Kansas Supreme Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 29, 2017
Docket Number: 112911
Justia Opinion Summary: In an appeal of a Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) summary decision granting a compensating use tax refund to BHCMC, L.L.C., doing business as Boot Hill Casino & Resort, the Kansas Supreme Court addressed whether such a tax…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 114682
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for fifty years for first-degree premeditated murder. The court held (1) the district judge’s…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 114814
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary denial of Defendant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence under Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504(1), rejecting each of Defendant’s claims of error. The court held (1)…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 115343
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and illegal use of a communication facility but vacated the portion of Defendant’s sentence…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 115925
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary denial of Defendant’s motion to correct illegal sentence under Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504(1), thus rejecting Defendant’s argument that his sentence was illegal because…
Date: December 8, 2017
Docket Number: 115219
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s sentence. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. The State agreed to recommend to the sentencing court…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 108885
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of failing to register as required by the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA), holding that the retroactive application of KORA to Defendant did not amount to a…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 111590
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury case, the district court erred when it dismissed Plaintiff’s intentional tort claim and denied her request to seek punitive damages. Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant after Defendant drove…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 112277
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction for kidnapping, holding that prosecutorial error occurred when the prosecutor asserted that the alleged victim deserved consideration similar to the presumption of…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 114175
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary dismissal of Defendant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence under Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504, holding that Defendant’s sentence was not illegal. Defendant pled…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 117395
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: 107786
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the district court denying Appellant’s presentence motion to withdraw plea as well as his request to appoint new counsel connected with the requirement that Appellant register…
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: 108233
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary dismissal of Appellant’s Kan. Stat. Ann. 60-1507 motion asserting that the 2006 amendments to the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) constituted punishment…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 107114
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a panel of the court of appeals affirming Defendant’s two convictions and sentences for failure to register as require by the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The court held…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 110048
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of a panel of the court of appeals affirming Defendant’s conviction for failure to register as an offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA), Kan. Stat. Ann.…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 112035
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the court of appeals and district court and vacated Defendant’s convictions, holding that this court could not determine from the record whether the district judge examined any…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 113104
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling that when a railroad quitclaimed its interest in a strip of land to the company from which Sharron Jenkins acquired her interest, the railroad deeded land it was not…
Date: October 20, 2017
Docket Number: 117517
Date: October 2, 2017
Docket Number: 113267
Justia Opinion Summary: The State did not meet its burden of showing that Senate Bill 19 meets the adequacy and equity requirements set forth in Kan. Const. art. VI, 6(b). S.B. 19 was remedial legislation passed by the legislature in an attempt…
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 112782
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions arising from his participation in two interconnected felony murders that were consolidated for trial. The two homicides were tied together by Defendant’s involvement,…
Date: September 8, 2017
Docket Number: 110702
Justia Opinion Summary: The Kansas Offender Registration Act’s (KORA) requirements do not constitute punishment for Defendant’s underlying aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer crime. Defendant was convicted of aggravated assault on…
Date: September 8, 2017
Docket Number: 111904
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s convictions on one count of identity theft and two counts of making a false information for using another person’s Social Security number to obtain restaurant employment, holding…
Date: September 8, 2017
Docket Number: 112322
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s convictions on two count of identity theft, holding that Defendant’s prosecution was preempted by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), 8 U.S.C.…
Date: September 8, 2017
Docket Number: 112502
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s convictions on one count of identity theft, holding that Defendant’s prosecution was preempted by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), 8 U.S.C.…
Date: August 25, 2017
Docket Number: 109272
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child for offenses he committed in 2008. At the time of his plea, the Kansas Offender Registration Act required lifetime registration. On…
Date: August 25, 2017
Docket Number: 111671
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought by Plaintiff against three physicians for their alleged failure to timely diagnose her cancer, the district court erred in granting judgment as a matter of law and dismissing Dr. Terry Goering,…
Date: August 18, 2017
Docket Number: 108103
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for failure to register as a drug offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA). At the time of Defendant’s drug conviction in 2002, KORA did not impose a…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 108275
Justia Opinion Summary: The registration requirements of the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) as applied to violent offenders are not punishment or subject to the limitations of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution.…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 109671
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who challenged the registration requirements of the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) as applied to violent offenders, was unable to satisfy the “clearest proof” standard because the record had not been…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 109689
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to sell, deliver, or distribute methamphetamine. Before Defendant entered his plea, the legislature amended the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA),…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 109690
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on the record below, Defendant was unable to establish that the effect of the registration requirements set forth by the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) constitute punishment. Defendant pleaded guilty…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 110040
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, rendered after a jury trial, of aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, and criminal damage to property. Specifically, the court held (1) Defendant’s statutory rights…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 110472
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who challenged the registration requirements of the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) as applied to drug offenders, was unable to satisfy the “clearest proof” standard because the record had not been…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 111055
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of failing to register and placed on supervised probation. The State later moved to revoke Defendant’s probation. Prior to the revocation hearing, Defendant filed a motion to correct his…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: 111226
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who was convicted of drug offenses committed in 2010, challenged the 2011 amendments to the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA), arguing that the requirement that she register was illegal because the…
Date: August 4, 2017
Docket Number: 110277
Justia Opinion Summary: Registration for sex offenders mandated by the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) does not constitute punishment under the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution. When Appellant was convicted of…
Date: August 4, 2017
Docket Number: 110520
Justia Opinion Summary: The Kansas Legislature intended the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) to be a civil, nonpunitive remedial scheme, and therefore, the retroactive imposition of KORA’s fifteen-year registration period on Appellant,…
Date: August 4, 2017
Docket Number: 111599
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that certain evidence in this action filed under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) was improperly admitted and reversing the jury…
Date: August 4, 2017
Docket Number: 113409
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, and aggravated kidnapping. The court held (1) even if Defendant’s right to confront witnesses under the…
Date: August 4, 2017
Docket Number: 114417
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of first-degree premeditated murder and kidnapping and the district court’s imposition of a hard twenty-five sentence for the murder conviction and a consecutive…
Date: July 28, 2017
Docket Number: 108801
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court decisions dismissing Appellant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence. The lower courts dismissed Appellant’s motion for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Supreme Court…
Date: July 28, 2017
Docket Number: 111054
Justia Opinion Summary: While Defendant was imprisoned for drug offenses, the legislature amended the Kansas Offender Registration Act (KORA) by adding certain drug offenders, such as Defendant, to the list of those required to register. After…
Date: July 28, 2017
Docket Number: 112212
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals’ reversal of the judgment of the district court rejecting Defendant’s motion to suppress a gun found on his person during a police patdown, holding that the court of…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: 111774
Justia Opinion Summary: The coconspirator exception to the hearsay rule, as derived from the vicarious liability exception set forth in Kan. Stat. Ann. 60-460(i)(2), can apply when the hearsay is offered at trial by a coconspirator rather than…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: 114005
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for first-degree felony murder and aggravated battery rendered after a jury trial. The court held (1) the prosecutor did not err by introducing gang affiliation evidence…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: 114168
Justia Opinion Summary: A crane permanently attached to a truck chassis and associated tools do not qualify as cargo under 49 U.S.C. 31101(1), and therefore, the truck does not qualify as a commercial vehicle subject to registration and fee…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: 114614
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of premeditated first-degree murder and sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years. The court…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: 116447
Justia Opinion Summary: The plain language of Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-4508 permits privately retained counsel to pursue funding for certain services through the State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services (BIDS) so long as the defendant is…
Date: July 20, 2017
Docket Number: 99988
Justia Opinion Summary: In State v. Cheever, 284 P.3d 1007 (Kan. 2012), the Supreme Court held that Defendant did not waive his privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment by presenting a voluntary intoxication defense to…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 111698
Justia Opinion Summary: In State v. Ryce, 368 P.3d 342 (Kan. 2016), (Ryce I) the Supreme Court held that Kan. Stat. Ann. 8-1025 was facially unconstitutional because it punishes an individual for withdrawing his consent to a search even the…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 114052
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of attempted aggravated robbery. The court held (1) the circumstances of this case did not support the…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 114554
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for first-degree premeditated murder, sexual exploitation of a child, eight counts of rape, and other offenses. The court held (1) any error in the admission of certain…
Date: June 16, 2017
Docket Number: 112260
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of 105 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The convictions stemmed from the police discovering child pornography on Defendant’s computer while investigating the homicide of Defendant’s…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 110483
Justia Opinion Summary: Mahnaz Consolver hired attorney Bradley Pistotnik to represent her in her personal injury lawsuit. Consolver terminated Pistotnik without cause just before settlement. Thereafter, Consolver hired Stephen Brave, who…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 111299
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial on stipulated facts, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and criminal possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court affirmed on…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 111915
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Defendant appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress, arguing that the warrantless search of his backpack…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 112513
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court erred when it refused Defendant’s initial pretrial request for a new attorney without any inquiry, and the presiding judge erred in making on-the-record observations about Defendant’s interactions with…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 114008
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of felony murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, and other offenses and sentenced under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA). In calculating Defendant’s criminal history, the sentencing…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 114336
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted and sentenced under pre-Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA) law for first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, and aggravated assault. Appellant later filed motions to correct an…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 114032
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of sale of cocaine and was sentenced under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA). In calculating Defendant’s criminal history score, the sentencing court classified as a person crime a 1990…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 114304
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of a 1993 aggravated robbery and sentenced under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA). The sentencing court, in calculating Defendant’s criminal history score, classified as person felonies…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 114468
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to a hard forty life sentence. Defendant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence claiming that his sentence was illegal because was based on…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 114534
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for felony murder and a term of fifteen years to life for aggravated robbery. The district court ordered the sentences to be served consecutively to each other and to…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 114834
Justia Opinion Summary: A.D.T., a juvenile, pled guilty to first-degree premeditated murder, completed the incarceration portion of his juvenile sentence and was placed on conditional release. A.D.T. subsequently violated his conditional…
Date: May 26, 2017
Docket Number: 113060
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed an intentional tort lawsuit against Defendants for injuries he allegedly suffered as a result of a battery. The case was dismissed for lack of prosecution. Plaintiff refiled his case using the Kansas…
Date: May 26, 2017
Docket Number: 113684
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, and theft. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a hard fifty life sentence for murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and…
Date: May 26, 2017
Docket Number: 113775
Justia Opinion Summary: More than thirteen years after he was sentenced to life for second-degree murder, Appellant filed a pro se motion under Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3504 to correct an illegal sentence. In his motion, Appellant claimed that his…
Date: May 26, 2017
Docket Number: 113799
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded no contest to capital murder and attempted murder. The district court concluded there was a sufficient factual basis to support findings of guilt on the two charges and accepted Appellant’s no contest…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 112888
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s sentence of life imprisonment for felony murder but concluded that no enforceable restitution judgment existed against Defendant. Defendant appealed the summary denial of three pro…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 113537
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant of two alternative counts of capital murder based on either the rape or the kidnapping of eight-year-old A.I., an alternative count of premeditated first-degree murder, and rape. The Supreme…
Date: May 17, 2017
Docket Number: 105183
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 114350
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Michael Brown’s motion to correct an illegal sentence. In 1999, Brown was convicted of first-degree murder. Brown was sentenced to a term of life without…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 114465
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Bryon Kirtdoll’s motion to correct an illegal sentence. In 2004, Kirtdoll was convicted of first-degree murder. Kirtdoll was sentenced to a term of imprisonment…
Date: April 28, 2017
Docket Number: 111995
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder, aggravated robbery, burglary, and theft. The district court sentenced Defendant to life without the possibility of parole for twenty years plus 102 months.…
Date: April 28, 2017
Docket Number: 113962
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder. The district court imposed a hard twenty-five life sentence. Defendant appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred by denying his…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 111046
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of distribution of methamphetamine. Defendant appealed, arguing that an audio recording of a nontestifying informant’s statements were improperly admitted into evidence because…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 111235
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a mortgage foreclosure petition filed by FV-I, Inc. The dispute in this case was between FV-I and Bank of the Prairie (BOP), a bank with junior mortgages on the same property. The parties agreed to…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 114721
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder. The sentencing judge did not specifically state that Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment on Count II, but the…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 111987
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the firefighter’s rule should be extended to law enforcement officers. Officer Juan Apodaca and Officer Jonathan Dulaney suffered serious injuries after attempting to help Matthew…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Numbers: 112509, 112,510
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was found guilty of, among other crimes, battery against a law enforcement officer. The conviction arose from Defendant's act of spitting on Brian Johnson, a detective for the Riley County…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 114351
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1988, Appellant pled guilty to three counts of forgery. Later that year, Appellant was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and other crimes. Appellant was sentenced to three life sentences for first-degree…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 114397
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. The crimes were committed in October 1994. In June 1995, the district court sentenced…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 111521
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the City of Mission passed a Transportation User Fee (TUF), which is assessed on all developed real property based on a formula that estimates the number of vehicle “trips” a particular property generates. The…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 113503
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Cecil Emerson was a sexually violent predator, and the district court ordered him committed. In 2001, Emerson filed a notice of appeal. The Court of Appeals ultimately dismissed the appeal in 2002 after…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 114306
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the question of what the legislature intended by providing for the creation of a permanent father and child relationship in one statute but only a presumptive relationship in another. Here,…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 114488
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 114493
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and terroristic threat. The jury unanimously determined that a life sentence without the…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 114921
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal. Defendant later filed a motion to correct…
Date: March 31, 2017
Docket Number: 108149
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of burglary and felony criminal damage to property. The district court sentenced Defendant to imprisonment for twenty-six months. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme…
Date: March 24, 2017
Docket Number: 110346
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and related charges. The court sentenced Defendant to a controlling prison term of 774 months. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted…
Date: March 24, 2017
Docket Number: 114850
Justia Opinion Summary: Adam Pener was the trustee and personal representative of a trust and estate that owned property condemned by the Kansas Department of Transportation for a highway improvement project. The district court found the…
Date: March 17, 2017
Docket Number: 110845
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with driving under the influence and unlawful exhibition of speed. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence of his driving under the influence, arguing that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion…
Date: March 17, 2017
Docket Number: 112008
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) issued a prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) construction permit to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation that authorized Sunflower to build a…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 110439
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The court of appeals affirmed. Defendant appealed, raising three arguments. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 110982
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with aggravated battery. Defendant moved for a grant of immunity pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-5231(a) - the self-defense immunity statute - and asked for a probable cause hearing. The district…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 111162
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. The district court imposed a hard fifty sentence for first-degree murder under Kan. Stat.…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 111569
Justia Opinion Summary: The Wabaunsee Board of County Commissioners appointed Robert Miller to serve a four-year term as Wabaunsee County Appraiser. Nearly two years into Miller’s appointment, the Board voted to terminate Miller and stop paying…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 112000
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with aggravated battery. After a preliminary hearing, Defendant moved for a grant of immunity pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-5231. After weighing the evidence, the district court granted Defendant…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 111389
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the interpretation of the procedural requirements that the Kansas Probate Code sets for parties petitioning for probate. Specifically, this appeal concerned a contest between the disinherited…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 112019
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. The district court sentenced Defendant to 245 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Defendant later filed a request…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 112069
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of one count of first-degree felony murder, multiple counts of fleeing or attempting to elude, and two counts of theft. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the felony murder…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 112762
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Michael Clare shot and killed his wife, Deborah Clare, and then took his own life. Jessica Crosslin, Deborah’s biological daughter, filed a petition for letters of examination seeking to file a claim against…
Date: March 2, 2017
Docket Number: 113267
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Plaintiffs filed an action claiming that the State violated Kan. Const. art. VI, 6(b) by inequitably and inadequately funding K-12 public education. A three-judge panel determined that, through the School…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 113037
Justia Opinion Summary: The Subcontractor for a hotel construction project obtained materials for its part of the project from Supplier but failed to pay for them. Supplier claimed a lien against the hotel property. Because Supplier’s filing…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 113990
Justia Opinion Summary: In two separate cases, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree murder. The district court imposed a hard twenty-five sentence for the first-degree murder and a 165-month…
Date: February 3, 2017
Docket Number: 97296
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of capital murder for the killings of Darren Wornkey and Mikiala Martinez and other related crimes. The jury sentenced Defendant to death for the capital offense. The court of…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 111651
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Mid America Ag Network, Inc. (MAAN, Inc.) and Journal Broadcast Group of Kansas, Inc. (JBGK) entered into a settlement agreement governing dealings between the companies. The agreement contained a clause stating…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 111785
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder for the killing of the victim during the attempted distribution of marijuana. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Defendant waived or…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 113732
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from an eminent domain proceedings in Douglas County. The Secretary of Transportation condemned a property in Lawrence owned by Doug Garber Construction, Inc. (Garber) to facilitate construction of the…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 114635
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of unlawful distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The district court sentenced Defendant to sixty-eight months in prison…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 114705
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were the heirs of two individuals who were killed in a single-vehicle accident. Plaintiffs brought this wrongful death action against Cowley County, Bolton Township, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife,…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 115023
Justia Opinion Summary: Mark Byers, who worked as a grinder at Acme Foundry, was injured in a workplace accident. After Byers was released from the hospital he agreed to do a drug test. Byers’ urine sample was thrown into the trash, however,…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 111166
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of felony murder, two counts of child abuse, and one count of interference with a law enforcement officer. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the district court improperly admitted…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 112372
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court erred in denying his motion for new trial because the…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 112611
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of felony murder and child abuse. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err by admitting fourteen autopsy photographs of the victim; (2) the…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 114135
Justia Opinion Summary: The one-subject rule in Article 2, Section 16 of the Kansas Constitution provides that “[n]o bill shall contain more than one subject, except appropriation bills an bills for revision or codification of statutes.” At…
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
