The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St.

Topeka — A Kansas Court of Appeals panel vacated a criminal contempt citation Friday against a Lawrence man who repeatedly spread unfounded reports that his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child was involved with Colombian drug cartels.

In an opinion written by Judge Steve Leben, the three-judge panel said that because of an ambiguity in a Kansas statute, Douglas County District Judge Sally Pokorny was wrong to issue the citation after holding a hearing without the defendant or his lawyer being present, even though both admitted that they knew about the hearing in advance.

The panel also acknowledged that its decision conflicts with other Court of Appeals decisions on similar issues, but it noted that “panels of our court are free to disagree with each other.”

The case grew out of a long and contentious custody dispute between David Roy Ogle and Whitney D. Jacobs, according to the court’s opinion. Those two had a daughter together in 2007 but broke up soon after that. Two years later, the Douglas County District Court entered an order for child support and awarded primary custody of the girl to Jacobs.

In 2012, Jacobs notified the court that she planned to move with their daughter to Johnson County to accept a teaching position there. Ogle objected, but the Douglas County court permitted the move.

Soon after that, the appeals court said, Ogle began spreading reports widely that Jacobs was involved with a Colombian drug cartel. He even complained to the court that she had unexplained income, but the district court said it was satisfied with financial documents that she provided.

Ogle also reported his suspicions to Kansas child welfare authorities, various law enforcement agencies, the Internal Revenue Service, their daughter and employees of their daughter’s school, among others.

Lawrence attorney David Brown, who represented Jacobs in the case, said that Ogle’s allegations were false and that they were routinely dismissed by law enforcement agencies.

Beginning at least in early 2014, the Douglas County court ordered Ogle several times to stop spreading his drug cartel allegations to their daughter and other third parties, but he continued.

In November 2015, Ogle reported his allegations to the school where Jacobs worked as a teacher. After a due process hearing, the school district where she worked suspended her with pay, and Jacobs later resigned, the court noted.

Jacobs then filed a motion in Douglas County asking the court to hold Ogle in contempt for violating its order to cease spreading the drug cartel allegations. Neither Ogle nor his attorney showed up for the hearing in January 2016, although they later admitted they knew about it. Judge Pokorny conducted the hearing anyway, ordering Ogle to pay Jacobs’ attorney fees and imposing a 30-day jail sentence if he failed to pay those fees.

In a seven-page ruling released Friday, the three-judge panel said Pokorny was wrong to hold that hearing and to issue the sanctions without Ogle or his attorney present.

The panel cited a Kansas statute dealing with contempt citations that says when a defendant does not show up for a contempt hearing, “the court may issue a bench warrant commanding that the person be brought before the court to answer for contempt. When such person is brought before the court, the court shall proceed” with the hearing.

In the opinion, the panel conceded that the law is ambiguous because the first sentence suggests that issuing a bench warrant is optional, which might suggest that the court also has the option of proceeding with the hearing even if the defendant does not show up. But the court rejected that argument, saying there are other reasons why a judge might choose not to issue a bench warrant.

The panel also conceded that its ruling conflicts with other Court of Appeals cases involving slightly different fact situations. But the judges argued that their ruling “aligns with basic concepts of fairness and due process.”

“All of the constitutional due-process rights that apply to people charged with crimes — like the right to counsel, to confront witnesses, and to have a trial — apply when a district court aims to punish a person for criminal contempt,” the panel said.

The decision was also signed by Court of Appeals Judge Melissa Taylor Standridge and Reno County District Judge Patricia Macke Dick, who was assigned to hear the appeal.