photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

Carrody Buchhorn, of Eudora, appears in Douglas County District Court on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. She was previously convicted of murder in 2018 for the death of a 9-month-old boy, but the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in August 2021.

A Douglas County District Court judge on Tuesday denied a request to change the bond conditions for a Eudora woman accused of murder.

Carrody Buchhorn, 47, had requested modification to the conditions, which currently require her to be under house arrest and wear a GPS monitoring bracelet while she waits for her case to be resolved by the Kansas Supreme Court. She was seeking to have the bracelet removed, to be able to leave her home and to be able to speak to some of her friends.

Her attorney, William Skepnek, argued that Buchhorn has shown up for all of her court dates and is not considered a flight risk. He also noted the Kansas Court of Appeals had vacated her conviction earlier this year and ordered a new trial.

But Judge Sally Pokorny said as things stand on Tuesday, Buchhorn is still considered a convicted felon in the eyes of the law. While Pokorny acknowledged the Court of Appeals had vacated her 2018 conviction and ordered a new trial, she said the Kansas Supreme Court had taken up a petition for review of that ruling.

Pokorny said the Supreme Court’s rules state that its decision to take up the case means the Appeals Court ruling is no longer in effect, meaning Buchhorn is currently considered convicted of second-degree murder.

“She has no presumption of innocence,” Pokorny said of Buchhorn.

In her ruling, Pokorny agreed with District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, who argued the terms of house arrest were reasonable. Porkony said Buchhorn is also as much of a flight risk as she was prior to the trial in 2018.

Additionally, Porkorny said she had the authority to send Buchhorn back to prison to serve her original sentence until the Supreme Court made a ruling, but she wasn’t going to do that.

A jury previously found Buchhorn guilty of second-degree murder after 9-month-old Oliver “Ollie” Ortiz was found unresponsive at a Eudora day care. She was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

In August, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that Buchhorn received ineffective assistance of counsel during her 2018 trial, which it said denied her the right to a fair trial. The court said her attorneys failed to properly question a coroner’s ruling on how the boy died, among other issues. In the ruling, the court granted the right to a new trial.

After the appellate court ruled, the DA’s office appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, which granted a petition for review in November.

The Supreme Court also will review Buchhorn’s conditional cross-petition, which asks the court to consider making the expert testimony from Dr. Erik Mitchell, Douglas County’s coroner at the time, that was provided in the original trial to be inadmissible.

Buchhorn was released from custody in September on a $100,000 own-recognizance bond, according to court records.