TOPEKA, Kan. — After the Kansas Court of Appeals gave a mixed verdict for a Nickerson man convicted of stalking his ex-wife and violating a protection from abuse order, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned the appeals court decision Friday.
In its ruling, the appeals court stated that the first count against Mark Kendall should have been attempted stalking, so ordered the case be sent back to Reno County District Court for re-sentencing on that count. They did affirm the violation of a protection order.
The Supreme Court Friday overturned that appeals court ruling and affirmed the conviction and sentence for Kendall saying he violated the stalking statute by calling the victim’s cell phone while in prison which was a violation of the protective order she had filed with the court. They say that a reasonable fact finder could infer that the defendant, by calling the victim’s phone, was communicating with the victim.
Kendall had been charged with multiple counts of stalking and violating a protection from stalking order. He was convicted for calling his ex-wife’s phone on four occasions, May 23, and then three days in a row on July 6th, 7th, and 8th, of 2010, but the defense contends no contact was actually made. These calls were made while he was in the El Dorado Correctional Facility. The Defense contended he was trying to contact his daughter.
Kendall was given five years in prison in this case. Earlier, he was sentenced in a previous stalking case also involving his ex-wife. In that case, he was sentenced to five years, six months in prison, and another year in the Reno County Jail.
He will now serve the entire sentence as handed down and will continue to be housed out of state.