The Kansas Supreme Court today upheld a Wyandotte County District Court ruling in a first-degree murder case.
The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling denying a motion from Meka Richardson to correct an illegal sentence.
Richardson is currently serving a hard-40 sentence after being convicted in 1992 of first-degree murder. She was convicted of the shooting death of Brenda Wassink.
Richardson filed a pro se motion challenging the 1992 sentence. She argued her sentence was illegal because it did not conform to a law concerning sentencing requirements.
Richardson said the law says requires a jury to unanimously convict her on a premeditation theory, before the judge can convene a separate trial to determine the hard-40 sentence.
Justice Melissa Standridge, writing the opinion, said the Supreme Court unanimously held that the jury instructions and the verdict form in this case conclusively showed the jury unanimously convicted Richardson of premeditated and felony first-degree murder.
The Supreme Court determined that the district court correctly construed Richardson’s motion as a motion to correct an illegal sentence and not as a motion for post-conviction relief.
To see this opinion, visit https://www.kscourts.org/KSCourts/media/KsCourts/Opinions/123045.pdf?ext=.pdf.