TOPEKA — A joint operation conducted by federal, state and local police over 10 days has led to more than 250 people being arrested in Topeka and the seizure of 24 guns, nearly 19 kilograms of illegal drugs and $25,000 in cash. The effort, dubbed Operation Frontier, was carried out in early ...
Updated at 11:50 a.m. Thursday Rontarus Washington Jr. on Thursday was set to have new counsel defending him in a murder case, likely prolonging the already six-year-old case. But a judge quickly rescinded his order allowing the change of counsel to make sure Washington's input was ...
A long-running shooting case is scheduled to go to trial early next month, which could make it the first trial in the county’s district court in more than a year. Michael Hormell, 21, has a trial scheduled for April 5. He is charged with attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit ...
For the second day in a row, Douglas County’s district attorney took exception to a plan to resume in-person jury trials, and this time the new DA said some of the communication on the topic bothered her as a woman. Suzanne Valdez issued a statement Tuesday saying she wanted the public to ...
While Albert Wilson is entitled to a new trial for a rape charge he was originally convicted of in 2019, Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez said during a hearing on Tuesday that her office planned to work toward resolving the case without a second trial. “We have promised Mr. ...
County leaders will soon discuss public defender services for people who are accused of crimes and cannot afford attorneys, including a proposal from a new nonprofit that hopes to offer another model. As part of its study session Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will receive ...
A Lawrence man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder after Lawrence police responded to a call regarding a shooting early Monday morning. Albert D. Taylor, 36, was arrested around 2 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of Maine Street. Along with the attempted first-degree ...
Updated at 6:27 p.m. Monday Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez on Monday criticized the district court’s decision to resume jury trials next month, saying she was not consulted on the change before the court made the announcement. However, Chief District Court Judge James ...
Almost two years into his tenure as the permanent chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, Shaun Coffey says he knows his role well: To make sure first responders have the proper equipment and resources to serve city and county residents. “They do all the hard work; I just make sure ...
A decision on whether two attorneys representing Rontarus Washington Jr. will be allowed to withdraw from the long-running murder case has been delayed for almost a week. After meeting in private with Washington’s attorneys — Adam Hall and Angela Keck — and the prosecutors in the case on ...
A Lawrence man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder after Lawrence police responded to a call for a stabbing early Friday morning. Brian S. Stubbs, 24, was arrested in the 1700 block of West 24th Street after the Lawrence Police Department responded to a call for a ...
The Kansas Supreme Court has agreed with the Kansas Court of Appeals that Danny W. Queen’s convictions in a 2017 Eudora bar shooting should be overturned and his prison sentence vacated because his trial started three days late. Queen, 39, was convicted on Aug. 1, 2018, of second-degree ...
Douglas County District Court plans to resume jury trials next month, the court announced in a news release Thursday. Chief District Court Judge James McCabria said in the announcement that the trials would proceed with special precautions to ensure safety from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic ...
TOPEKA — Kansas legislators are working to give prosecutors and courts time to clear a backlog of several thousand criminal cases that built up during the coronavirus pandemic, though they disagree about how much is enough time. The Senate approved, 32-7, a bill Wednesday night that would ...
Two attorneys defending Rontarus Washington Jr. against a murder charge have requested to withdraw as counsel, possibly delaying the six-year-old case even further. Adam Hall and Angela Keck, the two attorneys representing Washington, filed their motions to withdraw from the case on Tuesday, ...
UPDATED 2:54 P.M., MARCH 16, 2021 A Douglas County judge on Tuesday granted a new trial to Albert Wilson, who was convicted of rape in 2019. Wilson sought a new trial on the basis that his trial attorney, Forrest Lowry, provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Judge Sally Pokorny agreed ...
A 54-year-old Lawrence man was arrested Monday on suspicion of rape, Douglas County Jail records show. The man was arrested at noon and charged with one count of rape for an incident that occurred on July 10, 2020, according to the jail records. The man was released from jail custody around 1 ...
Sam Allison-Natale wants to follow in his parents' footsteps. As a child of two public defense attorneys, he knew when he went to law school at New York University that he wanted to be one too. “This is in my blood,” said Allison-Natale, a criminal defense attorney who previously served ...
A semitruck crash on Kansas Highway 10 in Lawrence last week resulted in no injuries because the driver and passenger of the truck were both wearing their seat belts, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Donald Hughes told the Journal-World Friday. The crash occurred on March 5 near the highway's ...
After having not received a single complaint to review since it was formed, the Community Police Review Board is asking for changes on the Lawrence Police Department’s website to instruct residents on how to elevate a complaint to the board. As part of its meeting Thursday evening, the board ...