photo by: Sara Shepherd

Tria L. Evans stands to be returned to the jail after a jury found her guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and other crimes on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, in Douglas County District Court. After a week-long trial, jurors convicted Evans of conspiring with another woman to kill her ex Joel Wales and burn his body in November 2017 just outside Lawrence.

An attorney for a Lawrence woman who was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and other crimes argued on Friday that the state’s highest court should either overturn the woman’s conviction or require a new sentencing in the case based on alleged errors in Douglas County District Court.

The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of Tria Evans, 41, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing her ex-boyfriend, Joel Wales, of Eudora. Evans was convicted of shooting Wales in November 2017, then setting his body on fire at his mother’s house near Lawrence.

Corrine Gunning, Evans’ attorney, argued that the court erroneously allowed inadmissible evidence in the 2019 trial and abused its discretion by denying Evans a mental health evaluation prior to sentencing.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Jon Simpson argued against both claims. He also argued that if the Supreme Court agreed the evidence was admitted incorrectly, there was “abundant” other evidence that would have led the jury to the same verdict.

Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff sentenced Evans, then 39, under the state’s “Hard 50” sentence. Evans must serve at least 50 years in prison before she can apply for parole, meaning she cannot be released from prison until she is nearly 90 years old.

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photo by: Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home

Joel Wales

Gunning told the justices that she believed the District Court erroneously allowed hearsay to be admitted, referring to comments made by the victim and relayed by his friends at trial as “entirely circumstantial evidence.”

As the Journal-World previously reported, testimony in the trial featured friends of Wales describing Evans stalking him and causing him to fear for his life.

Gunning said the testimony was admitted by the District Court under an exemption, which she believes was done erroneously because the court misunderstood to whom the hearsay exemption should have been applied. She said that while the court found the witness’s comments were not given in bad faith, the court should have been considering whether the comments Wales made to them were.

For that reason, Gunning asked the court to overturn the conviction.

However, Simpson argued that the testimony was properly admitted because the comments were made in a timely manner and correctly recalled and Wales’ statements to his friends were clearly made because of Evans’ actions. He specifically noted one of Wales’ statements to a friend, in which he said “I’m afraid she’s going to shoot me” immediately after a phone call with Evans.

Additionally, Simpson said that even if the justices agreed with Gunning’s hearsay argument, enough other evidence would have reasonably led the jury to convict Evans.

During the trial, prosecutors contended that an angry, jealous and possessive Evans, who had a daughter with Wales, stalked him for years and plotted his death for months with a friend of hers, Christina Towell, of Leavenworth. Wales was shot six times before gasoline was poured over his body and lit on fire along with the house, at 1104 E. 1200 Road, according to evidence presented at trial.

Towell, then 38, is also serving a life sentence for the crimes.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Christina L. Towell leaves Douglas County District Court on Thursday, April 18, 2019, after being sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Along with her cousin Tria L. Evans, Towell was convicted of murdering Eudora resident Joel Wales in 2017.

Neighbors called 911 when they heard gunshots and saw a female figure run to a car in the driveway as flames erupted on the front porch. Evidence also included a GPS device from the getaway car showing that it drove from Towell’s house to Evans’ house, then to the scene of the crime at the precise time of the crime, and back again.

“All of this independent evidence was sufficiently incriminating,” Simpson said after listing the evidence.

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Gunning also argued that the Douglas County court erred when it denied Evans a mental health evaluation before sentencing. While she acknowledged that the decision was at the court’s discretion, Gunning said she believed the court’s denial was based on mental health not previously being brought up in the case.

“The court said, ‘You hadn’t made it an issue,’ and the court made an error because that is not required by law,” Gunning said.

Because of that alleged error, Gunning said the case should be sent back to Douglas County for a new sentencing hearing, with the consideration that Evans’ sentence may be better served at a state mental hospital rather than in prison.

But Justice Eric Rosen questioned the validity of the claim, also noting that the decision is at the court’s discretion. He said the motion filed for Evans requesting the evaluation did not provide any argument from the defense as to why it was necessary.

Gunning said she did not believe providing the reason for the request in the motion was necessary under law, and the District Court should have done more, such as asking why the motion was filed, to better understand if the request was appropriate.

Simpson said the court made the correct decision because no additional information was provided, leaving the District Court with no reason to grant an evaluation.

The Supreme Court took Friday’s arguments under advisement and will render a decision at a future date.