One of the defendants in Saturday's deadly shooting at the Jayhawk Cafe has requested an immunity hearing in the case. Razmi Tahirkheli, the attorney for Daitron Lamont Daniels Strickland, 18, of Shawnee, requested the hearing Wednesday in Douglas County District Court. In an immunity hearing, Judge Amy Hanley would determine whether Strickland is immune from prosecution. Tahirkheli is expected to have his ...
A 21-year-old Texas man is being held on a $500,000 bond in the Douglas County Jail after being charged with two sex crimes involving children. The man, Dominik Jamal Smith, of Irving, Texas, made his first court appearance Wednesday before Judge Amy Hanley, who appointed defense attorney Michael Clarke to represent him and kept his bond set at half a million dollars. Smith will appear in court again on Jan. 28 ...
A 44-year-old Lawrence man was sentenced to just over 17 years in prison Wednesday for child abuse; aggravated indecent solicitation of a child; and violation of his probation in an earlier crime against a child. Joshua William Spence was originally charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child but pleaded no contest in October 2025 in Douglas County District Court to child abuse by impeding the ...
Updated at 3:48 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 Murder charges against the two suspects in the Saturday shootings at the Jayhawk Cafe were filed Tuesday, and the defendants made their first appearance in Douglas County District Court via video from the county jail. Prosecutor Ricardo Leal asked Judge Stacey Donovan to keep the bonds of the two 18-year-olds at $1 million cash or surety, and Donovan did so. Leal cited a ...
Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal is leaving the Douglas County District Attorney's Office for a state job in Topeka. Leal, who has been with the DA's Office since July of 2022, has accepted a position with the office of Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. That job will start in February. "I’ve enjoyed serving the community and working with the members of the office, the bar, and the Court," ...
The trial for a 21-year-old man accused of rape and kidnapping was indefinitely delayed on Tuesday, and the man's bond was modified to house arrest with work release. The defendant, Tristan Aden James, is accused of raping a fellow student in November 2024 while he was a sophomore at Haskell Indian Nations University. He is alleged to have abducted the woman and raped her in his car, then to have led police on ...