State v. Ruiz-Ascencio, 115343

Defendant Gabino Ruiz-Ascencio shot at two men in April 2013; one victim (Peralta) later died and another (Koy) was wounded. He was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and illegal use of a communication facility.
Earlier, in March 2013, Ruiz-Ascencio pointed a gun at an 11-year-old at Maria Aldrete’s home, leading to the aggravated assault conviction.
The shooting arose after prior friction: Ruiz-Ascencio had been looking for Koy and had exchanged words earlier with Peralta the same evening. Witnesses described verbal provocation but no clear physical attack immediately before the shooting.
Ruiz-Ascencio requested jury instructions on voluntary manslaughter (heat of passion / sudden quarrel) as lesser-included offenses for the murder and attempted-murder charges; the trial court denied the request.
The district court sentenced him to concurrent terms for several counts and life with a hard 25 for murder, and imposed lifetime postrelease supervision on all counts.
On appeal, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, held the voluntary manslaughter instruction was not warranted, vacated the lifetime postrelease supervision as illegal, and remanded for resentencing.

Issue	State's Argument	Ruiz-Ascencio's Argument	Held
Whether a voluntary manslaughter instruction was factually appropriate for the murder and attempted-murder counts	Facts did not support legally sufficient provocation or a sudden quarrel; evidence showed preexisting animus and no imminent physical attack	The verbal exchanges and alleged movement toward defendant could support heat of passion / sudden quarrel and thus a manslaughter instruction	Denied — insufficient evidence of sudden quarrel or legally sufficient provocation; prior friction and words alone were inadequate, so instruction was not factually appropriate
Whether lifetime postrelease supervision imposed on each count was legal under K.S.A. 22-3717	Lifetime supervision on all counts was inconsistent with statutory supervision terms for the offenses	Lifetime supervision on all counts was improper; sentencing error	Vacated in part — lifetime postrelease supervision was illegal for these convictions; remanded for resentencing to conform with statutory postrelease terms

State v. Williams, 303 Kan. 585 (discussing standard for instruction review)
State v. Bernhardt, 304 Kan. 460 (defining sudden quarrel and limits on verbal provocation)
State v. Johnson, 290 Kan. 1038 (definition and analysis of sudden quarrel and heat of passion)
State v. Hayes, 299 Kan. 861 (words/gestures insufficient for provocation; premeditation defeats manslaughter instruction)
State v. Brownlee, 302 Kan. 491 (simmering disputes and non-sudden confrontations do not support manslaughter instruction)
State v. Woods, 301 Kan. 852 (verbal confrontation alone insufficient)
State v. Molina, 299 Kan. 651 (following a confrontation before shooting negates sudden quarrel)
State v. Ward, 292 Kan. 541 (harmless-error test referenced for instruction errors)
State v. Gray, 303 Kan. 1011 (definition of illegal sentence under K.S.A. 22-3504)
State v. Dickey, 301 Kan. 1018 (courts may consider illegal sentences at any time)
Makthepharak v. State, 298 Kan. 573 (standard of unlimited review for sentence legality)