A western Kansas man faces a charge of first-degree murder because prosecutors say he gave drugs to a man who died of an overdose.
The Hays Daily News reports that David Knapp is accused of murder, after 46-year-old Frank A. Brown died at a motel in October 2006 while taking the prescription pain-killer fentanyl.
In Kansas, someone can be convicted of felony murder if they are involved in an “inherently dangerous felony” that results in someone dying. In this case, prosecutors Brown died of the overdose while Knapp was committing the crime of crime of illegal distribution of drugs. Knapp is tentatively scheduled for trial next month.
A faulty tail light led to a Wichita man going to prison for half a lifetime.
When Wichita police pulled over Nicholas Sandefur, 30, back on April 29, 2006, officers saw the butt of a gun tucked in his pants. They also found four bags of methamphetamine in his car.
Because he had a gun and drugs, a federal judge sentenced Sandefur to 15 years in prison this week. Sandefur pleaded guilty in November. There is no parole from federal prison.
The first-appearance docket today gave Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost the kind of Valentine he didn’t expect.
One of the defendants on the docket sheet was Valentine Solis, appearing from the closed circuit television from the county jail to hear criminal charges filed against him on Valentine’s Day.
Valentine is charged with carrying the wrong kind of candy — possession of cocaine. That comes from the coca plant, not the cocoa plant, that other South American crop with the bean used to make chocolate. That’s what most people carry this time of year. Yost scheduled a preliminary hearing for two weeks.
There’s a sign on the fourth floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse advising people on what to wear when they arrive to have their cases heard on the state of their marriages, child custody and other personal domestic issues.
The sign advises people what not to wear — including swimwear. Really.
There’s a reason: judges and court guards say during the summer some people, especially women, have been known to show up straight from the pool, with only a t-shirt covering their swimsuits.
Judges, lawyers and other court officers wear suits and professional businesswear. Evidently some of their clients need more than just legal advice.
Across the street at City Hall, judges who hear the Wichita misdemeanor cases are so used to skimpy dress, they issue white t-shirts emblazoned with “Property of Municipal Court” to those who aren’t properly covered.