Common Law: Trying a judge’s patience

May 14, 20105:02 p.m.

After stealing $20,000 from his employer, Vernon Kralicek had been on probation four years — four times as long as most people. Each time Kralicek appeared in court with a violaton, Judge David Kaufman extended the probation. This time, Kralicek returned with five different probation violations.

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Common Law: ‘Tis the season to protect yourself from crime

Dec. 16, 20097:56 p.m.

As Deputy David Rank escorts defendants from jail to court, he’s noticing more cases of burglary, robbery and theft. It’s just that time of year, he said, when people try to prey on holiday shoppers. In our latest interview, Rank said he wanted to give people tips on how to stay safe this season.

(Watch video after the jump) Read More »

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Common Law No. 20: Did he just plead guilty?

Sept. 4, 20098:01 a.m.

Everyone came to court expecting Gary Washburn to plead guilty for fleecing two 80-something women out of nearly $100,000. But Washburn’s rant ended up confusing just about everyone, especially the lawyers. Judges don’t take guilty pleas lightly, so Joe Kisner kept probing. Washburn said he wanted to accept the plea deal from the state, but his rambling said otherwise. Kisner looked to a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision known as “Alford” for guidance. Washburn’s attempts to plead guilty are difficult to describe. Better to just watch.

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Common Law, episode 1: Stealing to make a mortgage

July 21, 20098:30 a.m.

Tonya Sanchez, 41, made a bad choice about how to deal with adversity in these economic times:

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Wichita woman wrote $200,000 in business checks to herself

Jan. 29, 200912:30 p.m.

Becky Vanderhoff-Huber was an office manager for Plains Petroleum when she started writing company checks to her self. For more than a year, she wrote checks in her own name, and by the time the company found out she’d stolen nearly $200,000.

This morning, Sedgwick County District Judge Mark Vining sentenced the 32-year-old mother of two to three years in prison and ordered her to repay $199,467.

Vanderhoff-Huber pleaded guilty in November to felony theft. Prosecutors say she didn’t try to hide what she was doing. She cut numerous company checks to herself, one for $9,146.08, from February 2006 to September 2007.

Investigators never learned where the money went, and prosecutors said Vanderhoff-Huber did not live an extravagant lifestyle.

At the time of her arrest, Vanderhoff-Huber said in a financial affidavit that she worked at Horizon Milling in Wichita making $2,400 a month.

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