• Nov 22, 2008
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Ron Sylvester

Next week, Chad and Shannon Floyd will be able to relax in western Kansas free of the murder charges that dogged them for the past three years. The husband and wife are set to meet with a judge in Johnson City, about five hours west of Wichita in southwest Kansas, on Monday to sign a final order of dismissal in a murder case against them that’s dragged through two trials that ended without a verdict.

“Chad and Shannon Floyd and their families have had to endure three years of accusations, innuendo and rumor that have been absolutely false,” said Wichita attorney Dan Monnat, who represented Chad Floyd.

The body of Michael Golub, 27, has never been found. Golub was a former boyfriend of Shannon Floyd, now 30. The two were involved in a custody dispute over their son. Golub disappeared on May 20, 2005. The Floyds said Golub never showed up to get the boy that night. His pickup was found six days later on a county road in northwest Grant County.

Richard Guinn and Barry Disney of the Kansas Attorney General’s Office claimed Chad and Shannon Floyd shot Golub when he came to pick up his son. The prosecutors said the custody battle interfered with plans for the Floyds to move to Montana from their Stanton County home, less than a half-hour from the Colorado border.

The couple purchased a gun the day Golub disappeared, and investigators found Golub’s blood had dripped between the planks on the Floyds’ front porch. Witnesses said Chad Floyd, now 29, told a friend he’d pay Golub $50,000 to drop the case and said he wished Golub would disappear.

Lawyers Monnat and Kurt Kerns, both of Wichita, argued for the defense that there were people near the Floyds’ house that night who would have heard gunshots – but didn’t – and that a different friend of the Floyds showed up unexpectedly when the killing was supposedly taking place. The defense also suggested that Golub’s role as an informant in a local drug case led to his disappearance. Adding to the rural courtroom drama: The Floyds are part of an affluent family that owns a chain of banks in the western part of Kansas and in eastern Colorado.

“They handled the situation with dignity and perseverance, believing their innocence would eventually be demonstrated for all,” said Kerns, who represented Shannon Floyd.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Attorney General said that after each hung jury, Monnat and Kerns asked the judge to dismiss the case in a way that would prevent the state from reopening it. This is called dismissal with prejudice. “The concern is that if a third trial based on the exact same evidence ends in a hung jury the court may seriously consider a dismissal with prejudice,” said Ashley Anstaett on behalf of the attorney general. Under the terms of the dismissal, the state can file the charges again if prosecutors discover evidence that “materially strengthens” their case.

All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

The Wichita Eagle – By Ron Sylvester

  • Nov 21, 2008
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Rob Sylvester

Chad and Shannon Floyd have something to be thankful for next week: They won’t face murder charges. he husband and wife are set to meet with a judge in Johnson City on Monday to sign a final order of dismissal in a murder case against them that’s dragged on for three years, through two trials that both ended without a verdict.

No one has ever found the body of Michael Golub, 27. Golub was a former boyfriend of Shannon Floyd and they were involved in a custody dispute over their son when Golub disappeared on May 20, 2005. The Floyds said he never showed up to get the boy that night. His pickup was found six days later on a county road in northwest Grant County.

Prosecutors Richard Guinn and Barry Disney for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office claimed Chad and Shannon Floyd shot Golub when he came to pick up his son. Prosecutors said the custody battle was interfering with plans for the Floyds to move to Montana. The couple purchased a gun that same day, and investigators found Golub’s blood had dripped between the planks on the Floyd’s front porch. Prosecutors said Chad Floyd had told a friend he’d pay Golub $50,000 to drop the case and said he wished Golub would disappear.

Lawyers Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns of Wichita argued for the defense that there were people near the Floyds’ house that night who would have heard the gunshots — but didn’t — and that a different friend of theirs showed up unexpectedly when the killing was supposedly taking place.

They also suggested that Golub’s role as an informant in a local drug case led to his disappearance. Adding to the rural courtroom drama: The Floyds are an affluent family that owns a chain of banks in the western part of Kansas and in eastern Colorado.

Under the terms of the dismissal, the state can file the charges again if prosecutors discover evidence that “materially strengthens” their case.

All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

The Wichita Eagle – By Rob Sylvester

  • Nov 19, 2008
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Ron Sylvester

Tiller challenges charges

Phill Kline’s broad interpretation of a law governing how health care providers report teen sexual activity fueled his investigation of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the doctor’s lawyers said Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court.

Tiller’s defense team is trying to persuade a judge to throw out 19 misdemeanor charges against the doctor because they say the case is based on evidence that Kline collected through abuse of his authority as the state’s top law enforcement officer.

Kline was sued in federal court over his legal opinion on teen sex, and a judge ruled the opinion invalid.

The charges against Tiller stem from how he performed abortions on fetuses that were potentially viable outside the womb. They were filed by attorney general Paul Morrison, who succeeded Kline, and are being pursued by current attorney general Steve Six. But Tiller’s lawyers argue the charges rely on evidence collected by Kline.

Tiller’s lawyers Tuesday showed the connection between Kline’s opinion and his investigation of the state’s two abortion clinics, including Tiller’s.

Barry Disney, the prosecutor handling the case for Six, argues that Kline acted appropriately in the course of the investigation.

Tom Williams, special agent in charge of the investigations division when Kline served as attorney general, took the stand Tuesday to outline his role in examining the abortion clinics beginning in 2003.

Investigation launches 

Kline called for an investigation into Kansas’ abortion clinics three months after taking office as attorney general, Williams said.

Williams said the initial focus of the investigation was to examine whether abortion providers such as Tiller were properly reporting procedures involving young teenagers who might be the victims of sexual abuse.

Two months later, Williams said, Kline gave his controversial opinion on what health care providers, teachers and others must report to state authorities as child abuse.

Kline ruled that almost any sex among teenagers — even consensual activity among those of similar ages — should be reported.

The broad ruling so outraged health care providers and social workers that a group sued Kline in federal court and won.

Williams said he filed affidavits with a judge in Topeka saying that Tiller and an abortion clinic run by Planned Parenthood weren’t following the reporting procedures. But Dan Monnat, who represents Tiller, contends the affidavits were based on faulty data.

Williams said he wasn’t asked to look into the reporting activities of doctors who performed live births for nearly two years.

“It was an incremental investigation,” Williams said. “We couldn’t look into everything at once.”

Williams said the data he used against the abortion clinics came from previous years, when the reporting requirements were more stringent than Kline’s opinion.

Tiller’s lawyers claim Kline targeted the Wichita doctor because he’s one of the few in the nation who perform late-term abortions.

By the numbers 

Williams said he wrote sworn affidavits saying he found a “statistical anomaly” in the reporting of sexual abuse cases from Tiller’s clinic, noting a “paltry” four reports in little more than a year.

Monnat tried to show that investigators manipulated numbers to advance their investigation. He maintains that few teenage girls seek abortions, out of the thousands that are performed in this state each year. Even fewer are victims of sexual assault.

According to Williams’ testimony:

• From 2001 to 2003, 35,945 abortions performed in Kansas’ two clinics were reported to the state’s Department of Health and Environment. Of those, about half were Kansas residents.

• Nearly 1,700 abortions were performed 22 weeks or more into the pregnancy. Most (1,532) were for women from out of state.

• Of the 158 late-term abortions performed on Kansas women, 35 were performed after the fetus was termed viable.

Williams compared those to reports from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services:

• Out of some 19,000 reports of sexual abuse over a 20-month period, 90 were under age 16 and potentially pregnant.

• Only nine of those 90 girls had visited an abortion clinic, even for consultation.

• Four were reported by Tiller’s clinic as potential victims of sexual abuse.

Based on Williams’ report, Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson decided probable cause existed to launch the investigation against Kansas’ abortion clinics for failure to report child abuse.

Williams returns to the witness stand today. Morrison is expected to testify as the hearing continues throughout the week.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or [email protected]. All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

  • Nov 18, 2008
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman and John Hanna

Attorneys for abortion provider George Tiller tried to show in court Monday that former Attorney General Phill Kline was planning to prosecute Tiller even before he took office.

Tiller made a rare court appearance as he watched as one of his attorneys sparred with Kline, who launched an investigation of Tiller more than five years ago.

Tiller, one of the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions, is accused of violating Kansas’ restrictions on those procedures. He faces 19 misdemeanors in Sedgwick County District Court, filed by Paul Morrison, Kline’s successor as attorney general. But the case rests partly on evidence Kline gathered.

Tiller’s attorneys have asked District Judge Clark Owens to suppress the evidence linked to Kline or to dismiss the charges. They accuse Kline of outrageous conduct in his pursuit of Tiller.

Kline says Tiller is simply trying to avoid prosecution.

Tiller is scheduled to go to trial in March. He’s accused of failing to obtain a second opinion from an independent physician for some late-term abortions, as required by law.

Questioning Kline 

In court Monday, Tiller attorney Dan Monnat asked Kline whether he assumed Tiller was breaking the law.

“I had reason to believe that he was,” Kline said. “My belief was that the law was not being enforced.”

Tiller, who has largely skipped court hearings, sat with his attorneys at the defense tables, occasionally taking a note or doodling on a yellow legal pad. On his shirt was a button saying “Attitude is everything.”

Tiller’s attorneys also have raised as an issue a sex scandal that forced Morrison to resign from office, arguing that Morrison’s mistress, while working for Kline, pressured Morrison into filing charges in June 2007.

Kline was the first witness called by Tiller’s attorneys, and his testimony lasted about three hours. He is expected to testify again Friday.

Monnat questioned Kline about his opposition to abortion, and Kline acknowledged that he personally would like to see all abortions banned.

“You wanted to do something about it,” Monnat said.

Kline replied: “I wanted to enforce the law.”

Monnat also had Kline review several internal memos from the attorney general’s office in 2003. One summarized an April 1, 2003, meeting with Kline and his top deputy, in which they discussed investigating Tiller over allegations that he wasn’t reporting to authorities cases of children being raped, as required by law.

Kline told Monnat that he and his staff were looking at all abortion providers, but, “We had specific information coming forward about Dr. Tiller, as I recall.”

Anti-abortion activist 

In addition, Monnat questioned Kline about hiring anti-abortion activist Bryan Brown as his consumer protection chief in the attorney general’s office.

Kline previously had asserted that Brown, who has been arrested a dozen times during abortion protests, was not involved in the Tiller prosecution. However, defense attorneys produced a 2003 memo Brown wrote with the subject line, “abortion clinic overview.”

Kline then conceded that Brown helped with the facts of the case, while insisting Brown did not consult on matters of law.

The defense also pointed to a 2004 memo advising Kline that Brown and his contacts were obtaining the names of employees at two clinics. Kline defended the use of Brown and other anti-abortion activists, saying it’s “normal law enforcement procedure” to use witnesses in investigations.

Morrison unseated Kline when he ran for re-election in 2006. Shortly before leaving office, Kline filed 30 misdemeanor charges, alleging Tiller performed illegal late-term abortions, but a Sedgwick County judge dismissed them for jurisdictional reasons.

Morrison took office in January 2007, and the attorney general’s office maintains an independent investigation started afterward.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney said if Tiller’s attorneys are trying to show that the prosecution of Tiller is selective, they face the reality that Tiller is “uniquely situated” because he performs late-term abortions.

“What we would like to do in this case is take away all that publicity and all that excitement and focus on the law,” Disney told the judge.

All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN and JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

  • Nov 12, 2008
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Ron Sylvester

Phill Kline will face questioning next week by lawyers representing the Wichita abortion doctor he pursued for years as the state’s top prosecutor.

Kline, the former Kansas attorney general and current Johnson County district attorney, is on the witness list to be called by lawyers for George Tiller in a motion to dismiss misdemeanor charges related to how Tiller performed late-term abortions.

Both Kline and his successor, Paul Morrison, are scheduled to be called in a hearing expected to last most of next week before Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens.

Tiller is one of the few doctors in the nation who perform late-term abortions. His lawyers say Kline abused his power while investigating Tiller’s Wichita Women’s Health Care Services clinic.

Kline began investigating Tiller’s clinic and a Planned Parenthood facility in Johnson County in 2003, launching a legal battle over the privacy of medical records and abortion rights before the Kansas Supreme Court and in district courtrooms in Topeka and Wichita.

“They’re going to subpoena me to try and make this about me,” Kline said in an interview with The Eagle in September, after Tiller’s lawyers filed their motion to dismiss the case.

Tiller’s lawyers said that Kline continued to wield his influence over the case, even after leaving office, by pressuring his successor, Morrison.

Lawyer Dan Monnat has said in a pleading that Kline pressured Morrison through knowledge of an extramarital affair that later led to Morrison’s resignation.

Morrison filed 19 misdemeanor charges related to Tiller’s business relationship with a doctor who provided second opinions on whether the health of the mother was a reason to give them late-term abortions.

State law requires independent medical assessments for abortions where a fetus may be able to survive outside the womb.

Stephen Six, the current attorney general, is arguing that while he doesn’t endorse Kline’s tactics, that shouldn’t negate the current charges against Tiller.

Kline said Six’s willingness to pursue the case confirms he was right.

“Every single record shows criminal conduct,” Kline said in the September interview. “Every one. We were right.”

Also on the witness list next week:

• Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson, who presided over secret hearings by Kline, which led to the subpoena of abortion records from the Wichita and Johnson County clinics. Anderson is attempting to quash the subpoena and has requested a protective order to limit his public testimony.

• Special investigator Thomas Williams, who worked for Kline when he served as attorney general.

• Assistant attorneys general Eric Rucker and Steve Maxwell, who led Kline’s investigation of the abortion clinics.

• Assistant Attorney General Jared Reed, who had been assigned by Six to pursue the charges against Tiller.

Six has now assigned Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney, a former Sedgwick County assistant district attorney, to assume responsibilities as lead prosecutor on the case.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or [email protected]. All content © 2008 THE WICHITA EAGLE and may not be republished without permission.

By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle