State v. Seward

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Beier, J.:

This is a sentencing appeal after defendant Roy Seward entered guilty pleas to two of eight charges, one count of rape and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy. The victim was Se*716ward’s young stepdaughter. Seward received concurrent hard 25 sentences under K.S.A. 21-4643 (Jessica’s Law).

This appeal originally asserted that the sentences under Jessica’s Law were cruel and/or unusual under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 9 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights. Since our decisions in State v.…