photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Convicted felon William Pope leaves the courtroom of Judge Stacey Donovan with his attorney, Gary West, on Oct. 15, 2025.

A Douglas County judge has entirely sealed the arrest affidavit of a repeat felon who took a plea deal last month and was convicted in a liquor store assault.

The plea deal itself was sealed on Oct. 15, and two weeks later Judge Stacey Donovan also agreed, at the request of the parties, to keep the arrest affidavit of William Pope from being seen by the public. Donovan had the option to redact sensitive parts of the affidavit — which would detail why police believed they had probable cause to arrest Davis — but chose instead to keep the entire record under wraps. Pope waived his right to a preliminary hearing, so few facts are known about his case. If the Journal-World had not been present at Pope’s plea hearing last month, almost nothing would be publicly known.

In her Oct. 30 order, Donovan found “based on written argument of both parties, that the affidavit should be sealed.” The arguments themselves are also under seal per state law. The reasons given were that releasing the document “may”:

• “Jeopardize the physical, mental or emotional safety or well-being of a victim, witness, confidential source or undercover agent, or cause the destruction of evidence;

• interfere with any prospective law enforcement action, criminal investigation or prosecution;

• reveal confidential investigative techniques or procedures not known to the general public; and/or

• endanger the life or physical safety of any person.”

Pope, 44, was originally charged with attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for an incident last winter in which he allegedly donned a face covering and aggressively demanded money from a person at Buddy’s Liquor on West Sixth Street. In both charges, he was accused of brandishing a firearm. In a separate case from December 2024, he was accused of felony theft of a Trek bicycle worth more than $1,500.

On Oct. 15, Pope pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated assault, and the other felony charges were dismissed. The Douglas County DA’s Office said it would agree to “no finding” that a gun was used.

A law in Kansas, known as Special Rule 1, presumes a prison sentence if a defendant uses a firearm in commission of a person felony. But prosecutors sometimes agree to the legal fiction that no gun was used in order to sidestep Special Rule 1.

The DA’s Office did not object to Pope’s GPS monitor being removed in the months before he will be sentenced and recommended that he be given probation.

Pope is a felon many times over. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Pope has convictions for theft and burglary in Osage County in 2012; for forgery in Anderson County in 2003; for burglary and aggravated assault in Shawnee County in 2012 and 2013; for robbery in Franklin County in 2013; and for robbery in Douglas County in 2006. He was discharged from the prison system in May of last year, according to the KDOC, which indicates that he also goes by the aliases William Scobee or Bill Scobee.