What the Judge Ate for Breakfast

Common Law: Flying fugitives back to jail

Ron Sylvester — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:17:24 +0000

Bringing back fugitives wanted on felony warrants falls on the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Judicial Division. Deputy pilots Steve Saffell and Nathan Bevis fly on the sheriff’s airplane to retrieve some 200 inmates a year. What may seem like an extravagance actually saves taxpayers more than $100,000 a year. Read the story on Kansas.com and follow the deputies on a one-day trip — shown here in two parts today and Monday.

(Watch Part 1 after the jump)

Common Law: Out of county, off his meds

Ron Sylvester — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:36:20 +0000

Previously on Common Law, public defender Lacy Gilmour showed how jail overcrowding in Wichita can inhibit talking to clients about their cases. This time, moving inmates to smaller counties prevented a mentally ill client from staying on his medications. He returned Wichita, unmedicated, and violated his probation. He had to go back to jail, even though he faced a judge who understood his plight and the shortage of community resources to help him. (Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: Terms of probation

Ron Sylvester — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:23:12 +0000

We’ve received several questions about what happens to people getting probation. As we’ve explained before, it’s not a free walk. While people don’t stay locked up, their life is restricted. Most of the people we’ve seen receive probation get standard terms they must follow. Judge David Kaufman went through those limitations in the recent sentencing of a bar bouncer. It took Kaufman 18 minutes to fully explain the terms of probation. We’ve condensed it to 2 minutes. (Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: A shot fired into the air

Ron Sylvester — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:06:57 +0000

A bar bouncer with no history of breaking the law got involved in a fracas, faced with two threatening patrons. The bouncer pulled a gun and fired a warning shot into the air. He now has a criminal record that could follow him for the next 10 years.

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: Domestic violence or just a “stupid” act?

Ron Sylvester — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:55:45 +0000

Jeremy Thompson and his wife got in an argument. She was driving. He grabbed the steering wheel. A police officer saw the car swerve off the road and stopped it, finding the couple’s child in the back seat. Thompson was charged and convicted of felony endangering a child. The 28-year-old came to his sentencing with no other criminal history. Prosecutor Marc Bennett wondered if Thompson needed anger management.

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: Not only a sex offender registry

Ron Sylvester — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:30:03 +0000

It used to be only sex offenders had to register their addresses. Since 2006, people in Kansas convicted of some drug and weapons offenses also have to keep their whereabouts current with the sheriff’s department. Judge David Kaufman explains how this causes people with otherwise minor sentences to face prison.

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: Preparing for trial

Ron Sylvester — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:06:38 +0000

Public defender Lacy Gilmour expects one of her cases to go to trial next week. Her client is accused of stealing money from an elderly woman. He said she loaned him the money for school. Gilmour explains what it takes to get ready for a criminal jury trial.

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: A father’s trust betrayed

Ron Sylvester — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:30:27 +0000

He had sex with her on Mother’s Day and after her best friend’s birthday. She was 14 years old. He was her father. Did he deserve a harsher sentence because of that relationship? No judge can decide that. Only a jury can. Prosecutor Marc Bennett asked a jurors to do that because a father had betrayed his child’s trust.

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: Will prison help an addict?

Ron Sylvester — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:43:03 +0000

If mental illness seems like a recurring theme here, that’s because it often surfaces in our courts. A majority of Kansas prison inmates suffer from a mental disorder. Mark McGee was one of them. He spent 10 years in prison for a drug crime. He got out and five years later was convicted of breaking into a business. On probation, he began using drugs again. Judge David Kaufman had to decide if prison was the right place for McGee and his illnesses..

(Watch video after the jump)

Common Law: A quick verdict of ‘not guilty’

Ron Sylvester — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:32:37 +0000

Public defender Lacy Gilmour compares her case to that of the prosecution in a recent theft trial before Judge Kaufman, and how it won an acquittal for her client.

(Watch video after the jump)