Kansas Supreme Court Decisions 2014
Date: December 24, 2014
Docket Number: 105918
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted in two separate trials of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Alfred Mack, second-degree intentional murder in the later death of Justin Letourneau, theft, and aggravated assault.…
Date: December 24, 2014
Docket Number: 106600
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted for distribution of methamphetamine, unlawful use of a communication facility to arrange a drug sale, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, among other crimes.…
Date: December 24, 2014
Docket Number: 107776
Justia Opinion Summary: The day after seeking treatment at Ashland Health Center, a municipal hospital, Ann Krier died. Four days after the executor of Krier’s estate (Plaintiff) submitted a notice of claim to Ashland, asserting claims against…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 106092
Justia Opinion Summary: During his marriage to Wife, Husband, an attorney, drafted a “Post-Nuptial Agreement Dissolution of the Marriage” that reserved most of the assets for Wife. Husband later petitioned for divorce. Wife filed a motion…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 106107
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree intentional murder for fatally shooting her former partner, Wesley Smith. Prior to trial, Defendant received an evaluation by an expert on battered woman…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 110007
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother was the biological mother of Jocelyn and Justine. Father was the biological father of Justine and acted as Jocelyn’s father from the time she was born. After the parties separated, Father filed a petition…
Date: December 12, 2014
Docket Number: 105964
Justia Opinion Summary: Kan. Stat. Ann. 59-618 is an exception to Kan. Stat. Ann. 59-617’s general rule that no will is effective unless a petition is filed for probate of the will within six months of the date of the testator’s death. After…
Date: December 12, 2014
Docket Number: 107180
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder. The district court sentenced Defendant to a hard fifty sentence, which was imposed under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-4635. The Supreme Court…
Date: December 9, 2014
Docket Number: 104666
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated assault. During trial, the judge gave the pattern instructions regarding defense of a dwelling and defense of self and also inserted a sentence in the defense of…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 110128
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded no contest to premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and forgery and was sentenced to life in prison, with no parole eligibility for twenty-five years. Nearly eleven years after her…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 112169
Date: November 21, 2014
Docket Number: 107929
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a no contest plea to one count of violating the Kansas Offender Registration Act. Appellant’s intensive supervision officer later filed a warrant alleging that Appellant had violated the terms of his…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Number: 107158
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated burglary. Utilizing Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-4635, the sentencing judge imposed a sentence of life imprisonment without the…
Date: October 31, 2014
Docket Numbers: 109388, 109389, 109390
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a persistent sex offender involuntarily committed to Larned State Security Hospital, filed three petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Without requiring responses from the Secretary of the Kansas Department…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Number: 104388
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 216 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed on direct appeal. Defendant subsequently filed the present pro se motion for…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Number: 104520
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. The district court found aggravating circumstances to impose a hard fifty life sentence on Defendant’s…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Number: 105245
Justia Opinion Summary: Dick McClary submitted an application for health insurance to Golden Rule Insurance Company that failed to disclose proposed insured Patti Denney’s preexisting condition. Golden Rule issued a policy covering Denney, but…
Date: October 10, 2014
Docket Number: 112590
Justia Opinion Summary: The Attorney General alleged that the Chief Judge of the Tenth Judicial District exceeded his authority and contravened Kansas law by issuing an administrative order permitting marriage licenses to be issued to same sex…
Date: October 3, 2014
Docket Number: 106210
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of attempted aggravated interference with parental custody and disorderly conduct. The court of appeals found several trial errors, including two instances of prosecutorial…
Date: October 3, 2014
Docket Number: 108526
Justia Opinion Summary: Numerous class actions throughout the country were filed against FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. by former and current delivery drivers for the company. Plaintiffs claimed they were improperly classified as independent…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 103881
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and criminal threat. The court of appeals affirmed on direct appeal. The Supreme Court accepted review to…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 104533
Date: September 18, 2014
Docket Number: 112431
Justia Opinion Summary: Chad Taylor received the most votes in the Democratic Party primary for United States Senate for Kansas and was declared the winner. Taylor subsequently drafted a letter of withdrawal from the Senate race and submitted…
Date: September 5, 2014
Docket Number: 102478
Justia Opinion Summary: A petition to convene a citizen-initiated grand jury alleged wrongdoing by the officers and directors of the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas (Unified…
Date: September 5, 2014
Docket Number: 105695
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with five drug- and firearm-related felonies after a law enforcement officer stopped him for driving a vehicle with a defective headlight and arrested him when he could not produce proof of…
Date: September 5, 2014
Docket Number: 106329
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting death of the social guest of Defendant’s girlfriend. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) any error in the district court’s…
Date: September 5, 2014
Docket Number: 107962
Justia Opinion Summary: A bullet fatally wounded a man sitting inside the house of Defendant's neighbor. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder based upon the underlying felony of criminal discharge of a firearm at an…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 104666
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the Supreme Court reexamined the holding in State v. Alexander that a defense of dwelling jury instruction should not be given in a trial where the person defending a dwelling is the alleged victim rather…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 106605
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested for possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during a warrantless search of her vehicle conducted incident to a traffic…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 106703
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). During his August 2011 sentencing, the district court imposed the enhanced sentence applicable to a person with four prior DUI convictions.…
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 106111
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery for crimes committed when Defendant was thirteen years old. Defendant was tried as an adult. The district court sentenced Defendant to a hard…
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 106894
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder, the alternative charge of second-degree murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated assault. Defendant raised several issues on appeal, including…
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 107905
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with abuse of a child and felony murder with the underlying felony of child abuse arising from the death of an eleven-month-old child who was in Defendant’s care. The first jury trial resulted in a…
Date: August 8, 2014
Docket Number: 101054
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree felony murder. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the district court for findings and conclusions relating to the issue of reopening the defense case…
Date: August 8, 2014
Docket Number: 105307
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of fourteen and was sentenced to concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole for forty…
Date: August 8, 2014
Docket Number: 106960
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of stalking and violating a protective order for placing telephone calls from the State prison to his former wife, D.K. D.K. knew, based on her phone’s caller ID, that Defendant was calling her…
Date: August 8, 2014
Docket Number: 109355
Justia Opinion Summary: A.M.M.-H. was sentenced in an extended juvenile jurisdiction proceeding in which he was given both a juvenile sentence and an adult sentence. The adult sentence was stayed pending successful completion of his juvenile…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 106317
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of capital murder and filed a direct appeal before passing away. At issue was whether defendant's death made the appeal moot. In Kansas, the death of a criminal defendant does not automatically…
Date: July 25, 2014
Docket Number: 105828
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder and aggravated battery stemming from the death of one child and injuries sustained by another child. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a hard twenty life…
Date: July 25, 2014
Docket Number: 107038
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder, attempted aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a firearm. The district court sentenced Defendant to twenty-five years to life for his murder…
Date: July 25, 2014
Docket Number: 107571
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of felony murder, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and criminal possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding…
Date: July 25, 2014
Docket Number: 90044
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and his brother were jointly tried, convicted, and sentenced for crimes committed in a series of three incidents in December 2000 in Wichita. Defendant was convicted of fifty counts, including four counts of…
Date: July 25, 2014
Docket Number: 90198
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and his brother were jointly tried, convicted, and sentenced for crimes committed in a series of three incidents in December 2000 in Wichita. Defendant was convicted of forty-three counts, including…
Date: July 18, 2014
Docket Number: 102883
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of rape of a child under fourteen. The district court sentenced Defendant in accordance with Jessica’s Law to two consecutive life sentences with no possibility…
Date: July 18, 2014
Docket Number: 103433
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of rape of a child, aggravated battery, abuse of a child, and child endangerment. The Supreme Court remanded for resentencing. After Defendant was resentenced for his rape conviction, he appealed,…
Date: July 18, 2014
Docket Number: 105401
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged Defendant with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under fourteen years old. The district court accepted Defendant’s no contest plea. At the sentencing hearing, Defendant sought to…
Date: July 18, 2014
Docket Number: 97296
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of capital murder, first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a firearm. In a separate penalty phase, the same jury…
Date: July 11, 2014
Docket Number: 103566
Justia Opinion Summary: In State v. Bunyard, the Supreme Court held that a defendant may be convicted of rape if intercourse begins consensually but consent is withdrawn after penetration and the intercourse continues by force or fear. Bunyard…
Date: July 11, 2014
Docket Number: 104318
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson County Sheriff’s Department Master Deputy Michael Maurer cracked a department vehicle’s windshield with a binder while attempting to shoo away a horsefly. Maurer initially reported that the cracked windshield was…
Date: July 11, 2014
Docket Number: 106640
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape. The district court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole after adjudging him an aggravated habitual sex offender. The Supreme…
Date: July 11, 2014
Docket Number: 109208
Justia Opinion Summary: A baby was born premature on a city street in Wichita. A child in need of care (CINC) petition was filed, and custody of the baby was granted to the Secretary of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services…
Date: July 3, 2014
Docket Number: 108218
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and three other individuals were prosecuted for the murder of one victim and the assault of another. One defendant entered into a plea agreement, and the other three were convicted at separate jury trials.…
Date: July 3, 2014
Docket Number: 108586
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with crimes arising out of an incident in which she accompanied her boyfriend and his cousin to the apartment of the victim and fatally shot the victim. Defendant was convicted of felony murder,…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 102036
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated trafficking. Defendant appealed, raising numerous challenges to his conviction and sentence. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 104236
Justia Opinion Summary: Ector Manuel Savala-Quintero sustained injuries when he jumped through the fourth-story window of room in the Wabaunsee County jail where he had been placed by sheriff officials during an investigation. The University of…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 104245
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and two counts of indecent liberties with a child. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions but remanded…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 105182
Justia Opinion Summary: James Simpson was charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated child endangerment. Simpson filed a motion seeking a psychiatric evaluation of the complaining child witness. The district court…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 105603
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, and attempted aggravated robbery based on an incident in which Defendant snuck into a victim’s vehicle, held a knife to the victim’s throat as the victim…
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 106299
Justia Opinion Summary: After Defendant’s first two trials ended in mistrials, Defendant was found guilty of aggravated robbery. The court of appeals affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) any taking, incidental or…
Date: June 20, 2014
Docket Number: 107011
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to a drug-related offense. The sentencing guidelines prescribed presumptive sentence range of 169 to 187 months’ imprisonment, but as part of Defendant’s plea agreement, the State recommended a…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 105319
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled nolo contendere to aggravated robbery, possession of marijuana, burglary and contributing to a child’s misconduct. Defendant was sentenced to a controlling term of 144 months’ imprisonment. The court of…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 106093
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, burglary, kidnapping and other charges and was sentenced to five life imprisonment sentences as an aggravated habitual sex offender. The Supreme Court affirmed…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 106456
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of one count of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault. The district court sentenced Defendant to a hard fifty life sentence for the murder…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 106865
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered an Alford plea pleading guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder and two counts of arson. The district court calculated Defendant’s criminal history score by classifying a prior Ohio conviction…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 107351
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of one count of first-degree premeditated murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder arising out of a drive-by shooting. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 107981
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled nolo contendere to first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to a hard twenty-five life sentence for the murder. Eleven years after the crimes, Defendant filed a pro se…
Date: June 13, 2014
Docket Number: 108849
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1991, Appellant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated arson, and forgery. The sentencing court imposed three consecutive life sentences. Appellant…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 102749
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with involvement with a theft. Defendant moved to suppress evidence obtained through a search warrant authorizing the seizure of his biological material. The district court denied the motion to…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 106102
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder and aggravated kidnapping. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and sentences, holding (1) assuming the trial court erred in not instructing the…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 106689
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count each of first-degree murder on the combined theories of premeditated murder and felony murder, aggravated robbery, and burglary. Defendant was sentenced to a hard…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 107673
Justia Opinion Summary: Two days after Defendant’s arrest for marijuana possession, the United States Supreme Court decided Arizona v. Gant, which invalidated certain searches incident to arrest. Defendant moved to suppress the drug evidence…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 107906
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm in the shooting death of the mother of his child. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) if the district court’s…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 108125
Justia Opinion Summary: Claimant was injured in a car accident on his way home from work. Claimant’s co-worker was driving the vehicle at the time. The Workers Compensation Board entered an award in favor of Claimant, deciding that Claimant’s…
Date: June 6, 2014
Docket Number: 109303
Justia Opinion Summary: More than ten years after Appellant was sentenced for felony murder, he filed a pro se motion to “Correct Illegal Sentence,” making an instructional error claim. The district court construed Appellant’s pleading as a…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: 102904
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes. The Supreme Court concluded that Appellant’s convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery were multiplicitous and reversed…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: 104392
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, and abuse of a seventeen-month-old child. Defendant was sentenced to life without possibility of parole for fifty years…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: 105228
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. Defendant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: 107096
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder on the combined theories of premeditated murder and felony murder and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building. Defendant was sentenced to…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 103083
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility for parole for fifty years. The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed, concluding that the…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 103120
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding (1) the prosecutor committed…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 103272
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and criminal possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed, raising four assignments of error. The…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 103399
Justia Opinion Summary: After his first trial ended with a hung jury, Defendant was retried and convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and criminal possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 103785
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and criminal possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed, raising a number of issues. The Supreme…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 106288
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and discharge of a firearm at an occupied building. The Supreme Court reversed Appellant’s first-degree murder…
Date: May 23, 2014
Docket Number: 107477
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for fifty years. The Supreme Court vacated Defendant’s sentence, holding that the state’s former…
Date: May 16, 2014
Docket Number: 102630
Justia Opinion Summary: Prairie Land Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Prairie Land), which purchases wholesale electricity from various suppliers and distributes that electricity to retail customers, entered into temporally overlapping, long-term…
Date: May 16, 2014
Docket Number: 105995
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape by penile penetration, rape by digital penetration, aggravated criminal sodomy, and aggravated indecent liberties with a minor and received four concurrent hard…
Date: May 16, 2014
Docket Number: 106508
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with thirteen felonies. On the morning trial was set to begin, Defendant’s counsel orally renewed a motion to withdraw at Defendant’s request. The district judge denied the motion. Defendant…
Date: May 9, 2014
Docket Number: 105601
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a…
Date: May 9, 2014
Docket Number: 107904
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape, aggravated sodomy, and aggravated kidnapping. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (i) Defendant’s claim that his preliminary hearing…
Date: May 2, 2014
Docket Number: 102071
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officer Ricky Ritter observed a blue pickup truck traveling without its headlights on. Defendant was driving a red pickup truck behind the blue pickup truck, and a van was following Defendant. Ritter pulled his…
Date: May 2, 2014
Docket Number: 102471
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with, among other offenses, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer by driving recklessly, and driving with a suspended license. A week before trial, Defendant filed a motion to…
Date: May 2, 2014
Docket Number: 104533
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and robbery for crimes occurring in 2008. To calculate Defendant’s sentence, the district court found Defendant had two prior out-of-state robbery convictions from 1984 and…
Date: April 25, 2014
Docket Number: 102421
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant broke into a home a placed a one-year-old child in a duffel bad, allegedly to kidnap the child. Defendant was subsequently charged with kidnapping, aggravated burglary, and endangering a child. A jury convicted…
Date: April 25, 2014
Docket Number: 105588
Justia Opinion Summary: Two police officers and two training officers entered a locked apartment without a warrant to assist Defendant, who was lying unresponsive on the couch. Once Defendant was awake and clearly not needing emergency medical…
Date: April 25, 2014
Docket Number: 105685
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded no contendere to one count each of aggravated sodomy and attempted aggravated sodomy. In exchange for the plea, the State agreed to a sentencing recommendation that permitted Defendant to seek a shorter…
Date: April 25, 2014
Docket Number: 106021
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s…
Date: April 25, 2014
Docket Number: 108748
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of capital murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and two counts of felony theft. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions but remanded for resentencing. On…
Date: April 18, 2014
Docket Number: 105057
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. After the sentencing judge found by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of four…
Date: April 18, 2014
Docket Number: 106646
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Before trial, the State moved for a determination as to the admissibility of Defendant’s inculpatory statements to police. The…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 106150
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the trial court denied Defendant his right under the Sixth Amendment to have the…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 106306
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for fifty years. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction but vacated his…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 106318
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building. The sentencing court sentenced Appellant to a hard twenty-five life sentence for the…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 106471
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, Appellant was convicted of one count of felony murder and one count of aggravated battery. As part of Appellant’s sentence, the sentencing court ordered Appellant to pay restitution in the amount of $119,900. No…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 108292
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of no contest to felony murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and attempted aggravated robbery. Appellant docketed his appeal from his sentence and then filed a pro se motion…
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 110117
Date: March 28, 2014
Docket Number: 104115
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged Defendant with possession of methamphetamine after law enforcement officers stopped Defendant’s vehicle based on a turn signal violation, searched the vehicle because they detected a very strong odor of…
Date: March 21, 2014
Docket Number: 104485
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and sentenced to hard twenty-five life sentences imposed under Jessica’s Law. The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s…
Date: March 21, 2014
Docket Number: 106132
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of multiple counts of serious sex offenses perpetrated against his four-year-old granddaughter. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (1) the State…
Date: March 21, 2014
Docket Number: 109018
Justia Opinion Summary: After the Unified School District No. 365 initiated condemnation proceedings on property owned by Donald and Susan Diebolt, the trial judge appointed three appraisers, who valued the property at $278,800. During the…
Date: March 14, 2014
Docket Number: 107961
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to felony murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Consistent with the plea agreement, defense counsel and the State requested concurrent sentences. The…
Date: March 14, 2014
Docket Number: 108130
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1988, Defendant was sentenced to terms of imprisonment for aggravated robbery and first-degree murder. The sentences were ordered to run consecutive to each other and to the sentences not yet imposed in another case…
Date: March 7, 2014
Docket Number: 106103
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and endangering a child for fatally shooting his ex-wife while his daughter watched nearby. Defendant was sentenced to twenty-five years to…
Date: March 7, 2014
Docket Number: 106166
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a child and one count of sexual exploitation of a child. The district court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum…
Date: March 7, 2014
Docket Number: 107768
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pled no contest to two counts of felony murder and one count of aggravated arson. Thereafter, Defendant filed a motion to withdraw his no contest pleas to the three charges. The…
Date: March 7, 2014
Docket Number: 109335
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, school districts and individuals, filed suit against the State, alleging, among other claims, that the State violated the Kansas Constitution by failing to provide a suitable education to all Kansas students.…
Date: February 28, 2014
Docket Number: 102495
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to attempted rape, attempted second-degree murder, and aiding a felon. The district court judge sentenced Appellant to a term of imprisonment and ordered restitution to remain open for thirty…
Date: February 28, 2014
Docket Number: 102981
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of eight of nine counts each of aggravated burglary and misdemeanor theft. The sentencing judge ordered Appellant to pay restitution “as contained within the presentence…
Date: February 28, 2014
Docket Number: 103304
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary for attacking Otis Webb at his home and stealing $950 from Webb’s pockets. During the altercation, Webb knocked a cap off the head of one of the…
Date: February 28, 2014
Docket Number: 105625
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, and sexual exploitation of a child. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s convictions but…
Date: February 28, 2014
Docket Number: 105678
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The ages of both the victim and the defendant form an essential part of the elements of the off-grid versions of rape…
Date: February 21, 2014
Docket Number: 105934
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1995, Appellant pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder and aggravated robbery for crimes Appellant committed when he was fourteen years old. Approximately twelve years later, Appellant filed a pro se motion to…
Date: February 14, 2014
Docket Number: 103915
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder. The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal. Defendant subsequently filed a habeas corpus action alleging, inter alia, that his appellate…
Date: February 14, 2014
Docket Number: 106273
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that that two prosecutors who made arguments to the…
Date: February 7, 2014
Docket Number: 105613
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under fourteen years of age. Defendant was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences. Defendant appealed, arguing,…
Date: February 7, 2014
Docket Number: 105876
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a wrongful death action against a hospital and its employee after Plaintiffs’ son died from a punctured bowel. The district court dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, concluding (1) the…
Date: February 7, 2014
Docket Number: 109015
Justia Opinion Summary: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company issued an automobile insurance policy, which included uninsured motorist coverage, to Melvin Briggs. After Nationwide sent Briggs a notice of nonrenewal of the policy, Briggs was…
Date: January 31, 2014
Docket Number: 105115
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions and sentences in two cases. The first case, which was tried to a jury, involved sex offenses against a thirteen-year-old, and the second case arose from an unrelated incident involving…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 102377
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of rape in violation of Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-3502(a)(1)(A), which defines rape as sexual intercourse with a person who does not consent to the sexual intercourse under circumstances when “the victim…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 102452
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of rape, blackmail, and breach of privacy. The court of appeals reversed Defendant’s convictions for rape and breach of privacy, concluding that the evidence was insufficient to support the…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 103020
Justia Opinion Summary: While driving a vehicle owned by her employer (Employer), Appellant was injured in an accident caused by an underinsured motorist. Appellant claimed underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits under Employer’s commercial…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 103499
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Doctor and Doctor’s employer (Employer), alleging that Doctor touched her inappropriately and made sexually charged comments during her office visits. Plaintiff settled with Doctor, and the…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 104316
Justia Opinion Summary: Bank loaned money to Debtor to purchase a vehicle. The loan was secured by a security interest in the vehicle that was recorded in the Kansas Department of Revenue’s (KDOR) digital records and noted on an electronic…
Date: January 24, 2014
Docket Number: 106214
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder after he admitted stabbing his mother to death. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) one comment by the prosecutor during closing arguments was improper, but the…
Date: January 17, 2014
Docket Number: 105091
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of aggravated criminal sodomy, an off-grid person felony, and sentenced to a hard twenty-five life sentence. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not…
Date: January 17, 2014
Docket Number: 105872
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (1) the district court did…
Date: January 10, 2014
Docket Number: 105809
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of eight counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and related offenses. Defendant was sentenced to two consecutive hard twenty-five life sentences plus fifty-nine…
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