The Kansas Court of Appeals says a man sentenced on attempted rape and aggravated burglary counts almost a decade ago in Lyon County did not present an argument that would let the appellate court consider his request for a new sentence.
In 2010, Maurice Williams pleaded no contest to attempted rape and aggravated burglary. The underlying plea agreement assumed Williams had a criminal history category of C, meaning one adult conviction or juvenile adjudication for a person felony and at least one conviction or adjudication for a nonperson felony, but a presentence investigation put it at B, or the next level up — meaning two convictions or adjudications for person felonies.
Williams objected and moved to withdraw his pleas, but District Court denied the motion and Williams was later sentenced to a combined 20-plus years in prison based on the B criminal history category. His sentence would have been 11-plus years combined if his criminal history would have been in the C category.
Williams has tried unsuccessfully several times to have his sentence reduced. The latest appeal said his prison term should have been based on a “presumptive guidelines sentence” based on the anticipated criminal history category at the time of his plea instead of the determined criminal history at the time of sentencing. The Court of Appeals said that action would force the state to expand its criteria for illegal sentencing, which it does not have the authority to do.
