Appeals court says Baldwin City woman can be charged with illegally hosting minors

? A Baldwin City woman may be charged with the crime of illegally hosting minors consuming alcohol, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday, reversing a decision from the Douglas County District Court.

Sherry L. Haskell had been charged following a party at her home in June 2013 at which one teenager was injured.

According to court records, Haskell, who was 43 at the time, had allowed her daughter to invite friends over for an outdoor party at which they drank alcohol. Haskell served as the disc jockey at the party. She also danced and drank alcohol with the guests.

During the party, a can of either gasoline or oil fell into a campfire. When one of the young men tried to pull it out, it exploded and the young man suffered burns to his head and torso.

The young man’s parents notified police about the party and Haskell was charged with unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcohol, a class A misdemeanor.

The crime is defined as “recklessly permitting a person’s residence or any land, building, structure or room owned, occupied or procured by such person to be used by an invitee of such person or an invitee of such person’s child or ward.”

In pretrial motions, however, Haskell’s attorney argued that the statute did not apply because in law the word “invitee” refers only to business relationships.

Douglas County District Judge Sally Pokorny agreed and dismissed the charge. District Attorney Charles Branson’s office appealed.

In a 3-0 decision written by Judge Caleb Stegall, the appellate panel reversed Pokorny’s decision and remanded the case back for further proceedings, saying the Legislature’s intent in passing the law is clear and that the word “invitee” should be given its normal, everyday definition.

“Nothing in the testimony even remotely suggests that the legislature intended the law to apply to individuals whose business visitors allowed minors to consume alcohol; instead, the bill focused entirely on parents who either allow minor social guests to drink on their property or remain willfully ignorant to it,” the court said.