329 last-minute filers register for primary

A total of 329 Douglas County residents registered to vote on Monday, the last day to sign up to vote in the Aug. 3 primary.

The Douglas County Clerk’s Office, which stayed open until 9 p.m. to accommodate last-minute filers, received 269 registration forms in person. Another 60 sent forms by mail that were received Monday, said Marni Penrod, the county’s elections deputy.

The county has about 55,000 active voters, a number that’s expected to swell by about 10,000 in coming weeks as people register to vote in the general election.

Homicide case

Judge refuses request for new defense attorney

A judge on Monday turned down a homicide defendant’s request for a new court-appointed attorney.

Lafayette Damon Ester Cosby, 24, told Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy he disagreed with the way his attorney was handling his first-degree murder case. Cosby said he didn’t think a recent postponement of his jury trial was necessary and thought his attorney, Greg Robinson, wasn’t willing to explore all the facts of the case.

Robinson, a member of the local panel to defend indigent clients, said that wasn’t true and that he’d hired an investigator and psychologist to work on the case. Robinson also said he’d been to visit Cosby three times at the Douglas County Jail.

Lawrence attorney Evan Ice casts his absentee vote for the primary election Monday morning at the County Courthouse.

Murphy denied Cosby’s request, saying Robinson had done good work in his courtroom in the past.

“He has to be the judge of the legal defense,” Murphy said.

Cosby is charged with the April 4 shooting of Robert T. Martin, 28, at a late-night party at Jefferson Commons, 2511 W. 31st St.

Sentencing

Second check forger gets 15 days in jail, probation

The younger half of a mother-daughter duo has been sentenced to jail and probation for forging checks belonging to a Eudora woman who was killed in a house fire.

A judge on Friday ordered Katie M. Cheek to spend 15 days in jail and a year on probation.

The checks were written on an account belonging to 77-year-old Naomi Kidd, who died in February 2003 when her home burned in Eudora.

Cheek initially was charged with 33 counts of forgery but was convicted of 20 counts as part of a plea agreement. Cheek also was fined $2,500 and ordered to pay restitution.

Cheek’s mother, Valeria A. Cheek, 40, also has been convicted in the case and was sentenced to 26 months in prison.