A defendant accused of killing a man and injuring the man's child while driving under the influence waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday and told the court that he is hoping for a plea deal with the state. Zachary Odom, 29, of Tecumseh, faces a second-degree murder charge in the ...
A Douglas County judge on Wednesday ordered a convicted rapist to spend the next two decades of his life in prison — rejecting his request for a significantly lighter sentence. Judge Stacey Donovan's ruling followed the victim's disturbing description of how the man had raped her in the bed ...
At one point, Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart liked his odds. His department had 10 police officer vacancies, but 100 people had applied to fill the positions. From that 100, Lockhart’s team selected 20 applicants to be considered for the Lawrence Police Department’s multi-month ...
Lawrence police on Wednesday were still looking for a driver who crashed into a van and a house, then fled on foot, leaving three people injured. The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday near Ninth and Missouri streets, police said in a social media post. The driver of a Volkswagen ...
A Douglas County judge has ordered a competency evaluation for a man charged with fatally stabbing a 35-year-old Lawrence woman last summer. The public defender for Aaron Blake Wright filed a motion for the evaluation last week, and Judge Amy Hanley granted it on Wednesday. The evaluation is ...
In an unusual turn of events, a defendant has pleaded up, not down, in a criminal case, and on Tuesday he was given a year of probation and ordered to have no contact with his victims. It's not clear why the 36-year-old defendant, Brian Hutton, a former high school English teacher, pleaded ...