Opinion
No. 111358.
04-10-2015
CITY OF LAWRENCE, Appellee, v. Colin Royal COMEAU, Appellant.
Michael S. Holland II, of Holland and Holland, of Russell, for appellant. Maria Kaminska, assistant city attorney, and Elizabeth M. Hafoka, supervising city prosecutor, of Lawrence, for appellee.
Michael S. Holland II, of Holland and Holland, of Russell, for appellant.
Maria Kaminska, assistant city attorney, and Elizabeth M. Hafoka, supervising city prosecutor, of Lawrence, for appellee.
Before ARNOLD–BURGER, P.J., POWELL, J., and MERLIN G. WHEELER, District Judge, assigned.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM.
After pleading no contest to all charges, Colin Royal Comeau was convicted in municipal court of driving the wrong way on a one-way street, possessing or using a fake driver's license, and driving under the influence (DUI)—his second offense. Comeau appealed to the district court, and after the district court denied his motion to suppress, Comeau entered into a stipulation of fact and waiver of jury trial with the City of Lawrence (City). Comeau failed to appear in person or by counsel at the first scheduled bench trial, so the district court rescheduled it. Comeau then failed to appear in person at the second scheduled bench trial, although he appeared by counsel. Noting that it was the second time Comeau had failed to appear, the City moved for the district court to dismiss the appeal for lack of prosecution and to remand the case to the municipal court to impose the original sentence. The district court granted the motion to dismiss and remanded the case to the municipal court to impose the original sentence.
Comeau appeals and asks this court to find that the district court's dismissal denied him his constitutional right to trial, and, therefore, this court must remand this case to the district court for reinstatement of his municipal court appeal. Although the City argues that the district court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing the appeal for lack of prosecution, the City asks this court to grant Comeau the relief he requests because, under the City's interpretation of Kansas Supreme Court caselaw, Comeau's municipal conviction was vacated when the district court dismissed his appeal, and a remand to the municipal court to impose the original sentence, as ordered by the district court, was improper.
Because the parties are asking us for the same remedy, we reverse the district court's dismissal of Comeau's municipal court appeal and remand for reinstatement of that appeal before the district court.
Reversed and remanded.