State v. Montgomery

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS No. 122,237 STATE OF KANSAS, Appellant, v. DAVID CLAYTON MONTGOMERY, Appellee. SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. For purposes of a potential downward departure sentence, when a court is evaluating whether a nonstatutory factor can be a mitigating factor as a matter of law, the court must consider whether the Legislature, through the sentencing grid, has already taken the factor into account. If it has, then the factor cannot be a mitigating factor as a matter of law. 2. The Legislature, through the sentencing guidelines, has accounted for the difference in…