Latest news with #KansasSupremeCourt
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
: Dana Chandler sentenced to life after third murder trial
A Kansas woman was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for the 2002 murders of her ex-husband and his girlfriend. Judge Cheryl Rios handed down two consecutive life terms to Dana Chandler, 65, who was sentenced in the deaths of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness. She will not be eligible for parole for 50 years, with credit for about 13 years of time she has already served. Hailey Seel, Chandler and Sisco's daughter, gave a victim impact statement at sentencing. According to The Kansas Reflector, Seel said about her mother in court, "I truly see her now as the evil killer. I hate it. I don't want to call you evil killer, but I can't live in a fairy tale." Seel reportedly recommended the judge to show mercy on Chandler if she confessed to the crime and expressed remorse. But if Chandler continued to deny her involvement, Seel recommended the judge should impose the maximum sentence. The Kansas Reflector reported Chandler continued to deny involvement in the crimes, stating, "I have always maintained my innocence. I continue to maintain my innocence. I was not in Topeka, Kansas, on July 7. I never owned or possessed a 9-millimeter firearm. What is happening in this courtroom is a grave injustice. I was not the one who killed them." Sisco, 47, and Harkness, 53, were each shot multiple times with a 9mm gun on July 7, 2002, in Harkness' Topeka, Kansas, home. Police quickly suspected Chandler after members of the Harkness and Sisco families said she harassed Sisco with bizarre visits and frequent phone calls following their bitter divorce and custody battle. She was questioned by police but was not charged. Chandler has always maintained her innocence. "48 Hours" has been covering the case since 2008, and most recently in "My Mother's Murder Trials" reported by contributor Jim Axelrod. For years, the couple's families met with law enforcement and even conducted their own investigation looking for additional evidence, such as the murder weapon, which was never found. At that time, Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht reportedly said there was not enough evidence to charge Chandler. In 2011, a new DA, Chad Taylor, was in office and made the decision to move the case forward. Dana Chandler was arrested in 2011 and entered not guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder. A jury convicted Chandler in 2012, and she was sentenced to life in prison. Six years later, Chandler's convictions were overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that statements made at Chandler's trial by prosecutor Jacqie Spradling was, in at least one instance, "made-up" and "misleading." Spradling was later disbarred for what the court called "intolerable acts of deception" aimed at the jury and the courts. "48 Hours" reached out to Spradling, but did not receive a response. But the Kansas Supreme Court did not dismiss Chandler's case. It ruled that there was still sufficient evidence for a jury to find Chandler guilty. The decision whether to retry Chandler was up to the new Shawnee County DA Mike Kagay, and he chose to proceed with another trial. Chandler's second trial began in July 2022. Defense attorney Tom Bath argued there was no DNA, fingerprint or hair evidence that placed Chandler inside the Harkness residence, or even in the state of Kansas. Shawnee County Deputy DA Charles Kitt acknowledged the lack of physical evidence and told the jury the case was instead based on jealousy, rage and obsession. The jury in this trial was unable to reach a unanimous decision. After six days of deliberation, the judge announced a hung jury, reportedly with seven votes to convict and five to acquit. Following the hung jury, the judge reduced Chandler's bond, and after being incarcerated for more than a decade, she was released from jail with GPS monitoring. The defense also requested a change of venue for the upcoming trial, which the judge granted. Chandler's third trial got underway in February 2025, in Pottawatomie County, 60 miles from Topeka. On the morning of opening statements, Chandler dismissed her attorneys and announced she would represent herself. At trial, Chandler's children, Hailey Seel and Dustin Sisco — who were teenagers at the time of the murders — testified for the prosecution, as they had done previously. They both believe their mother, Dana Chandler, is responsible for murdering their father, Mike Sisco, and Karen Harkness. They were also questioned by their mother. When it was time to present her case, Chandler testified for approximately 20 hours, spread over seven days. She argued that no one could place her at the scene of the murders, or even in the state of Kansas at the time of the killings, and that she had never owned or possessed a .9mm firearm. Deputy DA Kitt focused on Chandler's obsessive behavior and told the jury she killed Sisco and Harkness because she had lost control of her ex-husband. The jury deliberated nearly four hours before finding Chandler guilty. Hailey Seel says she was relieved by the verdict but hopes that the lives lost are not forgotten. "I do feel like the focus of this case has gone almost completely to Dana Chandler and that the — the victims and the families of the victims has really been lost in this case, which is really sad. And I hope that from here out the — the victims and the families can be remembered more," Seel told "48 Hours." Chandler is filing motions to appeal the conviction. "48 Hours" reached out to Chandler for comment, but did not receive a response. Sneak peek: Where is Jermain Charlo? 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Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Dana Chandler to be sentenced Tuesday for 2002 killings
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Dana Chandler will receive her sentence Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of killing her estranged husband and his fiancé two decades ago. A judge is scheduled to hand Chandler her sentence at 1:30 p.m. on June 3. 27 News is following this case and will add the sentencing details to this article once the information is available. A jury delivered a guilty verdict in her double-murder case on March 7 this year for her role in the deaths of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness in 2002. The couple were found dead in their bed after being shot multiple times. 'She loved her students tremendously': Topeka teacher killed in Highway 24 crash Chandler was first arrested in 2011 and later convicted in 2012, receiving a life sentence for causing the deaths of Sisco and Harkness. However, the Kansas Supreme Court later overturned the verdict after it was found the prosecutor in the case lied to the jury. Another jury failed to reach a verdict on the case in 2022 during a second trial. Chandler was released on bond in October that year, posting bail for $350,000. A third trial was scheduled, this time in Pottawatomie County in 2025. Chandler fired her defense lawyers just before this trial began, with her children and other relatives later testifying in the case. Two of Chandler's sisters were involved in a rollover crash during the trial, with one dying as a result of the incident. Chandler's trial entered recess as a result of the deadly crash. Man arrested again in connection to killing 35-year-old Topeka local in 2022 The jury deliberated for only a few hours before giving out its guilty verdict in March. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay spoke to the media shortly after the trial's end, saying that justice was served in the case and discussing some of the evidence that was used to reach the verdict. While the possibility of a fourth trial was put forward in March, Chandler's sentencing moved forward. Her court case has garnered national attention with a 'Dateline' episode called 'Deadly Obsession' being posted in April this year. For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former chief justice says Supreme Court election in Kansas is a ‘really bad idea'
Sue Bond isn't squeamish about partisan politics. Her late husband, Dick Bond, spent four years as the Republican president of the Kansas Senate after all. But Bond, 89, doesn't think politics should determine who sits on the bench of the state's high court. That's why she's speaking out against the Republican plan to switch from a merit-based system to a model where voters directly elect the seven justices of the Kansas Supreme Court — an effort Republicans believe could help bring to heel a court that has protected abortion access. 'I just think that judges should be nonpartisan because the people and the cases that appear before them are from people and problems of all walks of life,' said Bond, a Prairie Village resident who spent eight years as a member of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission after being appointed by Gov. Bill Graves in 1996. She doesn't want to see statewide judicial races devolve into partisan, money-fueled brawls like this spring's Wisconsin contest, which drew more than $100 million in spending, including from super PACs run by billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros. Under the language of the constitutional amendment that Kansans will be asked to vote on next August, justices would be allowed to make political contributions, take part in political campaigns and hold office in political parties. In theory, a justice could simultaneously lead the state Republican or Democratic party while sitting on the court. Kansas used to directly elect its Supreme Court justices. But after a major scandal in the 1950s that saw a sitting governor lose his re-election bid and pull off a maneuver to get himself appointed to the high court, voters wanted a change. In 1958, they passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the current system, in which governors fill Supreme Court openings by selecting a candidate put forward by a nine-member nominating commission. Kansas is one of the 14 states with a merit selection system, first adopted by Missouri in 1940. However, as Republicans are quick to point out, Kansas is the only nominating commission where attorneys make up a majority of members — five of the nine people who interview prospective justices and settle on three finalists. Governors appoint one nominating commission member from each of the state's four Congressional districts, and licensed attorneys from within each district vote to choose their representative on the commission. Lawyers from across the state have the opportunity to select an at-large attorney member who serves as chair of the commission, which routinely evaluates dozens of applications to fill court vacancies. Bond said she was disgusted by the 'scare tactics' GOP leaders employed to make their case for direct election this spring. 'This whole business about it's run by lawyers — it's not true,' Bond said. 'The Republicans that are writing (the ballot question) are very clever, and they know the trick, and they know how to find that statement that, 'Oops, we don't want a whole bunch of lawyers.' The same way they tried to do with the abortion issue, to find a trigger point for everyone that we don't want that,' she said. In her experience, Bond said, non-attorney members' opinions are given just as much weight as their counterparts on the commission. 'They listened to me. I worked hard. I investigated the people,' she said. 'And when I found information and I presented it at the meeting, people listened to me and respected me.' Bond recalled an instance when the other members of the commission were leaning towards one particular candidate. After she told them she had tried calling each of the candidates' references multiple times without hearing back, they went in a different direction. Sen. Kenny Titus, a Wamego Republican and attorney, said he votes for nominating commission members when given the opportunity. But he doesn't believe it's an equitable system. 'It's currently a political process as it stands now, and I think it's disingenuous to say otherwise,' Titus said. He said there's a 'political tilt' to practicing lawyers in Kansas, adding that they 'carry that baggage with them' onto a nominating commission that gives them undue influence over the judicial system. 'It's just like any other election. They send out campaign letters, they talk a little bit about their values and what they believe in, but the real difference is that only a very small number of people get to see that,' Titus said. Kansas Supreme Court justices stand for retention votes every six years. Titus said the fact that no justice has ever been dumped by the voters demonstrates that it's not enough of an accountability mechanism. Rep. Dan Osman, an Overland Park Democrat and attorney, said it demonstrates that voters believe the system works. Direct election would turn off the most qualified candidates, he said. 'Factors of who is the best legal scholar no longer matter (with direct election),' Osman said. 'The best person might not be up for the task of campaigning.' Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss told The Star he more than likely would not have sought the job if it meant running for election. 'The idea of going throughout the state either in person or through my intermediaries, or running ads in the media that basically tell people how I'm going to vote on certain issues is a really bad idea,' Nuss said. He said justices are supposed to approach each case with an open mind — listen to the arguments, look at the facts, and base a decision on the merits — not what they promised somebody during a campaign. Past legislation to move Kansas to a 'federal model' where the governor nominates Supreme Court justices and the state Senate confirms has failed to advance, though Republicans successfully moved the state's appeals court to that process several years ago. Before that switch, Lawton, then an attorney, applied three times to become an appellate judge. The first two times, he was passed over by the selection committee. The third time, he was a finalist but Gov. Graves didn't choose him. He believed he could improve his chances by getting involved in more jury trials and writing more legal briefs. When he submitted his fourth application, this time to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, he made the short list and Graves appointed him. 'It is a competition that's not based on money but based on merit, and that is ultimately whom I think Kansans want as justices on their Supreme Court,' said Nuss, who retired in 2019. During his time as chief justice, Nuss presided over the court in a number of major rulings, including one that struck down a state law banning abortions in the second trimester and two landmark school finance cases that brought hundreds of millions of additional dollars to the Kansas educational system. He said direct judicial elections are ripe for corruption. 'My concern is that people who would not necessarily be qualified but who raise a lot of money tell people in Kansas what they stand for,' Nuss said. He likened it to Simone Biles raising money and presenting it to the International Olympic Committee to persuade them to name her the greatest female gymnast of all time. A merit-based system just works better, he said. 'She competes against many, many people and she comes out on top, so you know from that that she is the best,' Nuss said. 'Instead of Simone Biles saying … 'If anybody competes against me, they can raise money, too, and they can make that argument and say how wonderful they are and how well they will perform in the future.''
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Washburn law professor honored by Kansas Supreme Court
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Kansas Supreme Court recognized a local woman for her decades of dedication this week. Linda Elrod is the latest recipient of the prestigious Justice Award. A Washburn University Law professor for 50 years, her passion for the rights of children in the legal system exceeds well beyond the classroom. Elrod wrote the Kansas Family Law Handbook, founded the family law certification program at Washburn, served on the Governor's Kansas Child Support Commission for more than three decades and served in leadership roles for organizations around the globe. She stays active in child advocacy to this day. Even through a storied career, she says one of her happiest moments was two weeks ago serving as a moderator for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. 'The two people sitting next to me were both family law certificate holders of mine,' Elrod said. 'One was the child advocate, the guardian ad litem, and the other was the prosecutor, and both of them were trying to help parents and that was their ultimate goal, was to help parents do a better job of parenting their children. They're doing what I wanted them to do, which is to make sure children are protected.' Highway shutdown to create nearly 70-mile detour in central Kansas Elrod is the 18th recipient of the award, and the first woman to receive it. She was presented the award during a ceremony on May 20. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Laura Kelly warns of undercutting Kansas schools, judicial independence, budget stability
Gov. Laura Kelly, with about 20 months remaining in her second term, takes stock on the Kansas Reflector podcast work of 2025 Legislature and significant education, tax, budget and judicial issues on horizon. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly wants the Republican-dominated legislative committee drafting a new state funding formula for K-12 public school districts to work on behalf of all Kansans by resisting pressure to funnel tax dollars into private schools. Kelly, a Democrat nearing the home stretch of her second term as governor, said the existing formula was the product of years of work by the legislative and executive branches of state government and met the judicial branch's view of Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution by making suitable provision for financing the state's educational interest in children. The current formula has led to full funding of public school districts, Kelly said. It could be improved before expiring in 2027, the governor said, but major overhaul could invite years of new litigation. 'Obviously, what I would really like is for them to tweak around the edges of what we've already got,' Kelly said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. 'This is a formula that has really been decades in the making. It works for Kansas. Are there things that could be better, could be done differently? I'm sure that there are.' 'I would hope that, you know, deep down, what they're really trying to do is to make our public school system the best in the country,' Kelly said. 'Not looking for ways to undermine it and divert funds from that to private schools.' During the interview, Kelly discussed issues shaping the final 20 months of her service as governor, including budget and policy decisions of President Donald Trump, the 2026 vote on a state constitutional amendment to elect members of the Kansas Supreme Court and formation of the state's early childhood education office. She looked back at pivot points in the 2024 session of the Legislature, most notably decisions to emphasize state income tax reductions rather than property tax reform. Kelly, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, expressed disagreement with Trump's willingness to upend federal funding to states in ways that generated chaos and harmed people. Thousands of federal workers have been sacked along with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding slashed, she said. In Kansas, sudden withdrawal of a federal grant led Kelly to authorize layoffs of 56 employees at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She said sweeping reductions in federal funding of Medicaid, the health program relied on by people with disabilities, low-income children, elderly adults and pregnant women, would be devastating in Kansas. 'We were taking a very public stance and working very hard with our congressional delegations and others to ensure that Congress does not make those kinds of drastic cuts to a program that is extraordinarily important, not only to some citizens of the state of Kansas, but to the state itself. It would create economic havoc if they were to withdraw Medicaid funding,' Kelly said. Kelly said she would work against the proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to allow direct public election of state Supreme Court justices and do away with the merit-based process vesting governors with responsibility to fill vacancies on the state's highest court. More than $100 million was spent on this spring's Wisconsin Supreme Court election. It set a national record for expenditures on a state judicial race. 'I don't think Kansans want to go that way, and I think they will speak loudly in August of 2026 just as they did in August of 2022 when the Legislature tried to essentially eliminate reproductive rights in the state of Kansas,' Kelly said. By two-thirds majorities — 27-13 in the Senate and 84-40 in the House — the Kansas Legislature disagreed with Kelly by voting to place the Supreme Court amendment on ballots next year. The governor said she was pleased the Legislature created the state Office of Early Childhood, which would consolidate programs spread across several agencies. 'We will save money and other resources by putting it all under this one umbrella, and we'll be able to provide much better services,' she said. Kelly also lauded formation of a state task force to create a 'comprehensive, thoughtful, long-range plan with dedicated funding so that we address our water issues' much like the state dealt for decades with transportation planning. Kelly said the Legislature would regret following the $1.3 billion state income tax cut approved in 2024 with legislation in 2025 dedicating future state revenue surpluses to more individual and corporate income tax reductions. The House and Senate overrode Kelly's veto of the bill obligating the state to lower income tax rates to 4%. 'When tax revenues come in higher than expected, your taxes go down automatically — a sensible way to return tax dollars to Kansans that only Governor Kelly could oppose,' said Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, both Republicans. Kelly said additional income tax cuts would kick in automatically regardless of economic factors or policy and budgetary realities. She said it was the kind of thinking that led Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012 and 2013 to aggressively slash income taxes. It starved state government and prompted a sales tax hike, increased borrowing and derailed highway and education funding before abandoned in 2017. 'What we've been left with is essentially a flat tax,' Kelly said of the 2025 income tax law. 'That's the kiss of death for the Kansas budget and the public services that we've been providing. It won't be as fast or as dramatic as the impact of the Brownback tax experiment, but ultimately have the same effect.' Kelly said she warned Republican leadership the law would tie the Legislature's hands when trying to respond to unanticipated challenges. 'It'll come back to bite them. Hopefully, you know, they will see that and come back soon and perhaps reverse their course,' she said.
