A Sedgwick County judge will decide this week whether a Wichita man who was convicted of kicking his girlfriend to death should receive a Hard 50 prison sentence.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/03/01/3317309/bench-trial-to-begin-monday-in.html#storylink=cpy
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But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that came as prosecutors were preparing to take the case to trial has stalled the proceedings. The ruling prompted the Kansas Legislature to hold a special session last fall to rewrite the state’s Hard 50 law, and it left a handful of defendants, Bernhard among them, in limbo as state courts tried to figure out how to comply with the ruling.

The ruling, which said juries, not judges, should decide whether there are factors that justify increasing a defendant’s minimum prison sentence, prompted the Kansas Attorney General’s Office to drop plans to seek a Hard 50 sentence against Brett Seacat, convicted of killing his wife. Defense lawyers said it also could invalidate the Hard 50 sentence given to Scott Roeder, who was convicted of murdering George Tiller, a doctor who performed abortions.

Prosecutors in Bernhardt’s case are now operating under the new law, which says new juries can be empaneled to determine whether the Hard 50 should be applied in cases that already were in the pipeline when the Supreme Court ruling was issued....