The Kansas Court of Appeals has affirmed a conviction in an aggravated robbery case originating in Morris County last year.
Johnathon Lyle Engel had appealed his sentence after convictions of attempted aggravated robbery and theft, saying he should not have had to register as a violent offender because he was the getaway driver and never used a gun during the crime.
District court overruled that objection, and the Court of Appeals sided with the lower court for two reasons. First, the Kansas Supreme Court has said the definition of the word “offender,” as used in the Kansas Offender Registration Act, does not exclude unarmed accomplices.
Second, the Supreme Court has also said that without clear proof on hand to override legislative intent with KORA, a district court ruling forcing a defendant to register as a violent offender is not considered an increase in the defendant’s sentence and thus is not a violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey, which says any fact that increases a defendant’s sentence has to be established by a guilty plea or proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
