The Kansas Supreme Court announced Friday that it reversed in-part and affirmed in-part a Court of Appeals judgment that found Charles C. Hunter's Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act sentence of commitment at Larned, imposed by the Pawnee County District Court, for battery of a correctional officer was illegal for failing to conform to statutory provisions.
Justice Caleb Stegall, writing for a unanimous court, held that Hunter had been "sentenced to commitment"; however, neither the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act sentencing statutes nor the commitment statutes legally permitted such a disposition.
The court explained that commitment is a process done in lieu of sentencing. Therefore, the court affirmed the panel's holding that Hunter's sentence was illegal; however, the court reversed the panel's holding that Hunter's order of commitment was legal and vacated Hunter's term of commitment. The court remanded Hunter's case to the district court for resentencing.
In addition, Hunter has six previous convictions for rape and three for aggravated burglary.