Originally published Sept. 11, 2015
Today the Kansas Court of Appeals set aside a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for a man convicted of rape in Wyandotte County.
The appeals court sent the case back to the Wyandotte County District Court to provide sufficient findings so it could determine, if an appellate review is requested, how it applied.
According to the decision, after Francisco Albanil-Alvarado appealed the Jessica’s Law sentence, after pleading guilty to two counts of rape of children under 14 and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14, the Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion on how district courts should analyze motions for departure sentences under Jessica’s Law.
Since that Supreme Court ruling (State vs. Jolly) was not in place when the district court had made its decision, the case was sent back to consider the factors based on the new Supreme Court ruling.
According to court documents, Albanil-Alvarado was 23 or 24 at the time of the offenses and some of the victims were under age 14. He asked the court for a lesser sentence based on a lack of past offenses, his age at the time, that he was unfamiliar with American customs and laws, that he accepted responsibility and he would agree to accept treatment.
The district court had denied a lesser sentence, stating it was concerned with the number of victims, three, and their ages. One of the victims was 12.