A federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that a drug checkpoint ruse is not sufficient grounds to justify law enforcement authorities stopping vehicles, a decision that has far-reaching implications for the constitutional rights of motorists. The ruling is the first in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to grapple with the widespread practice by law […]
Read More
NIC Inc. expects to settle a shareholder dispute connected to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into perks for executives, including former CEO Jeff Fraser. The lawsuit, filed in August 2010 against Olathe-based NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV), Fraser and other current and past company executives in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., alleged breach of […]
Read More
A Shawnee County District Court judge has notified attorneys she is considering placing a 25-year-old man on probation rather than sentencing him to more than four years in prison for attempted solicitation via computer of a 13-year-old girl for sex. In reality, the “girl” was a sheriff’s deputy. Patrick Even Johnson, a Topekan arrested during […]
Read More
The last of seven men charged in an online sex sting operation was placed on three years of intensive supervised probation Thursday rather than being sentenced to almost five years in prison. In sentencing Brandon Ryan Mason, 22, Shawnee County District Court Judge Jan Leuenberger departed downward, listing eight factors to justify the action. Mason […]
Read More
Many jagged edges can be mapped in the journey from a crime being committed to a felon being sent to prison for a long time, Deputy Salina Police Chief Carson Mansfield said Tuesday. The probe into the April 16 murder of Mark Simpson found its first dead end this past weekend when the focus on […]
Read More
The day federal investigators descended on Coen Potts’ Topeka apartment was his last as an area elementary school art teacher. Initially, officials in Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437 fired Potts after drug paraphernalia was found in his gym bag. But what FBI agents would find acting on a tip as they searched his apartment was […]
Read MoreContact Joseph, Hollander & Craft to discuss how our team of attorneys can help you.
