State supreme court affirms gang member's convictions and sentence
The Kansas Supreme Court has denied a prison inmate's claim that his murder conviction and sentence are illegal.
Essex Sims, 36, filed an appeal, claiming that the court in Sedgwick County committed five errors in his trial and sentencing. Among Sims' claims was a contention that the court's order was unclear as to whether his sentences were consecutive or concurrent.
Sims was convicted of one count of first-degree felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm in the March 22, 1995 shooting that killed 19-year-old Randy Lattimore, a rival gang member. Two other men were injured in the drive-by shooting.
In denying Sims' appeal, the court said a motion to correct an illegal sentence cannot be used to challenge a conviction, and four claims attacking his convictions are not properly raised.
The court also said there is no reasonable interpretation of the law that contradicts Sims' sentence, which is life in prison, plus an additional 140 months, to run consecutively.
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