviction
from Texas as a person felony under K.S.A. 21-4711(d). Specifically, Barnes argues that
classifying his 1978 Texas conviction as a person felony required the district court to
make the factual finding that the burglary had been committed in a habitat or dwelling
without requiring the State to prove such a fact to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Under Apprendi, "[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases
the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a
jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt." 530 U.S. at 490. More recently, our
10
Supreme Court explained in Dickey that "[t]he constitutional protections described in
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), are
implicated when a district court, for purposes of enhancing a defendant's sentence for a
current conviction, makes findings of fact at sentencing that go beyond merely finding
the existence of a prior conviction or the statutory elements that made up the prior
conviction." 301 Kan. 1018, Syl. ¶ 7.

In Descamps, the United States Supreme Court identified two methods by which a
sentencing court can analyze prior convictions without violating Apprendi: the
categorical approach and the modified-categorical approach. Regardless of which
approach is used, the sentencing court ultimately is required to compare the elements of
the prior conviction with elements of the generic offense without looking into the facts
underlying the prior conviction. Descamps, 133 S. Ct. at 2281. Both of these approaches
were adopted by the Kansas Supreme Court in Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1036-40.

Under the categorical approach, the court looks only at the elements of the two
offenses. The court uses the modified-categorical approach when the prior-conviction
statute is divisible—in other words, when the statute provides alternative ways of
committing the crime. Under the modified-categorical approach, the court can look at a
limited set of documents to determine which of the alternatives the defendant was
actually convicted of. So, the modified-categorical approach lets the court look at a few
underlying facts from the prior conviction, but not for sentencing purposes—only to
determine which parts of the prior-conviction statute it should compare to the generic
offense. Descamps, 133 S. Ct. at 2281.

In this case, we find the Texas burglary statute in effect when Barnes committed
his prior crime in 1978 to be divisible because there were alternative versions of the
location element in that statute ("habitation or building"), and at least one version of the
statute matches the elements of the Kansas statute ("dwelling"). See State v. Mullens, 51
11
Kan. App. 2d 1114, 1117, 360 P.3d 1107 (2015) (analyzing 2003 Texas definition of
"habitation," which was the same as in 1978, and finding Texas' definition of habitation
"clearly fits within the Kansas definition of 'dwelling'"). If Barnes' Texas conviction
involved a habitation, the elements would correspond to those of K.S.A. 21-3715(a),
burglary of a dwelling. If Barnes' Texas conviction was of a "building" that did not
involve a habitation, then it would not include the requisite dwelling element and the
court could not classify the prior conviction as a person offense. See K.S.A. 21-4711(d).

Because the Texas statute was divisible, the sentencing court should have used the
modified categorical approach to assist its determination of which alternate version
(habitation or building) served as the basis of Barnes' prior conviction. Notably, the court
was not asked to conduct any analysis of the Texas burglary conviction. Rather, it
classified Barnes' Texas burglary conviction as a person felony and sentenced him
accordingly. Under Dickey, the court was constitutionally prohibited from classifying
Barnes' prior burglary conviction as a person felony without determining which version
Barnes was convicted under because, in doing so, the court necessarily made a factual
finding that went beyond simply identifying the statutory elements in the prior Texas
burglary statute. See State v. Lewis, No. 113,438, 2016 WL 1546133, at *1 (Kan. App.
2016) (unpublished opinion) (after comparing the 1978 Texas burglary statute to K.S.A.
21-3715 with regard to the "habitation" or "building" element, remand was proper "so
that the district court can review the appropriate documents to ensure that Lewis was
indeed convicted in 1978 of burglary of a habitation under Texas law").

For the reasons stated above, we must vacate Barnes' sentence and remand for
further proceedings to determine whether Barnes' 1978 Texas conviction for burglary
would fit within Kansas' definition of burglary of a dwelling at the time he was convicted
of his current crime. At resentencing, the district court may examine documents related to
Barnes' 1978 Texas burglary conviction for purposes of determining the nature of the
offense, including charging documents, plea agreements, jury instructions, verdict forms,
12
and transcripts from plea colloquies as well as findings of fact and conclusions of law
from any bench trial. See Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1038. If the district court is unable to
determine the basis of the Texas burglary conviction, then the Texas burglary conviction
must be classified as a nonperson felony.

Sentence vacated and case remanded with directions.

* * *

GARDNER, J., dissenting: Barnes' sole claim of error is that the district court erred
"by concluding that Barnes' prior crime was for 'burglary of a dwelling' without limiting
its examination to the permissible documents identified in Dickey." I would find that the
district court properly scored Barnes' 1978 conviction in Texas for "burglary of habitat"
as a person felony by relying on the presentence investigation report (PSI).

Barnes' PSI listed his Texas burglary conviction not as "burglary," but as "burglary
of habitat." Barnes reviewed his PSI before he was sentenced. Although Barnes raised
objections to other prior convictions listed in the PSI, he did not raise any objection to his
Texas burglary conviction for "burglary of habitat." Barnes thus admitted the existence of
that conviction. See K.S.A. 21-4715(a), recodified in K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6814(a)
(providing that the defendant's criminal history "shall be admitted in open court by the
offender or determined by a preponderance of the evidence at the sentencing hearing by
the sentencing judge"). The district court relied on defendant's admission of that crime in
sentencing him.

The State does not argue invited error or waiver, but correctly contends the district
court properly relied on the fact of Barnes' convictions listed on his PSI, then made the
legal conclusion that Barnes' Texas burglary conviction for "burglary of habitat" involved
a dwelling, thus properly determining it to be a person crime. See State v. Moore, 52 Kan.
13
App. 2d 799, 805, __P.3d__ (2016) ("[I]f the prior conviction involved burglary of a
dwelling, it's a person crime, and if it didn't involve a dwelling, it's a nonperson crime.
K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6811(d); State v. Cordell, 302 Kan. 531, 534, 354 P.3d 1202
[2015].").

As Barnes concedes, our court has held that Texas' definition of "habitation" fits
within Kansas' definition of "dwelling." State v. Mullens, 51 Kan. App. 2d 1114, 1117,
360 P.3d 1107 (2015). Barnes does not contend that Kansas' burglary of a dwelling
statute, K.S.A. 21-3715(a), was not the closest approximation of the Texas statute for
burglary of habitat. Because the Texas and Kansas burglary statutes are comparable as a
matter of law, the State contends the district court did not make any factual
determinations in classifying Barnes' Texas crime as a person felony. But that conclusion
presumes the district court properly relied on the fact of conviction stated in Barnes' PSI.
The unstated issue underlying both Barnes' and the State's arguments is whether the
district court may rely on the prior crime as listed in the defendant's PSI in determining
prior criminal history without running afoul of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466,
120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), as applied and interpreted in State v. Dickey,
301 Kan. 1018, 350 P.3d 1054 (2015).

Barnes contends that the district court failed to limit its examination to the
permissible documents identified in Dickey:

"Thus, without running afoul of Apprendi, a sentencing court is permitted to look beyond
the elements of the statute and examine a limited class of documents to determine 'which
of a statute's alternative elements formed the basis of the defendant's prior conviction.'
133 S. Ct. at 2284. Such documents include charging documents, plea agreements, jury
instructions, verdict forms, and transcripts from plea colloquies as well as findings of fact
and conclusions of law from a bench trial. Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 144,
130 S. Ct. 1265, 176 L. Ed. 2d 1 (2010)." Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1037-38.

14
But Dickey's list of "included" documents is, as it says, exemplary rather than
exclusive. See Yates v. United States, 574 U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 1074, 1097 n.5, 191 L. Ed.
2d 64 (2015) (Kagan, J, dissenting) (noting "includes," following its ordinary definition,
"is not exhaustive"). Dickey's citation to Johnson confirms that conclusion, as Johnson
stated its reliance on the following cases—whose lists of approved documents vary from
Dickey's: Chambers v. United States, 555 U.S. 122, 126, 129 S. Ct. 687, 172 L. Ed. 2d
484 (2009) (stating the "sentencing court may look, for example, to charging document,
plea agreement, jury instructions, or transcript of plea colloquy to determine crime at
issue") (Emphasis added.); Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 26, 125 S. Ct. 1254,
161 L. Ed. 2d 205 (2005) (plurality opinion) (finding in ACCA cases the sentencing court
"is limited to the terms of the charging document, the terms of a plea agreement or
transcript of colloquy between judge and defendant in which the factual basis for the plea
was confirmed by the defendant, or to some comparable judicial record of this
information") (Emphasis added.); Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 602, 110 S. Ct.
2143, 109 L. Ed. 2d 607 (1990) (listing only the statutory definitions, the charging
papers, and the jury instructions); see also Shepard, 544 U.S. at 16 (stating its holding as
"that a later court determining the character of an admitted burglary is generally limited
to examining the statutory definition, charging document, written plea agreement,
transcript of plea colloquy, and any explicit factual finding by the trial judge to which the
defendant assented") (Emphasis added.). Thus a sentencing court in conducting a
modified categorical review may look at certain documents not listed in Dickey, without
violating Dickey or Apprendi.

Our prior cases have recognized that the approved documents, known as "Shepard
documents," include "the statutory definition [of the offense of the prior conviction],
charging document, written plea agreement, transcript of plea colloquy, and any explicit
factual finding by the trial judge to which the defendant assented." State v. Gonzalez, 282
Kan. 73, 117, 145 P.3d 18 (2006) (reciting that list of Shepard documents in ruling that
Ivory's holding remains good law); State v. Jones, No. 99,803, 2009 WL 1140272 (Kan.
15
App. 2009) (unpublished opinion) (reciting that list of Shepard documents in finding one
of them established that Jones had burglarized homes, thus the district court could not
have violated Apprendi, as interpreted and applied by Shepard). Thus in conducting a
modified categorical approach, the sentencing court can review "any explicit factual
finding by the trial judge to which the defendant assented." Gonzalez, 282 Kan. at 117.

Barnes reviewed his PSI prior to sentencing. He challenged other crimes at
sentencing but did not challenge the existence of his 1978 Texas conviction for "burglary
of habitat" listed in his PSI. Accordingly, he admitted the fact of his prior conviction of
that crime. The district court explicitly found that Barnes had committed the crime of
"burglary of habitat" by using that crime, among others, to establish Barnes' criminal
history for purposes of sentencing. Under these circumstances, the PSI's listing of Barnes'
prior crimes is a permissible Shepard document. See Gonzalez, 282 Kan. at 117
(permitting the sentencing court to review "any explicit factual finding by the trial judge
to which the defendant assented").

Therefore, a district court, in using a modified categorical approach, can rely on
the unchallenged criminal history convictions listed in the PSI. Although Kansas courts
have not yet addressed this narrow issue, Dickey held that "a defendant's stipulation or
failure to object at sentencing will prevent the defendant from later challenging the
existence of convictions listed in his or her criminal history." Dickey, 301 Kan. at 1032.
That language expressly refers to the criminal history listed in the defendant's PSI and so
bars Barnes' challenge now.

Federal courts which have addressed this very issue permit the district court to rely
on the PSI as a "Shepard document" when conducting a modified categorical review of
prior crimes. For example, in addressing the argument that a prior conviction did not
qualify as a "crime of violence" because the Shepard documents did not prove that the
defendant burglarized a generic "dwelling," the Eleventh Circuit held:
16
"Accordingly, we assume arguendo that it is appropriate to consider the Shepard
documents . . . . The primary evidence before the district court indicating that
[defendant's] prior conviction involved the burglary of a residence was the PSI. As noted
above, we have held that a sentencing court applying the modified categorical approach
may consider undisputed facts contained in the PSI. Bennett, 472 F.3d at 834." United
States v. Ramirez-Flores, 743 F.3d 816, 824 (11th Cir. 2014), cert. denied 135 S. Ct. 948,
190 L. Ed. 2d 843 (2015).

The court concluded that the defendant "failed to object to the PSI's statement that
the conduct underlying his South Carolina burglary conviction involved entry into the
victim's residence. Because the district court properly relied upon that fact as undisputed,
[defendant's] argument that his prior conviction may not have involved generic burglary
fails." Ramirez-Flores, 743 F.3d at 824.

Accordingly, in determining the nature of a prior conviction, the district court may
make findings of fact based on undisputed convictions listed in the PSI. See United States
v. McCloud, 818 F.3d 591, 595-96 (11th Cir. 2016) (finding the district court, in
determining the nature of a prior conviction, may make findings of fact based on
undisputed statements in the PSI, but may not rely on those portions to which the
defendant objected "with specificity and clarity," unless the Government establishes the
disputed facts by a preponderance of the evidence); United States v. Bennett, 472 F.3d
825, 832, 33-34 (11th Cir. 2006) (per curiam) (finding for purposes of classifying the
defendant as an armed career criminal, "the PSI, together with the addendum to the PSI,
indicated that court documents of [the defendant's] prior burglaries showed that his
burglaries were of either residential or commercial buildings" and, thus, qualified violent
felonies as generic "burglary"); United States of America v. Charlie James Stevens, No.
15-11518, 2016 WL 3611540, at *2 (11th Cir. 2016) (unpublished opinion) (applying the
modified categorical approach to determine which of the alternative crimes stated in the
statute formed the basis for defendant's conviction; finding "the undisputed facts in
17
Stevens' PSI show that Stevens was convicted under Georgia law of possession with
intent to distribute marijuana [not mere possession of marijuana]").

There is no constitutional or practical unfairness in this. Barnes' prior convictions
listed on the PSI were themselves initially established through procedures satisfying the
fair notice, reasonable doubt, and jury trial guarantees. And their inclusion in the PSI was
also subject to procedural safeguards at the time of Barnes' sentencing which required the
State to prove those crimes unless Barnes admitted them. See K.S.A. 21-4715(a),
recodified in K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6814(a) (providing that the defendant's criminal
history "shall be admitted in open court by the offender or determined by a
preponderance of the evidence at the sentencing hearing by the sentencing judge"). The
PSI itself is subject to the same evidentiary requirements as other exhibits admitted in
court. Cf. State v. Kralik, 32 Kan. App. 2d 182, 80 P.3d 1175 (2003). Thus the crimes
listed in the PSI, once admitted by the defendant or proved by the State, bear the indicia
of reliability common to other Shepard documents.

Those procedural safeguards underlie Apprendi's exemption of "the fact of a prior
conviction" from its requirement that facts increasing the penalty for a crime beyond the
statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
530 U.S. at 490. Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S. Ct. 1219, 140
L. Ed. 2d 350 (1998), teaches that any due process or Sixth Amendment concerns—
arising out of the judicial determination of a fact of a prior conviction that increases
punishment beyond the statutory maximum—are mitigated by both the certainty that
procedural safeguards are attached to any fact of prior conviction, and the reality that the
defendant did not challenge the accuracy of that fact in his or her case. 530 U.S. at 488.
The Kansas Supreme Court has cited that reasoning favorably. State v. Ivory, 273 Kan.
44, 46-47, 41 P.3d 781 (2002).

18
The same procedural safeguards underlie Dickey's holding that a defendant's
failure to object at sentencing will prevent the defendant from later challenging the
existence of convictions listed in his or her criminal history. As Dickey explained: "A
narrow exception exists for judicial factfinding regarding the existence of a prior
conviction because of the procedural safeguards which attach to such a fact." 301 Kan. at
1036. Apprendi is implicated when a district court sentences above the statutory
maximum by "mak[ing] findings of fact at sentencing that go beyond merely finding the
existence of a prior conviction or the statutory elements that made up the prior
conviction. Descamps, 133 S. Ct. at 2288-89." 301 Kan. at 1036. The district court did
not do so here.

The underlying purpose of conducting a modified categorical approach is to
determine the nature of the offense of which the defendant was convicted, rather than to
determine what he actually did. What better source than the PSI to make that
determination? See Shepard, 544 U.S. at 23 (relying on the conclusion from Taylor v.
United States, 495 U.S. 575, 599, 110 S. Ct. 2143, 109 L. Ed. 2d 607 [1990], that respect
for congressional intent and avoidance of collateral trials requires that "evidence of
generic conviction be confined to records of the convicting court approaching the
certainty of the record of conviction in a generic crime State"). The PSI's listing of a
defendant's prior crimes, once those crimes have been admitted by the defendant and
relied upon by the district court in sentencing, as here, achieves that level of certainty.

No evidence suggests the district court considered any non-Shepard documents to
determine that Barnes' 1978 Texas conviction for "burglary of habitat" was a person
crime. The district court had no need to do so—it could make that determination as a
matter of law by reviewing the criminal history that Barnes admitted to as listed in his
PSI and applying Mullens' finding that Texas' definition of "habitation" fits within
Kansas' definition of "dwelling." Making a legal conclusion does not constitute judicial
factfinding and thus cannot violate Apprendi.
19
To remand this case because the Texas statute permits a defendant to be convicted
either of "burglary of building" or of "burglary of habitat," would, under the
circumstances here, require the district court to do a futile act. We are finding that the
district court erred by relying on the criminal convictions listed in Barnes' PSI, but we are
remanding so the district court can conduct a modified categorical approach by
examining "Shepard documents"—documents which include the prior convictions listed
in Barnes' PSI and established by his admission. The law does not require the doing of a
futile act. See State v. Denney, 283 Kan. 781, 787, 156 P.3d 1275 (2007). Neither should
we.

I would affirm.