State v. Edwards

Summary

The court held that the district court retained jurisdiction to decide Edwards' 2018 DNA-testing motion even though an appeal was pending, because the plain language of K.S.A. 21-2512 creates an exception to the usual appellate divestiture rule. It further held that the denial of the 2018 motion became the law of the case and barred Edwards' functionally identical 2022 motion. The court therefore affirmed the denial of the 2022 motion.