State v. Malmstrom, 249 P.3d 1

Malmstrom pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child, geführt by Jessica's Law, which imposes a life sentence with a 25-year mandatory minimum.
Plea agreement contemplated a departure from life without parole to the presumptive guidelines, with a proposed midrange sentence of 155 months per count.
PSI revealed a prior residential burglary, creating a criminal history of D for Count 1 and I for Count 2, contrary to the parties’ initial assumption of history I only.
The district court departed from the off-grid life sentence to a severity level 1 under the guidelines but did not allow a further departure from D to I on Count 1, treating it as a double departure issue.
The court acknowledged conflict between Jessica's Law and the attempt statute (off-grid vs. severity level 1 nondrug felony) and followed Horn’s approach to resolve the conflict, applying lenity in Malmstrom’s favor.
This Court vacated Malmstrom’s sentence under Jessica's Law and remanded for resentencing under the severity level 1 nondrug felony guidelines, with capacity to depart from the gridbox on remand.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court erred by starting departure off-grid	Malmstrom argues the base offense is off-grid under the attempt statute, so start at grid.	State contends up-grid framework should apply under Jessica's Law.	District court erred; start from the grid under the attempt statute.

State v. Horn, 288 Kan. 690 (2009) (conflict between Jessica's Law and the attempt statute; rule of lenity applied)
State v. Ballard, 289 Kan. 1000 (2009) (statutory interpretation and review framework for departures)
State v. Riley, 259 Kan. 774 (1996) (sentencing scheme governed by law in effect when crime occurred)