• Aug 26, 2015
  • KWCH.com
  • -
  • by Anne Meyer

FORD COUNTY, Kan. – A Dodge City jury has found Brock Cunningham not guilty on charges of child abuse and murder.

Cunningham was accused of killing 3-year-old Natalie Pickle in 2008.

He told police the little girl fell off of the bed, but doctors said Pickle’s injuries were severe, not something caused by a fall or minor accident.

Attorney Dan Monnat says Brock Cunningham shed tears of joy after the verdict and wants to focus on spending quality time with his family.

Monnat felt the strongest evidence in the case, was Cunningham’s own testimony. He told jurors he did not kill Natalie.

“You know sometimes we’re not that confident, but on this case we felt that Brock was so clearly innocent as shown by every piece of evidence involved in the case,” Monnat said. “Including the two lie detector tests he passed.”

Family described Natalie Pickle as a bundle of joy with a big smile and head full of curly red hair. The three-year old died in November 2008, from what doctors say was blunt force trauma.

Family says she was in the care of Cunningham, who was the boyfriend of Natalie’s mother at the time.

Charges were not field in this case until 2013. That’s when a new Ford County attorney took office and issued an arrest warrant for Cunningham.

Ford County Judge Leigh Hood said Cunningham cannot be charged again in the case.

“I think right now what he really wants to do is spend some quality, carefree time with his wife and children,” Monnat added. “I’m sure he has been stressed out to the maximum especially in the last few months.”

See full video at KWCH.com

KWCH TV – By Anne Meyer

  • Aug 26, 2015
  • WesternKansasNews.com

DODGE CITY, Kan. — Brock Cunningham of Dodge City was acquitted of murder in the 2008 death of his then girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter Natalie Pickle. In an unusual move Cunningham’s attorney Dan Monnat put his client on the stand. Monnat believes Cunningham’s testimony convinced the jury he was telling the truth. Monnat is comforted to know Cunningham can start to put this dark chapter behind him.

Listen to the full interview at WesternKansasNews.com

WesternKansasNews.com

  • Aug 25, 2015
  • Hutchinson News

DODGE CITY – A Dodge City man has been found not guilty in the death of a 3-year-old girl.

After 10 days of testimony, a Ford County jury on Monday night found Brock Cunningham not guilty of child abuse and first-degree murder. He was charged in 2013 in the death of Natalie Pickle, who died in 2008 while in Cunningham’s care. At the time, Cunningham was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.

Cunningham said the girl was jumping on a bed and hit her head when she fell off. She was flown to a Wichita hospital, where she died. An autopsy found the girl died of blunt force trauma and her death was classified as a homicide.

“We are deeply grateful for the commitment and wisdom of the jury who delivered Brock’s not-guilty verdict, and to everyone in the community who has supported Brock during this difficult time,” Dan Monnat, a Wichita attorney who defended Cunningham, said in a statement Tuesday.

Cunningham had previously taken and passed two lie detector tests, according to a news release from Monnat’s office.

“The only thing I have to say is what I have said all along, I am innocent,” Cunningham said after the verdict. “I’m very grateful to the jurors for recognizing that and I thank my attorneys, Dan Monnat and Trevor Riddle, and the people of Dodge City who have supported me all these years.”

Hutchinson News

  • Aug 24, 2015
  • Monnat & Spurrier

DODGE CITY, Kan. — Last night, a jury of 12 Ford County citizens concluded that Brock Cunningham is not guilty of any crime in connection with young Natalie Pickle’s accidental death, said Cunningham’s Wichita-based defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Trevor Riddle, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered.

“The jury patiently listened to all the evidence, to all the expert witnesses, and carefully weighed their decision,” said Riddle. “Their verdict is consistent with what we have said from the beginning: Natalie Pickle died from a tragic, accidental fall; Brock Cunningham is not guilty.

“Natalie’s tragic death will continue to be mourned by all of us,” said Monnat. “But it is some comfort that Brock Cunningham — the innocent man who tried to save her life — will no longer be hounded by the false accusation that her death was a murder.

“We are deeply grateful for the commitment and wisdom of the jury who delivered Brock’s not-guilty verdict, and to everyone in the community who has supported Brock during this difficult time,” Monnat said.

Cunningham, who had previously taken and passed two lie detector tests, said after the verdict, “The only thing I have to say is what I have said all along, I am innocent. I’m very grateful to the jurors for recognizing that and I thank my attorneys, Dan Monnat and Trevor Riddle, and the people of Dodge City who have supported me all these years.”

Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered was founded in 1985 and is a nationally-recognized criminal defense firm.

  • Aug 17, 2015
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – The 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America® has honored Dan Monnat and Sal Intagliata, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, for their legal expertise in criminal defense. Monnat was honored in three distinct practice areas: White Collar Criminal Defense; Non-White Collar Criminal Defense; and Appellate Defense. Intagliata was honored in the area of Non-White Collar Criminal Defense.

Best Lawyers in America® has honored Monnat every year since 1989.  This is Intagliata’s first year to join the ranks of Best Lawyers. Inclusion on the Best Lawyers list is based on a confidential, nationwide peer survey that rates attorneys on professional competency, legal scholarship, pro bono service, and achievement.

Dan Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 39 years. A graduate of California State University, Monnat holds a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law and is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

A nationally recognized legal scholar and author, Monnat currently sits on the Kansas Association of Justice’ Board of Editors and is the Criminal Law Chair.  He has been designated a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America and the Kansas Bar Foundation.

Monnat served as a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Board of Directors from 1996 – 2004, and is a two-term past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Sal Intagliata’s 20 years of legal experience includes 16 years as a distinguished criminal defense attorney in private practice and four years serving as a Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney, where he prosecuted cases in the Gangs/Violent Crimes Division from 2005-2009. Intagliata returned to private practice with Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, in 2010. His practice focuses on criminal, white-collar criminal, and DUI offenses and appeals in federal, state, and municipal courts throughout Kansas.

Intagliata serves on the Kansas Judicial Council Criminal Law Subcommittee and the Board of Governors of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He served as past Vice President of the Wichita Bar Association and past member of its Board of Governors.

Intagliata earned his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Kansas, graduating with dual majors in political science and Spanish. He earned his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in May 1995. Intagliata is also a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College.