Kansas Supreme Court Decisions 2011
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: 98419
Justia Opinion Summary: Homeowners sued Contractor for, inter alia, breach of contract, negligence, fraud, and fraudulent concealment, claiming that Contractor negligently failed to perform contractually required work. The district court…
Date: December 23, 2011
Docket Number: 101097
Justia Opinion Summary: Lester Dean was the sole and managing member of Glacier Development Company, LLC, which owned property that the Kansas DOT (KDOT) took for highway purposes. KDOT's eminent domain petition did not individually name Dean…
Date: December 23, 2011
Docket Number: 99506
Justia Opinion Summary: In the garnishment action below, Plaintiffs sought to collect the consent judgments they had previously obtained in settlement of their tort actions against Americold Corporation, which was insured by Northwestern…
Date: December 23, 2011
Docket Number: 99781
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Willie Dale was convicted of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated assault. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted Dale's petition for review on the…
Date: December 2, 2011
Docket Number: 101809
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Kidd was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and aggravated battery. Kidd appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding, (1) the district…
Date: December 2, 2011
Docket Number: 102912
Justia Opinion Summary: Ricky Hyche pled guilty to aggravated indecent liberties with a child, a Jessica's Law offense, and received a hard twenty-five sentence with lifetime electronic monitoring. Hyche appealed, arguing (1) he should be…
Date: November 18, 2011
Docket Number: 103491
Justia Opinion Summary: John Harsh pled nolo contendere to one count of rape for engaging in sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of fourteen. Prior to sentencing, Harsh moved for a downward departure from the mandatory minimum sentence…
Date: October 28, 2011
Docket Number: 98656
Justia Opinion Summary: William Bennington was convicted of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, rape, two counts of criminal use of a financial card, and two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy. Bennington appealed…
Date: October 28, 2011
Docket Number: 99232
Justia Opinion Summary: Saul Miller was convicted of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, and two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Miller's first trial ended in a mistrial when the State repeatedly violated the trial court's…
Date: October 21, 2011
Docket Number: 101987
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Nathan Inkelaar was convicted of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated criminal sodomy. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's…
Date: October 21, 2011
Docket Number: 102308
Justia Opinion Summary: John Brennan sued his physician, who had a $200,000 professional liability insurance policy, for medical malpractice. The insurer was declared insolvent after Brennan filed his claim but before he recovered. The…
Date: October 21, 2011
Docket Number: 104114
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Alex Jacobs pleaded guilty to one count each of off-grid aggravated indecent liberties, aggravated indecent liberties, and criminal sodomy. In exchange for Defendant's plea, the State agreed to join in Jacobs'…
Date: October 21, 2011
Docket Number: 98487
Justia Opinion Summary: The Board of County Commissioners of Wabaunsee County amended its zoning regulations to permit small wind energy conversion systems. The regulations, however, prohibited the placement of commercial wind energy conversion…
Date: October 21, 2011
Docket Number: 99536
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involved a manufacturer of conveyor pizza ovens, Wolfe Electric, its former employee, Terry Duckworth, and the competing business Duckworth helped form, Global Cooking Systems. Wolfe Electric brought suit…
Date: October 14, 2011
Docket Number: 104180
Justia Opinion Summary: Joshua Cash pled guilty to sex crimes covered by Jessica's Law, Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-4643, after confessing to having had sexual contact with his eight-year-old stepdaughter. The district court (1) imposed three concurrent…
Date: September 30, 2011
Docket Number: 100768
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Christopher Tahah of felony murder and the underlying felony of discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling resulting in great bodily harm. During trial, Tahah argued for a lesser-included offense…
Date: September 30, 2011
Docket Number: 101949
Justia Opinion Summary: The Taranto Group contracted with two outside vendors to send out advertising via facsimile transmissions on its behalf. It was later calculated that at least 5,000 transmissions were made in violation of the Telephone…
Date: September 30, 2011
Docket Number: 102895
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brandon Hulett was charged with first-degree murder. Before trial, Hulett filed a pro se motion for substitute counsel. The district court denied the motion, finding no conflict of interest, no irreconcilable…
Date: September 23, 2011
Docket Number: 100719
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Anthony Barnes was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault. Barnes was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole with a consecutive fourteen months for the…
Date: September 23, 2011
Docket Number: 92764
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Michael Tully of one count of rape. The court of appeals affirmed Tully's conviction and sentence. The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and district court, holding (1) Tully's rights as…
Date: September 23, 2011
Docket Number: 98586
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Stapleton committed suicide while he was incarcerated in the Shawnee County Adult Detention Center. Plaintiffs, including the administratrix of Stapleton's estate, filed suit against Defendants, Shawnee County, a…
Date: September 16, 2011
Docket Number: 99687
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother was the biological mother of two children. Mother's husband, Stepfather, petitioned to adopt the children without the consent of their biological Father. The district court determined that Father's consent to the…
Date: September 9, 2011
Docket Number: 100157
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from an order granting summary judgment to the Board of County Commissioners regarding its challenge to the annexation of certain land by Park City. The district court then granted Park City an…
Date: September 9, 2011
Docket Number: 100839
Justia Opinion Summary: Lafayette Cosby was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder after a second trial. The Supreme Court affirmed, (1) The district court properly excluded evidence of a question Cosby asked police because it was…
Date: September 9, 2011
Docket Number: 101346
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Phouthavy Chanthaseng was convicted for aggravated indecent liberties with a child. On appeal, Chanthaseng argued that the prosecutor committed reversible misconduct by arguing facts not in evidence…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 100233
Justia Opinion Summary: Chester Roberts was arrested for the unlawful possession of prescription drugs after he was found in possession of a tablet of generic Lortab, for which he had no prescription. Roberts was charged with one count of…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 100247
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Xavier Miller was convicted of intentional second-degree murder. The court of appeals affirmed Miller's conviction. At issue on review was whether the district court clearly erred when it…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 101354
Justia Opinion Summary: In two cases consolidated for trial, a jury convicted Patrick Naputi on seven counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of fourteen. The district court granted Naputi's departure motion and…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 101545
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Jared Race was convicted of two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 103395
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Plaintiff sued Defendant, a doctor, alleging negligence. Attorney Scott Mann represented Plaintiff, and an attorney from Bretz Law Offices allegedly agreed to assist as co-counsel. The district court judge…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 98812
Justia Opinion Summary: While FBI task-force officers were looking to execute an arrest warrant for Shane Thompson, the officers saw Defendant Robert Johnson walking on a sidewalk. After requesting identification, the officers searched Johnson…
Date: September 2, 2011
Docket Number: 99609
Justia Opinion Summary: Property owners appealed a special tax assessment the Board of County Commissioners levied against real property for cleanup costs the County claimed it incurred while removing dangerous structures and unsightly…
Date: August 26, 2011
Docket Number: 99550
Justia Opinion Summary: Progressive Products, Inc. (PPI) filed a four-count complaint in district court against Defendants, former employees of PPI, on various theories alleging Defendants misappropriated protected trade secrets. The trade…
Date: August 19, 2011
Docket Number: 100423
Justia Opinion Summary: Shane Marquis was placed on probation after being convicted of drug charges and felony theft. Later, the State sought to revoke Marquis' probation, claiming he failed to successfully complete a required boot camp. At the…
Date: August 19, 2011
Docket Number: 102502
Justia Opinion Summary: Luiz Mendoza pleaded no contest to rape with a victim who was eleven years old. As part of the plea agreement, the State dismissed all other charges and agreed to recommend a downward departure to the sentencing grid.…
Date: August 19, 2011
Docket Number: 103822
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Pace pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sodomy. Pursuant to the plea agreement, all other counts were dismissed. Pace filed a motion for a downward durational sentencing departure. The district court denied…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 100246
Justia Opinion Summary: William McKnight pleaded no contest to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and was sentenced to thirty months' incarceration with twenty-four months' postrelease supervision. Because his crime fell in a…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 100682
Justia Opinion Summary: Daniel Perez was charged with first-degree felony murder, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and conspiracy to commit criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling. After the state moved…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 101595
Justia Opinion Summary: Will Wimbley was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. His convictions were affirmed on appeal. Wimbley filed two motions for postconviction relief. At issue in the motions…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 101621
Justia Opinion Summary: A deputy sheriff stopped Myron Coleman for speeding. While detaining Coleman, the deputy sheriff learned Coleman was on parole. Coleman's parole officer asked the deputy sheriff to detain Coleman for a search.…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 101700
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Ho Duong was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The district court judge sentenced Duong to sixty-one months in prison and lifetime postrelease supervision with lifetime electronic…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 102070
Justia Opinion Summary: Sterling Hall was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. Hall appealed, contending, inter alia, that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing argument by misstating the evidence…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 102203
Justia Opinion Summary: Christopher Hall was charged with aggravated battery, attempted murder in the first-degree, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, murder in the first-degree, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and criminal…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 102234
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Charles Denmark-Wagner entered into a written plea agreement on a charge of felony first-degree murder, which stated that Defendant's sentence would be life in prison. The district court sentenced Defendant to…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 103367
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue here was a reserved question in Koplin v. Rosel Well Perforators of whether Kansas would recognize the tort of intentional interference with a prospective civil action by spoliation of evidence if a defendant or…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 103816
Justia Opinion Summary: Charles Jones was sixteen years old when he was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated burglary. The district court certified Jones to stand trial as an adult on the charge of first-degree murder, and Jones was…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 99451
Justia Opinion Summary: Shelly Herrell filed suit against National Beef Packing Company to recover for a knee injury she suffered while working in its plant as an independent contractor, alleging negligence in maintaining a dangerous condition…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 99953
Justia Opinion Summary: Judith Berry brought negligence and consumer protection claims against defendants National Medical Services and Compass Vision after her urinalysis tests conducted as part of Berry's participation in the Kansas Nurses…
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: 99990
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Gabriel Gaumer filed suit against Rossville Truck and Tractor Company, alleging negligence and strict liability for injuries caused by a used hay baler purchased from Rossville. The district court granted…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 100012
Justia Opinion Summary: Twenty years before the current dispute arose, Cory Saylor, who worked for Westar Energy, injured his left knee on the job. More recently, Saylor underwent knee replacement surgery. On March 28, 2006, after the surgery,…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 100366
Justia Opinion Summary: Eric Neal was convicted of second-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, endangering a child, and criminal possession of a firearm. Neal was sentenced to total incarceration of 653 months for all…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 101336
Justia Opinion Summary: Jamil Fulton was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. Fulton received a hard twenty-five life sentence for the off-grid murder offense and a concurrent eight months' imprisonment for the…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 102134
Justia Opinion Summary: A highway patrol trooper stopped Daniel Allen's vehicle for traffic infractions and noticed that Allen exhibited clues of intoxication. Allen agreed to a preliminary breath test (PBT) as authorized by Kan. Stat. Ann.…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 102214
Justia Opinion Summary: After Mother filed a paternity action, the district court entered a temporary order granting Mother primary residential custody of Child. Father then admitted paternity and sought primary residential custody of Child.…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 102350
Justia Opinion Summary: Landowners owned property near an airport that was zoned as agricultural. Landowners filed an application with the City to classify their property as planned single-family residential and to approve a preliminary plat…
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: 103297
Justia Opinion Summary: The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) issued a show cause order alleging that Bartlett Grain Company solicited for-hire motor carriers who violated several motor carrier safety laws. Bartlett answered the show cause…
Date: July 29, 2011
Docket Number: 101837
Justia Opinion Summary: Kevin Hernandez was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and residential burglary following a jury trial. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding, inter alia,…
Date: July 29, 2011
Docket Number: 99446
Justia Opinion Summary: Julie Stieben was pulled over by a highway patrol trooper after the trooper watched Stieben's car cross the fog line three times. A jury found Stieben guilty of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.…
Date: July 29, 2011
Docket Number: 99549
Justia Opinion Summary: Yvonne Ward was convicted for fourteen felonies related to four separate cocaine sales. On appeal, Ward (1) argued that the trial court erred in denying her motion for mistrial that she made after witnesses for the…
Date: July 29, 2011
Docket Number: 99913
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee injured his back before beginning work as a service technician for Employer. While working for Employer, Employee experienced a sudden, severe increase of pain in his back. Employee eventually underwent surgery…
Date: July 22, 2011
Docket Number: 100512
Justia Opinion Summary: Gregory Berry was convicted of first-degree felony murder after striking and killing another motorist during a high-speed getaway. The underlying felony for the conviction was possession of cocaine. At trial, Berry…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 100150
Justia Opinion Summary: While in the passenger seat of a car registered to the car's driver, Brian Gilbert was approached by a police officer. After learning that Gilbert had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, the officer arrested Gilbert…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 101054
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, John Horton was convicted of first-degree felony murder. During the jury deliberations, Horton moved to suspend deliberations in order to give the defense time to analyze additional evidence it had…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 101634
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant David McDaniel pleaded guilty to aggravated battery. At the sentencing hearing, the district judge denied McDaniel's request for a nonprison sentence and imposed thirty-four months' incarceration. At a later…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 101785
Justia Opinion Summary: Andre Bailey was convicted of, inter alia, first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary. Because Bailey was seventeen years old at the time he was charged with the crimes, charges were originally…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 103168
Justia Opinion Summary: Randy Chavez pled guilty to one off-grid count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, under Jessica's Law, and one on-grid count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Chavez was sentenced to a…
Date: July 15, 2011
Docket Number: 103840
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bradley Whorton pled guilty to aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Whorton filed a motion in which he argued that his lack of criminal history justified a departure from…
Date: July 8, 2011
Docket Number: 98770
Justia Opinion Summary: James Simmons was convicted of rape and misdemeanor theft following a jury trial. Simmons appealed several issues, including claims of prosecutorial misconduct during trial. The court of appeals affirmed Simmons'…
Date: July 1, 2011
Docket Number: 99041
Justia Opinion Summary: After being convicted of kidnapping, burglary, rape, and criminal sodomy, defendant Jack Goldsmith filed a request for postconviction DNA testing. The district court ordered the testing pursuant to an agreement of the…
Date: June 24, 2011
Docket Number: 101653
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Raymore Levy was convicted for rape of a child under fourteen years of age, aggravated criminal sodomy of a child under fourteen years of age, and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Levy received three…
Date: June 24, 2011
Docket Number: 98883
Justia Opinion Summary: While defendant Carlos Montes-Mata was held in county jail on drug-related charges, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him for violation of his right to a speedy trial. The district court granted the…
Date: June 24, 2011
Docket Number: 99091
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Kevin Gatlin was convicted by a jury of intentional aggravated battery causing disfigurement after biting off the tip of another man's thumb in a bar fight. On appeal to the court of appeals, the panel ruled…
Date: June 22, 2011
Docket Number: 101208
Date: June 10, 2011
Docket Number: 100666
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Melvin Holmes was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded because of prosecutorial misconduct at trial. In 2002, a second jury convicted…
Date: June 10, 2011
Docket Number: 101811
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was 4.5 miles of a railroad right-of-way that was railbanked and is now operated as a recreational trail. The appeal focused on the relationship between the Kansas Recreational Trails Act (KRTA) and…
Date: June 10, 2011
Docket Number: 103371
Justia Opinion Summary: Louie Martin, a convicted felon, was released on postrelease supervision after incarceration. Shortly after his release, the legislature passed an amendment that impacted Martin's previously imposed postrelease…
Date: June 3, 2011
Docket Number: 104099
Justia Opinion Summary: After pleading no contest to his criminal charges, appellant Rafael Flores was convicted of one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter. Flores moved to withdraw his plea,…
Date: June 3, 2011
Docket Number: 99394
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Corinthian Bricker pleaded no contest to one count each of aggravated battery, driving under the influence, and failure to present proof of insurance. Contrary to the plea bargain agreement that recommended…
Date: May 20, 2011
Docket Number: 102454
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant William Albright missed the deadline to file an appeal of his conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeals. Appellant petitioned the Supreme Court for a waiver of the deadline in his case because he claims…
Date: May 20, 2011
Docket Number: 103309
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to an oil and gas lease with Appellee Trees Oil Company (Trees), Appellant Arthur Hockett had a 1/8-royalty interest in the production from a Haskell County well that produced natural gas. Trees operated the…
Date: May 20, 2011
Docket Number: 103458
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Robert Campbell was an at-will employee of Appellee Husky Hogs, LLC, for about one year when he brought a complaint with the state Department of Labor. In his complaint, Appellee alleged Husky Hogs was not…
Date: April 22, 2011
Docket Number: 101208
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jerry Sellers was convicted on two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and received a consecutive 72-month prison sentence on one count, and a 59-month sentence on the other. The district…
Date: April 22, 2011
Docket Number: 99235
Justia Opinion Summary: Darwin Williams was convicted in 1987 of two counts of indecent liberties with a child pursuant to state law and sentenced to five to twenty years’ imprisonment. In May, 1998, Williams was paroled, but six months later,…
Date: March 25, 2011
Docket Number: 102498
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