State v. George

── State v. George ── Court: Court of Appeals of Kansas Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION No. 127,972 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. RANDALL SCOTT GEORGE, Appellant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; BRUCE BROWN, judge. Submitted without oral argument. Opinion filed May 15, 2026. Conviction affirmed, sentence vacated in part, and case remanded with directions. Peter Maharry, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant. Julie A. Koon, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Kris W. Kobach, attorney general, for appellee. Before GARDNER, P.J., ARNOLD-BURGER and SCHROEDER, JJ. PER CURIAM: Randall Scott George entered a vacant house after the owner left; while George was still in the house, the owner returned with her daughter. George now timely appeals his jury conviction for aggravated burglary, arguing the house was vacant upon entry and he lacked the intent to steal once other persons were present. He admits he committed a burglary, but not aggravated burglary, and now asserts the district court's failure to give a simple burglary instruction was clear error. Finally, he requests resentencing as the district court failed to award him 378 days of jail credit for time 1 served during the pendency of the case's disposition. Following our extensive review, we find the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction for aggravated burglary and the failure to give a burglary instruction was not clear error. Finally, we agree with George's claim for additional jail credit for the days he was incarcerated pending disposition of this case. Therefore, we affirm his conviction, but we vacate his sentence in part and remand for the district court to recalculate George's jail credit. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On October 12, 2021, George and Vada Carpenter had multiple brief encounters while Carpenter was evicting tenants from one of her rental properties. According to Carpenter, she told George multiple times that no one was allowed on the property and that anyone on the property thereafter was criminally trespassing. Carpenter left the property and returned approximately 20 minutes later with her daughter to finish posting no trespassing signs and to search for a lost cell phone. Upon returning to the house, Carpenter and her daughter discovered someone had tampered with the back door. Carpenter left again to retrieve boards to secure the door while her daughter waited in the house near the back door. When Carpenter returned, she discovered George hiding in the house behind items next to the back door. Carpenter held up a board, told George not to move, and instructed her daughter to dial 911. All three remained in the house until Wichita Police Department officers arrived. Officers detained George, and he told them he entered the house after he suspected someone was inside, claiming the individual exited through a window. George said he knew the tenants were evicted and, once inside, decided to search for food and furniture. George claimed he tried to exit the house through the back door, but a broken doorknob denied his exit, so he tried to hide. While detained, an officer searched George and discovered two pipes and a baggie containing blue pills, later identified as Percocet. 2  George was charged with one count each of aggravated burglary and possession of an opiate. On April 2, 2024, a jury found him guilty as charged. The district court sentenced George, but his senten