WRITER: Dylan Lysen

Kansas Court of Appeals overturns Eudora woman's murder conviction in baby's death, orders new trial

A Eudora woman's 2018 murder conviction in the death of a 9-month-old boy was overturned on Friday by the Kansas Court of Appeals and sent back to the Douglas County District Court for a new trial. The court ruled Carrody Buchhorn, now 47, received ineffective counsel during her 2018 trial, which denied her the right to a fair trial. The court said her attorneys failed to properly question a coroner’s ruling ...

Jury finds Lawrence massage therapist guilty of sex crimes against child, former KU athletes

Updated at 4:33 p.m. Thursday A jury in Douglas County District Court on Thursday found a Lawrence massage therapist guilty of committing several sex crimes against five people, one of whom was a child and three of whom were soccer players at the University of Kansas at the time of the incidents. The jury convicted Shawn P. O’Brien, 50, of the eight charges he was facing. Three of the charges accused ...

Lawrence woman facing felony charges for allegedly abusing infant, other crimes

A Lawrence woman is facing felony charges in Douglas County District Court for allegedly abusing an infant. Brittany M. Jewell, 25, on Tuesday was formally charged with abuse of a child and aggravated assault, both felonies, stemming from a July 10 incident involving the infant. Jewell was also charged with criminal threat, a felony, and domestic battery, a misdemeanor, stemming from an Aug. 6 incident with two ...

Early data from law enforcement contact study shows people of color more likely to be searched by police

People of color in Douglas County who come in contact with law enforcement are almost twice as likely to be searched by police, according to the preliminary findings of a local law enforcement contact study. Additionally, across all searches, the most common outcome is that police will find no evidence that a crime has been committed. Researchers Jack McDevitt, of Northeastern University, and Janice Iwama, of ...

Lawrence school district expects spending ability to decrease by $1.5 million this coming school year

The Lawrence school district will see a decrease in spending authority during the upcoming school year because of a decrease in enrollment last year. However, local homeowners will also see a slight decrease in taxes toward the district’s funding. The school board on Monday heard a report on the district’s budget from Finance Director Kathy Johnson, who explained that the district plans to spend about ...

Local defense attorneys express skepticism that planned public defender office Kansas Holistic Defenders can meets its goals

While the Douglas County Commission prepares to set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars to help establish a public defender office for misdemeanor criminal cases, some local defense attorneys have expressed reservations about the idea. Hatem Chahine and Michael Clarke, two prominent defense attorneys who have worked for decades in Douglas County, recently told the Journal-World they are skeptical of the ...