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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS No. 101,348 STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. WILLARD LAGRANGE, Appellant.

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. As a general rule, courts should construe a statute to avoid unreasonable results and should presume that the legislature does not intend to enact useless, superfluous, or meaningless legislation.

2. The rule of lenity dictates that a court strictly construe a criminal statute for the benefit of the defendant, with any reasonable doubt as to the statute's meaning being resolved in favor of the accused. But the rule of lenity is subject to the constraint that the judicial interpretation of the statute must be reasonable and sensible to effect its legislative design and intent.

3. Under K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(4)(A), criminal possession of a firearm, an adult convicted of a felony listed in the statute and sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment for that conviction is prohibited from possessing a firearm for a 10-year period that commences on the date that person is released from prison.
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Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion filed April 15, 2010. Appeal from Reno District Court; JOSEPH L. MCCARVILLE III, judge. Opinion filed June 29, 2012. Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the district court is affirmed. Judgment of the district court is affirmed.

Rachel L. Pickering, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.

Keith E. Schroeder, district attorney, argued the cause, and Steve Six, attorney general, was with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

JOHNSON, J.: Willard LaGrange challenges his conviction for criminal possession of a firearm, in violation of K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(4)(A). That statute imposes a 10-year prohibition on the possession of a firearm by persons convicted of certain felonies. LaGrange had a 1994 conviction for aggravated battery, K.S.A. 21-3404, one of the felonies listed in K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(4)(A), for which he served a prison sentence. He was released from prison on that sentence in 2004. The district court found that the 10-year firearm prohibition period began upon LaGrange's release from prison in 2004. In contrast, LaGrange contends that, as applied to him, the statutory language prohibited firearm possession for 10 years from his date of conviction, which period had expired before his firearm possession in this case. We agree with the district court's interpretation of K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(4)(A): the 10-year ban on the possession of firearms began to run against LaGrange on the date he was released from prison on the aggravated battery sentence. Accordingly, we affirm.

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FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW On August 28, 2007, LaGrange, armed with a revolver, intervened in a fight between brothers Lucas and Jason Magerfleisch. After a warning shot into the air went unheeded, LaGrange approached the combatants and held the weapon close to Jason. The weapon discharged another round, albeit LaGrange contended that it was an accidental shot caused by Jason's wife jumping on him. The bullet entered the left side of Jason's throat and became lodged in his shoulder blade. LaGrange fled the scene.

LaGrange was arrested later that evening. The next day, law enforcement recovered the revolver, which was loaded and contained two spent cartridges. The State charged LaGrange with attempted first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. LaGrange filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the criminal possession of a firearm count, arguing that the complaint was fatally defective for failing to allege a crime. Specifically, he argued that his prior felony conviction occurred more than 10 years prior to the current incident and, therefore, K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(4)(A) did not ban his possession of a firearm at that time.

The district court denied LaGrange's pretrial motion, as well as denying his renewed motions for dismissal of the firearm count after opening statements and before closing arguments. After the denial of his second motion to dismiss, LaGrange stipulated to the following facts with respect to the firearm charge:

"1. The Defendant, Willard L. LaGrange, has been convicted of a felony crime under the laws of the State of Kansas; "2. The felony conviction is for a crime specifically designated under K.S.A. 214204(a)(4)(A); "3. The Defendant was not found in possession of a firearm at the time of the commission of the felony crime of conviction;

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"4. The Defendant was released from imprisonment for such felony conviction within 10 years of August 28, 2007; and "5. The felony conviction has not been expunged and the Defendant has not been pardoned for such crime."

The jury acquitted LaGrange of attempted murder but convicted him of the firearms charge. After the district court sentenced LaGrange to 18 months' imprisonment, he appealed to the Court of Appeals. A split panel of that court affirmed LaGrange's conviction. State v. LaGrange, No. 101,348, 2010 WL 1610398, at *2-3 (Kan. App. 2010) (unpublished opinion). The majority concluded that the legislature intended K.S.A. 21-4204 to make "it a crime for anyone released from prison within the past 10 years for 'such felony' to include those released from prison within the past 10 years after convictions for one of the specific felonies listed in K.S.A. 21

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