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January 2010

4/12/2010
Tailing suspects goes high-tech
By Darcy Gray - The Hutchinson News

In at least one recent Reno County case, a defense attorney sought to suppress information
from a GPS device but was unsuccessful. Trevor Riddle, an attorney with the Wichita law firm
Monnat & Spurrier, represented 48-year-old Daron Lund, who was recently sentenced to five
years in prison for multiple drug crimes dating back to June 2008.

In Lund's case, Riddle argued a warrant was needed to use a GPS device instead of a court
order. He said to obtain a warrant, officers must show "probable cause," a higher standard
than reasonable suspicion.

Riddle also said both state and federal courts needed to take a "fresh look" at the issue of GPS devices, which hasn't been addressed since the 1980s. A 1988 Kansas Supreme Court casedealt with the use of radio-transmitting devices, which required officers to be within a certain distance from suspects to track their locations, he said.

"The rationale was radio-transmitting devices simply augmented law enforcement's ability to
do what they do already, which is follow targets," Riddle said. "The problem is case law has
not kept up with technology. GPS devices are far more advanced than those early radio-
transmitting devices.

"The question is now whether technology has advanced to such an extent the devices are no
longer simply augmenting the surveillance of a target but in fact replacing that ability."
According to Riddle, the U.S. Supreme Court "left the door open for future narrowing" of the
issue. A 1986 U.S. Supreme Court ruling "recognized the possibility that technology could
advance to such an extent" that it would replace the need for officers, he said.
 

Hays Daily News
1/04/2010
Investigation continues into missing Towanda boy
TOWANDA, Kan. (AP) -- The investigation into what happened to an 11-year-old Towanda boy not seen since 1999 continues and charges are possible sometime this year, Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield said.

Adam Herrman's adoptive parents say he ran away from their mobile home park in Towanda in 1999. But his absence was not reported until his older sister contacted authorities about her concerns in December 2008.

Investigators said they could find no records or indication that Adam was still alive.

The boy's parents told authorities they did not report the boy's disappearance because they feared they would lose custody of Adam and other children.

Laura Shaneyfelt, representing Adam's adoptive father, Doug Herrman, agreed.

"I think prosecutors should always be careful in bodiless cases and not jump to conclusions," she said. "Just because someone has disappeared does not mean they have been murdered."

The lawyers say the Herrmans continue to say they have committed no crimes in the case.

December 2009

Kiowa County Signal
December 10, 2009
By Mark Anderson, Editor

Greensburg, KS - Wichita attorney Dan Monnat entered his appearance early Wednesday to serve as legal counsel for accused murderer Mark Ralstin.

Ralstin is accused of having killed his wife, Bobbie Jo, at the couple’s rural Mullinville residence the night of November 6, and was originally supplied with a court-appointed attorney, Lewis Podrebarec of Meade, at his initial appearance in Kiowa County District Court November 9.

Monnat is best known for having been the long-time attorney for the late George Tiller, the Wichita late-term abortionist who was gunned down in the lobby of his church last May 31. Monnat served as Tiller’s defense attorney last March when the doctor was tried and acquitted on charges that he got most of the second opinions for the late-term abortions he performed from a doctor who worked for him rather than from an independent source, as required by Kansas law.

Ralstin is still being held in the Pratt County Jail under a $1 million bond, charged with first-degree murder. With Monnat having filed for a continuance, it’s uncertain when Ralstin’s next appearance in court might be. The State’s Attorney General’s office is taking the lead in prosecuting the case, with Kiowa County Attorney Candace Lattin assisting.

March  2009 

ABA Journal
Late-Term Abortion Doc Acquitted of 19 Charges
March 30, 2009
By Molly McDonough

A Kansas doctor known for being one of a very few in the U.S. willing to perform late-term abortions has been acquitted of charges that did so against state law.

Jurors deliberated less than an hour Friday before reaching not guilty verdicts on all 19 counts against Wichita Dr. George Tiller, the Los Angeles Times and Reuters reports.

Tiller, 67, has long been a target of antiabortion politicians and activists, but the Times notes that this was his first jury trial.

"Dr. Tiller and his family are just happy it's over, with an eminently just result. This whole trial was political," lead defense attorney Dan Monnat told spectators and the press after the verdict. Monnat praised jurors, calling them "six brave souls" who refused to be swayed by the politics of the abortion debate in Kansas.

The criminal charges were misdemeanors alleging Tiller didn't get required second opinions in 19 case. Most were based on cases involving teenagers and many involved fetuses found to be medically compromised, the Times reports.

This isn't Tiller's last battle. On the day of his acquittal, the state Board of Healing Arts announced it was filing an 11-count administrative case against him, which could result in the suspension or revocation of his license.

Jurors Acquit Kansas Doctor in a Late-Term Abortion Case
March 28, 2009
By JOE STUMPE

WICHITA, Kan. — After years of investigations and four days of testimony, jurors here took just 45 minutes on Friday to acquit a controversial abortion doctor of charges that he performed 19 illegal late-term abortions in 2003.

Kansas law permits late-term abortions when two independent doctors agree that the pregnant woman would be irreparably harmed by giving birth

Prosecutors charged that the doctor, George Tiller, had an improper financial relationship with a doctor from Lawrence, Kristin Neuhaus, who provided a second opinion in the 19 cases cited.

Dr. Tiller’s clinic is one of three in the United States that perform late-term abortions, and he has been reviled by anti-abortion forces for decades.

In 1986, a bomb exploded on the roof of his clinic here, Women’s Health Care Services. In 1991, some 2,000 protesters were arrested outside during summer-long protests; in 1993, Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion activist while driving away from the clinic. Protests continue there almost daily.

“It’s been a long ordeal for his patients, Dr. Tiller and his family,” the lead defense lawyer, Dan Monnat, said Friday outside the courtroom. “They’re just happy it’s over.”

Dr. Tiller could have faced a year in jail and a $2,500 fine on each of 19 counts.

Two dozen law officers stationed themselves in the courtroom to maintain order as the verdict was read, and spectators, most of whom identified themselves as abortion opponents, were searched before entering. A few appeared to pray, but there were no outbursts. Anti-abortion protesters demonstrated outside the courthouse all week.

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, called the verdict “a setback.” Mr. Mahoney said that had jurors voted for conviction, “they would have put him out of business.” But Mr. Mahoney, who had predicted that the trial would “energize” anti-abortion forces, said it was a “very technical case” that was not relevant to other legal and legislative challenges to abortion.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney, who prosecuted Dr. Tiller, said the quick verdict probably resulted from the fact that the issue before jurors was clear and concise. “There wasn’t a lot for them to go back there and argue,” Mr. Disney said.

During testimony, both Dr. Tiller and Dr. Neuhaus, the only witness called by prosecutors, denied that there was anything improper about their financial relationship. Dr. Neuhaus testified that she misspoke during a 2006 deposition when she called herself a “full-time consultant” for Dr. Tiller.

The trial is not the end of Dr. Tiller’s legal problems. The state Board of Healing Arts is investigating a complaint that mirrors the accusations made in the trial.

Doctor acquitted by Kansas jury in late-term abortion trial
Prosecutors had argued that the second opinions in 19 of his procedures weren't given by an independent physician. Next up is an administrative challenge from a state health board
March 28, 2009
Robin Abcarian

Wichita, Kan. -- In a trial watched closely by activists on both sides of the abortion debate, Dr. George Tiller, the Kansas physician accused of performing illegal late-term abortions, was found not guilty Friday. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for less than an hour.

Tiller has been targeted by antiabortion politicians, legal officials and activists for years, but this was the first time he faced a jury.

When the court clerk announced the first of the 19 verdicts, Tiller, 67, squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. It was the only reaction he showed.

Spectators in the courtroom were silent when the first not-guilty verdict was read. Most of them were affiliated with the antiabortion group Operation Rescue. Some bowed their heads in disappointment. Some wept.

A few minutes later, Tiller was escorted out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy, who held tightly to the cuff of Tiller's sport coat. A cordon of uniformed and plainclothes officers planted themselves between Tiller and the spectators.

Tiller's three attorneys spoke to reporters after the jury was dismissed.

"Dr. Tiller and his family are just happy it's over, with an eminently just result. This whole trial was political," said lead defense attorney Dan Monnat. He praised "these six brave souls" as refusing to be swayed by the politics of the abortion debate in Kansas, where passions on the issue run high.

Outside the courtroom, Assistant Atty. Gen. Barry Disney said: "We respect the jurors, and they worked hard. We can do no more than give them the facts and let them make a decision."

Disney, a methodical prosecutor who often tries death penalty cases with no courtroom audience at all, did not seem surprised by the verdict. When asked about criticism that he had not been aggressive enough, he said: "I don't agree with that at all. We presented all the evidence we had. We left no stone unturned."

Tiller was charged with 19 criminal misdemeanor counts. Kansas law requires that a physician get a second opinion from a doctor with whom he or she has no legal or financial ties before terminating a pregnancy of longer than 22 weeks when the fetus is considered "viable" (able to survive outside the womb). The consulting doctor must agree that continuing a pregnancy to term would cause "substantial and irreversible harm" to the woman, including mental or emotional harm.

The criminal charges were based on cases involving mostly teenagers. One patient was a 10-year-old who was 28 weeks pregnant; another, 24 years old, was 30 weeks pregnant.

Many of the abortions Tiller performed were of fetuses found to be medically compromised.

In 1999, the law was interpreted to mean that the second doctor had to be from Kansas, a problem for Tiller, whose patients -- mostly from out of state -- had always been referred by their own physicians. Few Kansas doctors were willing to consult on his cases. Tiller testified that he called about 100 retired physicians whose licenses were still active, but that no one would help him.

He considered challenging the requirement in court, but changed his mind after Larry Buening, executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which licenses and disciplines medical practitioners in the state, urged Tiller to contact Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, a physician in Lawrence, 2 1/2 hours away.

Buening's recommendation of Neuhaus, said Tiller's attorneys, meant that Tiller had followed in good faith the advice of a public official and thus did not commit a crime.

"It would be like a public official throwing water on you," said Monnat, "and then arresting you because you are wet."

The prosecution tried to show that Tiller's relationship to Neuhaus, who provided referrals in 2003 for the 19 women whose late-term abortions were the basis of the criminal charges, was not financially independent.

Disney said that Neuhaus, a witness for the state who received a grant of immunity to testify, essentially functioned as Tiller's employee. She saw his patients at his office, and on his schedule. Also, in 2003, Tiller's patients provided her with her only income.

And, in what Disney described as "the smoking gun," Tiller's own day planner reflected that in 1999, he had discussed on the phone the rate that Neuhaus would charge his patients for a consultation (Tiller had written "$200-$250").

"He wasn't just writing down what she said she was going to charge," said Disney. "He was negotiating and working with her on the amount she was going to charge."

Disney reminded jurors that during cross-examination, he had asked Tiller, "And you approved that fee?" and that Tiller had responded, "Yes."

Both Neuhaus and Tiller testified that she examined patients at Tiller's clinic because it was too dangerous to see them anywhere else. In the past, Neuhaus said, Tiller's pregnant patients have been harassed by abortion protesters who followed them to their hotels and slipped literature with pictures of dead fetuses under their doors as well as the doors of other hotel guests.

Neuhaus also testified that she sometimes turned patients down after examining them. Tiller did not contest her opinions in those cases, she said.

"We are extremely disappointed" with the verdict, said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition and former national spokesman for Operation Rescue.

"But we're thrilled that it even came to trial. This will not stop us at all."

Indeed, on the same day Tiller was acquitted, the Board of Healing Arts announced that it was filing an 11-count administrative case against him, which could result in the suspension or revocation of his license.

He is accused of breaking the same law -- with some of the same patients -- that he was found not guilty of breaking on Friday.

In its news release, the board said that the criminal case was not "determinant" and that the case would proceed "on its own merits."

FRANCE 24
March 28.2009
Jury acquits Kansas abortion doctor
Joe Stumpe

He has been picketed, bombed and shot by anti-abortion activists, but George Tiller has been swiftly acquitted of charges that he performed 19 illegal abortions in 2003.

"This whole trial was a political trial," Tiller's attorney Dan Monnat said outside the courtroom. Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney denied the charge.

A jury of three men and three women reached a verdict after just 45 minutes.

Disney said: "We respect the jury's verdict," which came after five days of testimony and arguments.

Several dozen protesters attended the trial, demonstrating outside the Sedgwick County courthouse or filling most of the seats in the small courtroom under the watch of two dozen law officers.

Reverend Patrick Mahoney of the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition, who traveled to Kansas to lead the protests, said the verdict was disappointing but would not have much impact on future challenges to abortion.

"This was an important case, but putting it in perspective, it was not about abortion," Mahoney said.

Tiller, 67, testified that he owns one of only three clinics in the United States that perform late-term abortions, which are performed on fetuses that would be viable outside the mother's womb.

Late-term abortions are legal in Kansas if two independent physicians agree that the mother could suffer irreparable harm by giving birth.

Tiller was charged with having an illegal financial and legal relationship with Kristin Neuhaus, a physician who gave him second opinions required for the procedure. She has not been charged in the case.

Neuhaus and Tiller denied there was anything improper about their financial arrangement. They said Tiller referred patients to Neuhaus, who was paid 250 to 300 dollars by the patients for her opinions.

Tiller said aspects of their relationship -- such as allowing Neuhaus to use his clinic to examine patients -- were necessary because of the harassment patients are subjected to when visiting his clinic.

His practice, which had patients from around the world, has been targeted by abortion protesters for decades. His clinic has been bombed and an anti-abortion activist shot him in both arms in 1993.

Some 2,000 protesters were also arrested outside the clinic during summer-long demonstrations in 1991.

Monnat characterized the case as a witch hunt begun by former Attorney General Phill Kline, an ardent abortion foe, and continued by his successors out of personal and political pressure.

"This case was designed by an anti-abortion politician and pursued by other politicians who were too afraid to do the right thing," Monnat told jurors in his closing argument.

"It has been ... open season on doctors who provide abortions to women," he added. "Is that America?

March 28, 2009
Kansas abortion debate shifts focus to medical board
By JOHN HANNA
The Associated Press

TOPEKA | Abortion opponents had long hoped to see Dr. George Tiller prosecuted, anticipating it could close his Wichita clinic, among a few in the U.S. performing late-term abortions.

Now, in a twist that would have seemed inconceivable to them just a year ago, they're pinning their hopes on the state board that licenses and regulates physicians. Anti-abortion groups had long derided the Board of Healing Arts as too lax, particularly with abortion providers.

But Tiller's trial in Wichita on misdemeanor charges of violating Kansas restrictions on late-term abortions ended Friday in his acquittal. And moments later, the board made public a complaint that could cost Tiller his medical license.

Abortion opponents are encouraged by the board's action because of turnover among its key personnel within the past year, after legislative criticism led its executive director to resign.

"Isn't that something?" Troy Newman, president of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, said Saturday. "You have a brand new crew, a brand new set of eyes, people without long-standing political relationships."

The attorney general's office filed 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller in Sedgwick County District Court. The charges alleged Tiller failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions in 2003 from an independent physician, as required by law.

In each case, the second opinion came from Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, of Nortonville, and the attorney general's office argued she was part of a "one-stop shop." But the six jurors took only about an hour to decide Tiller hadn't violated the law.

The complaint before the board covers the same allegations for what appears to be 11 of the abortions addressed by the criminal case. The complaint also accuses Tiller of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct or incompetence and says he and Neuhaus had a "symbiotic relationship."

Tiller attorney Dan Monnat said he'd known of the complaint and that the acquittal in the criminal case would allow Tiller's attorneys to work with the board for a "similar resolution."

"The anti-choice forces are not going to go away easily, but this will end," said Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. "And this will end in our favor."

No hearings in the board's complaint have been set. The board could fine Tiller or suspend or revoke his license.

The board's litigation counsel filed the complaint on Dec. 12, but it didn't become public until the board released it moments after the verdict from Tiller's trial. The board didn't discuss the timing, and spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz did not return a telephone message Saturday.

But Mary Kay Culp, executive director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, said the board's timing suggested, "They don't want Kansans to be disheartened about abortion law enforcement."

Anti-abortion groups became disheartened about the criminal case because it was handled by the office of Attorney General Steve Six, an abortion rights Democrat. But they still had hoped for a conviction.

Part of abortion foes' desire to see Tiller prosecuted stemmed from their past distrust of the board and former longtime Executive Director Larry Buening.

Kathy Ostrowski, Kansans for Life's legislative director, who's long monitored the board, cited concerns over the handling of repeated questions about eight abortion providers, including Tiller, over the past two decades. Her group also frequently criticized how the board handled other physicians' cases.

"It's just been a consistent pattern," she said. "We were banging our head against the wall."

During his trial, Tiller testified he had a "cordial relationship" with Buening. Tiller's attorneys also said the doctor relied on an off-the-record statement from Buening suggesting that Tiller use Neuhaus for second opinions and that she could work from Tiller's clinic.

But Tiller's attorneys acknowledged Buening has said he can't recall making such statements, and Buening didn't testify. Buening didn't return a telephone message Saturday.

Last year, anti-abortion groups' criticism of the board resonated with legislators. They'd become concerned about the case of a Wichita-area doctor accused by federal prosecutors of running a "pill mill" clinic that they linked to 59 deaths.

Both the House and Senate approved resolutions in March 2008 criticizing the board, and a few days later, Buening announced his resignation. A new executive director, Jack Confer, took over in July, after having worked as a medical regulator in Arizona.

And, Ostrowski said of the complaint before the board, "This is a great turn of events."

Jury acquits Kansas abortion doctor

Fri Mar 27, 10:42 PM

WICHITA, Kansas (AFP) - He has been picketed, bombed and shot by anti-abortion activists, but George Tiller has been swiftly acquitted of charges that he performed 19 illegal abortions in 2003.

"This whole trial was a political trial," Tiller's attorney Dan Monnat said outside the courtroom. Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney denied the charge.

A jury of three men and three women reached a verdict after just 45 minutes.

Disney said: "We respect the jury's verdict," which came after five days of testimony and arguments.

Several dozen protesters attended the trial, demonstrating outside the Sedgwick County courthouse or filling most of the seats in the small courtroom under the watch of two dozen law officers.

Reverend Patrick Mahoney of the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition, who traveled to Kansas to lead the protests, said the verdict was disappointing but would not have much impact on future challenges to abortion.

"This was an important case, but putting it in perspective, it was not about abortion," Mahoney said.

Tiller, 67, testified that he owns one of only three clinics in the United States that perform late-term abortions, which are performed on fetuses that would be viable outside the mother's womb.

Late-term abortions are legal in Kansas if two independent physicians agree that the mother could suffer irreparable harm by giving birth.

Tiller was charged with having an illegal financial and legal relationship with Kristin Neuhaus, a physician who gave him second opinions required for the procedure. She has not been charged in the case.

Neuhaus and Tiller denied there was anything improper about their financial arrangement. They said Tiller referred patients to Neuhaus, who was paid 250 to 300 dollars by the patients for her opinions.

Tiller said aspects of their relationship -- such as allowing Neuhaus to use his clinic to examine patients -- were necessary because of the harassment patients are subjected to when visiting his clinic.

His practice, which had patients from around the world, has been targeted by abortion protesters for decades. His clinic has been bombed and an anti-abortion activist shot him in both arms in 1993.

Some 2,000 protesters were also arrested outside the clinic during summer-long demonstrations in 1991.

Monnat characterized the case as a witch hunt begun by former Attorney General Phill Kline, an ardent abortion foe, and continued by his successors out of personal and political pressure.

"This case was designed by an anti-abortion politician and pursued by other politicians who were too afraid to do the right thing," Monnat told jurors in his closing argument.

"It has been ... open season on doctors who provide abortions to women," he added. "Is that America?

Kansas doctor denies illegal ties to Tiller
March 24, 2009
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
The Associated Press

WICHITA | Physician George Tiller’s abortion trial resumed Tuesday with defense attorneys trying to distance their client from the consulting physician who provided the second opinion required by Kansas law for late-term procedures.

Tiller, one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers, is on trial this week in Sedgwick County District Court on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that a doctor performing a late-term abortion first obtain a second opinion from an independent Kansas physician.

Prosecutors allege that the doctor he used for a second opinion — Ann Kristin Neuhaus — had improper legal and financial ties to Tiller, noting her only income at the time came from patients she saw at Tiller’s “one-stop shop.” The defense argued she only came to his clinic for the convenience and safety of patients, pointing out she paid for her own expenses, such as malpractice insurance and travel costs.

Patients paid her a $250 to $300 consultation fee in cash.

Prosecutors Tuesday tried to cast doubt on her testimony that such consultations were common between physicians by bringing up a discussion she had with Tiller about her fees when he was recruiting her. The prosecution was trying to show truly independent physicians don’t discuss their fees with other doctors for referrals.

But Neuhaus insisted that she could not remember whether she had ever discussed with Tiller her consulting fee, even after being shown notes Tiller purportedly took during a conversation over her fees when he recruited her in 1999.

“You are the one bringing it up. Why don’t you ask Dr. Tiller?” she snapped back at prosecutor Barry Disney.

During questioning by Disney the day before, Neuhaus repeatedly claimed that she could not recall events. Under cross-examination by the defense on Tuesday, she provided more detailed answers, as well as criticism of former Attorney General Phill Kline, an anti-abortion Republican whose investigation of Tiller formed the basis for the current charges against him.

Neuhaus first testified about her relationship with Tiller in a 2006 inquisition under a grant of immunity from Kline, saying Tuesday that she feared prosecution because under Kline “it was open season” on abortion providers. She also likened that 2006 inquisition to a “torture chamber.”

The current attorney general, Stephen Six, also granted her immunity two months ago.

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Dan Monnat, Neuhaus said she sometimes declined to concur with a late-term abortion. She testified she was not aware of any abortion that Tiller performed after she refused to consent to it, but added she would have no way of knowing.

Her political views on abortion rights did not affect her medical judgment, she testified, adding that, among other things, she assessed the patient’s own beliefs and feelings about abortion.

Neuhaus acknowledged that she had restrictions on her medical license, but jurors were told few details about those circumstances, other than that it involved anesthesia practices.

Neuhaus was accused in 2001 of performing an abortion after a patient withdrew permission. Under an agreement with the State Board of Healing Arts, which regulates doctors, she changed her consent forms and addressed the board’s concerns about how she kept records and administered sedatives.

She testified that she closed her clinic in 2002 to care for her child who was diagnosed with diabetes.

March 23, 2009
Abortion provider's trial opens in Kansas
Dr. George Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor counts of violating the Kansas law governing late-term procedures.
 By Robin Abcarian

Reporting from Wichita, Kan. — Opening arguments got underway Monday in the criminal case against Dr. George Tiller, one of the only physicians in the country who provides late-term abortions. And by day's end, it was clear that the case could hinge on such nonmedical issues as who paid for copy paper and toner, the meaning of a hug and whether selling a beat-up sedan to a colleague can constitute proof of guilt.

Tiller, 67, faces 19 misdemeanor counts of breaking the Kansas law that governs how late-term abortions should be handled.

In cases where the fetus is deemed viable -- or able to survive outside the womb, around six months' gestation -- the state requires the approval of a second doctor who is not affiliated legally or financially with the first doctor before an abortion can be performed. The doctor must certify that the mother will suffer permanent and irreversible harm, which can include psychological harm, if she carries the baby to term. The state also requires that the second doctor be from Kansas, which considerably narrows the field since few doctors in the state perform abortions.

Prosecutors contend that Tiller's relationship with Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Lawrence, Kan. -- who signed off on 19 of his cases in 2003 -- violated the state's independent physician requirement. Neuhaus, who did not have her own clinic at the time and whose only source of income was Tiller, used his office but denied using his staff.

The defense has countered that Neuhaus saw patients at Tiller's office for security reasons -- protesters regularly harassed patients outside the clinic -- and because it was convenient for patients, many of whom were emotionally fragile teenagers.

One of the 19 patients in question was 10 years old. Many of Tiller's patients are women who discover late in their pregnancies that they are carrying severely impaired fetuses.

On Monday, antiabortion activists lined up before the courtroom opened in hopes of getting seats inside.

About 25 did, including Troy Newman of Operation Rescue and a handful of young adults he described as "survivors of the abortion holocaust" because they were born after 1973, the year the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Two people in apparel with antiabortion slogans were asked by sheriff's deputies in the courtroom to turn their sweat shirts inside out or cover up.

In his opening statement, Kansas Assistant Atty. Gen. Barry Disney told the jury that Tiller had recruited Neuhaus, hired his attorney to train her about legal requirements and scheduled his patients for her to see at his office. "They were so entwined that she, in essence, was an employee," Disney said. He implied that one way to tell their relationship crossed the line was the hug she gave Tiller when she saw him at the courthouse Monday.

Neuhaus -- who testified under a grant of immunity -- said she saw five or six of Tiller's patients a week, earning about $300 for each consultation.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Dan Monnat asked Neuhaus: "When you saw [Tiller] this morning and gave him a hug, did you mean to convey that you were legally or financially affiliated with him?"

"No," she replied.

Disney also implied that Tiller had given Neuhaus a special deal when he sold her a 1994 Toyota Camry in 2006 for $300. But Monnat produced an appraisal from a local dealership setting the value of the car at $300 and showed the jury a photo of what he mockingly called "this sleek car" -- which Neuhaus testified needed $3,000 worth of body work.

Neuhaus, the day's only witness, seemed at times flustered.

On some points, such as whether she had received legal advice from Tiller's lawyers, Neuhaus on Monday contradicted her earlier deposition. Tiller's attorneys had sent her a packet of information about the Kansas abortion law, she said Monday, but she did not recall meeting with them. In her deposition, she had said that she received the packet "after consulting with his attorneys."

Her deposition, she testified, may have been flawed because "it was a pretty hostile engagement." She later added, "I was being interrogated for four hours and was a little distraught."

Still, she testified, she maintained her independence from Tiller, going so far as to pay for the copy paper and toner that she used while seeing patients at his Wichita clinic, Women's Health Care Services.

When the prosecutor pressed her about whether she had paid rent to Tiller or paid for any of his staff, she said she had not, adding: "I didn't pay for the toilet paper or coffee" either.

Outside the Sedgwick County courthouse, a couple dozen antiabortion activists prayed. A truck with large panels showing aborted fetuses and slogans such as "Tiller the Killer" drove slowly around the block to mark the first time that Tiller, who has practiced in Kansas for more than three decades, has been charged with a crime.

If convicted, Tiller would face one year in prison and a fine of $2,500 for each count. The trial is expected to last at least through the week.

Posted on Mon, Mar. 23, 2009
Testimony begins in trial of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller
By RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

The prosecution’s only witness Monday said she did not have a full-time business relationship with Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

The denial strikes at the main issue that has Tiller on trial in Sedgwick County District Court, charged with 19 misdemeanors.

Prosecutor Barry Disney indicated that Kristen Neuhaus changed her story from what she told another assistant state’s attorney general more than two years ago.

Neuhaus said that prosecutor, Steve Maxwell — a deputy to then-Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline — so harshly interrogated her in a secret hearing that she was not sure what she said.

That marked the first day’s testimony in the case against Tiller in a trial to decide whether he violated a Kansas law regulating late-term abortions.

The trial is being watched by abortion opponents across the country.

“This is the biggest trial in the history of Kansas,” Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, Washington, D.C., told about two dozen people in front of the courthouse Monday morning.

Tiller is accused of having an improper business relationship with Neuhaus during 19 late-term abortions in 2003. Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors — one for each of those abortions.

Both sides agree that each of the 19 abortions in question was performed after Tiller had determined the fetus was viable and that the pregnancy put the mother’s mental or physical health in danger.

Each time, Neuhaus signed off as the second opinion.

“I would be asked to evaluate the patients and see if their pregnancy constituted a substantial and irreversible threat to their health,” Neuhaus testified.

That wording — “substantial and irreversible” — is important. By law, two physicians must make that determination before a woman can undergo an abortion in cases in which the fetus could survive outside the womb.

Neuhaus testified that she began doing such consulting on late-term abortion cases at Tiller’s Women’s Healthcare Services Clinic in Wichita in 1999.

Neuhaus said her 2006 testimony came in a contentious hearing.

“I was being interrogated for four hours,” she said. “I was probably distraught. I don’t know why I said some of these things.”

Neuhaus, who ran a medical practice in the Lawrence area, said she only came to Wichita to consult at Tiller’s clinic once a week for half a day.

To convict Tiller, the state must show that he had an improper legal or financial relationship with Neuhaus.

Disney told the jury Neuhaus was paid between $250 and $300 in cash for her consultations.

“This case isn’t about abortion,” Disney told the jury in his opening statements Monday morning. It’s about their business relationship, he said.

“It’s about this defendant intentionally setting up this relationship, so he could continue business as usual,” Disney said.

Tiller is one of the few doctors in the world who performs late-term abortions, defense attorney Dan Monnat said in his opening statement.

Monnat contends Tiller did not pay Neuhaus or control her medical opinions. Although she visited with patients at the Wichita clinic, she sometimes did not sign off on Tiller’s original diagnosis, Monnat said.

“The evidence will show that the prosecution’s theory makes no legal, medical or common sense,” Monnat said.

The jury may not get to consider Monnat’s theory for the defense, however.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens took under advisement how he would rule on Monnat’s defense that Tiller was acting on advice from his attorney and the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.

Monnat said the state’s medical licensing board recommended Tiller use Neuhaus for his second opinions in 1999 and use Wichita lawyer Rachael Pirner.

March 24, 2009
Prosecutors rest case against Kan. late-term abortion provider; judge rejects bid to acquit

By ROXANA HEGEMAN  Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers after calling as their lone witness the consulting physician who provided the second opinion required for the procedures.

Lawyers for Dr. George Tiller were to begin presenting their evidence Wednesday. They will try to show that Tiller had no improper financial or legal connections with Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, from whom he regularly sought second opinions as required by Kansas law.

The defense moved for an acquittal immediately after the state rested, arguing the prosecution failed to present enough evidence to support a guilty verdict.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens rejected the motion, finding there was adequate evidence of financial ties between Tiller and Neuhaus to send the question to the jury. Owens said he would address the adequacy of evidence of a legal affiliation between the doctors during jury instructions.

Tiller went on trial Monday on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that an independent physician sign off on a late-term abortion.

Prosecutors described Neuhaus as essentially a Tiller employee whose only income at the time came from patients she saw at his clinic. The defense argued she came to his clinic for the convenience and safety of patients, pointing out she paid for her own expenses, such as malpractice insurance and travel costs.

Patients paid her a $250 to $300 consultation fee in cash.

Prosecutors on Tuesday tried to cast doubt on her testimony that such consultations were common between physicians by bringing up a discussion she had with Tiller about fees when he was recruiting her.

But Neuhaus insisted she could not remember whether they had ever discussed her consulting fee, even after being shown notes Tiller purportedly took during a conversation when he recruited her in 1999.

She later acknowledged on the stand that she had "an agreement" with Tiller whereby she would charge patients an agreed amount and he would start referring his abortion patients to her.

During questioning the day before, Neuhaus repeatedly claimed she could not recall events. Under cross-examination Tuesday, she provided more detailed answers and criticized former Attorney General Phill Kline, an anti-abortion Republican whose investigation of Tiller formed the basis for the charges against him.

Neuhaus testified about her relationship with Tiller in a 2006 inquisition under a grant of immunity from Kline, saying that she feared prosecution because under Kline "it was open season" on abortion providers. She also likened the inquisition to a "torture chamber."

The current attorney general, Stephen Six, also granted her immunity two months ago.

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women's life or prevent "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," a phrase that's been interpreted to include mental health.

Under cross-examination, Neuhaus said she sometimes declined to concur with a late-term abortion. She testified that she was unaware of any abortion that Tiller performed after she refused consent, but added that she would have no way of knowing.

Her political views on abortion rights did not affect her medical judgment, she testified, adding that, among other things, she assessed the patient's own beliefs about abortion.

Neuhaus acknowledged she had restrictions on her medical license, but jurors were told few details about those circumstances, other than that it involved anesthesia practices.

Neuhaus was accused in 2001 of performing an abortion after a patient withdrew permission. Under an agreement with the State Board of Healing Arts, which regulates doctors, she changed her consent forms and addressed the board's concerns about how she kept records and administered sedatives.

She testified that she closed her clinic in 2002 to care for her child, who was diagnosed with diabetes.

 Posted on Mon, Mar. 23, 2009
Defense claims lawyer, Kan. board OK'd referrals
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer

The trial of one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers began Monday with defense attorneys trying to cast doubt on whether the doctor intentionally broke a state law requiring that an independent physician sign off on the procedure.

Dan Monnat, a defense attorney for Dr. George Tiller, told jurors in his opening statement that Tiller relied on advice from the state medical board's director and one of his lawyers when he used Dr. Kristin Neuhaus as a second opinion for some abortions.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions in 2003 from a physician with whom he had no legal or financial relationship.

Kansas law allows late-term abortions if two doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women's life or prevent "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," a phrase that's been interpreted to include mental health.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told jurors in his opening statements that Tiller recruited Neuhaus in 1999, making his Wichita clinic a "one-stop shop" for women seeking abortions. He said that Neuhaus was essentially an employee of Tiller, that the two were so close they had a legal and financial relationship prohibited by the law.

"No one is above the law. It doesn't matter how just someone feels their cause is," Disney said.

Monnat told jurors that Larry Buening, then-executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, suggested to Tiller in July 1999 that he use Neuhaus as a second opinion. He said Buening told Tiller the discussion was "off the record" and told him that if asked about it he would deny it.

Buening did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press for comment.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens noted earlier in the day that Kansas does not allow ignorance of the law or advice of counsel as a valid defense. He told attorneys he would likely uphold any objections prosecutors had to evidence that would support such arguments.

Monnat told jurors that the board "recognized and approved" Tiller's relationship with Neuhaus until 2006, when abortion became a campaign issue in the attorney general's race.

Disney told the jury that Tiller provided Neuhaus with legal advice from his attorney, including writing for her the referral form letter used to provide that second opinion. He said Neuhaus was paid by patients between $250 and $300 in cash for her consultations.

"By 2003, Dr. Neuhaus was a full-time consultant for the defendant," Disney said. "That is all she did. She had no other job, no other source of income."

March 17, 2009

Kansas abortion trial: Criminal case against controversial abortion doctor begins
Pursued for years, Kansan charged in late-term procedures

By Robin Abcarian Tribune Newspapers

March 16, 2009

Tiller Trial Jury Selection Begins Today

Jury selection in the criminal trial of Dr George Tiller of Wichita, Kansas, begins today. Dr. Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor charges for allegedly violating a state law requiring an "independent" second physician's concurring opinion before performing later term abortions. Tiller is one of the few late-term abortion providers in the US that serves women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems. Acccording to the Kansas City Star, testimony in the case is expected to begin next week.

Dan Monnat, a defense attorney for Tiller, told the Associated Press that "Dr. Tiller is innocent…we expect the prosecution's evidence and any defense evidence to make that very, very clear."

A motion by Dr. Tiller's lawyers to dismiss the criminal case against him was denied last month by Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens. Tiller's motion to dismiss cited the "outrageous conduct" and "selective targeting" of the preliminary investigation into his practice by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and Eric Rucker, a state attorney. In his decision, Judge Owens wrote that Kline's "procedures have certainly been questioned by the Kansas Supreme Court, but his conduct in the investigation does not merit the sanction of the dismissal of the charges or suppression of evidence," according to the Wichita Eagle.

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 1/8/08, 2/26/09; Kansas City Star 3/15/09; Wichita Eagle 2/25/09; Associated Press 3/15/09

February 2009 

Posted on Thu, Feb. 19, 2009
Tiller’s lawyers say abortion records were mailed to Virginia city where Kline now works
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

Three days after then-Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline testified in Sedgwick County about the handling of abortion records, copies of those records were mailed to the Virginia city where he had taken a new job.

Lawyers for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller said in court papers filed this afternoon that this is further evidence that Kline has no regard for patients’ privacy and further proof of alleged misconduct in his investigation.

Dan Monnat is asking Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens to dismiss misdemeanor charges against Tiller, who is set for trial next month.

Tiller’s lawyers have argued that Kline’s conduct in investigating the doctor was so outrageous that the resulting charges against him should be dismissed.

In a supplement to arguments filed today, Monnat said that on Kline’s last day as Johnson County district attorney, copies of documents from Tiller’s case were mailed from that office to Lynchburg, Va., where Kline had taken a job at Liberty University.

The box included summaries of abortion patients’ records.

“Kline never received the box in Virginia, only because the address on it was insufficient for delivery,” Monnat wrote in his court filing.

When the package was returned to the Johnson County district attorney’s office, officials there notified the office of Kansas Attorney General Steve Six, who is prosecuting the case against Tiller.

Six’s office took the records and locked them away.

The Hayes Daily News
Abortion records sent to ousted Kan. prosecutor
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Summaries of patient medical files and other documents from an investigation of Kansas abortion clinics were mailed to former prosecutor Phill Kline's new address in Virginia, court documents show.

The mailing was disclosed in an affidavit filed Thursday in Sedgwick County District Court by attorneys for abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. He's scheduled to go to trial March 16 on 19 misdemeanor charges alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law.

Kline didn't return a message left on his cell phone, but his attorney said the mailing was the result of a mistake and that Kline didn't intend for the documents go to Virginia.

Attorneys for Tiller, one a few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions, used the affidavit to bolster their pending request to dismiss the charges or suppress evidence. They accuse Kline of "outrageous" conduct as a prosecutor.

"Once again, he has left a public prosecutor's office, and once again, women's private medical records belonging to the prosecutor's office have mysteriously disappeared on the same day Kline left the prosecutor's office," said Dan Monnat, one of Tiller's attorneys, said Thursday.

At issue is a sealed box of documents subpoenaed by Tiller's attorneys from Kline for a hearing in Sedgwick County on Tiller's allegations about Kline's conduct.

According to the affidavit from Tiller's attorneys, materials in the box included state reports of abortions, summaries of patient files, notes about the investigation and prosecution and a document provided by an activist group.

The affidavit didn't identify the person who mailed the box. Stegall said the box also contained Kline's personal diaries, to which Tiller's attorneys tried but failed to gain access. None of the documents in the box were admitted as evidence. Stegall said Kline's understanding was that the district court would return only his personal diaries to him and retain the other sealed documents in case of an appeal.

"The only document Mr. Kline believed, desired and instructed to be returned to him -- with the full knowledge of the attorney general's office, Mr. Monnat and the court -- were those personal diaries," Stegall said.

According to the affidavit, the box was mailed from the Johnson County district attorney's office on Kline's last full day as district attorney in January. The box was returned there this week by the U.S. Postal Service because of an insufficient address.

The district attorney's office then contacted the Kansas attorney general's office, who in turn notified Tiller's attorneys. "It was not like we were trying to hide anything," Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney said.

Disney said the attorney general's office would file a response Friday to the defense affidavit. But he said he did not dispute the affidavit's account of how the attorney general's office handled the situation once it learned of the returned box. "I just want to stress that we were the ones who notified the defense of the situation," Disney said.

Tiller's attorneys contend Kline selectively targeted Tiller for prosecution. They also argue Kline's conduct taints the charges filed against Tiller in 2007 by Kline's successor as attorney general.

"Kline is about to go off to teach his tactics to young law students," Monnat said. "The Kansas justice system needs to proclaim that Kline's tactics are misconduct and no prosecutor can benefit in a nation of laws from that misconduct."

But Stegall said the argument "doesn't even pass the blush test."

"Mr. Monnat is representing his client and he is not missing a trick," Stegall said. "He will use any new fact he can to continue to push the story that somehow you have this zealous prosecutor out there that will stop at nothing to somehow have in his possession patient files. Nothing could be further from the truth."

January 2009 

Salina Journal
Ex-lover denies influence
1/7/2009
By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press

WICHITA -- The ex-mistress of former Attorney General Paul Morrison denied Tuesday in court that she pressured him into filing criminal charges against abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

Linda Carter testified that an investigation of the Wichita physician was an issue in her relationship with Morrison before he filed charges and they once had a big fight about it.

But when asked by the defense if she tried to persuade Morrison to prosecute Tiller, Carter replied, "I wouldn't say 'persuade,' no."

Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor counts alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law. His attorneys called Carter as a witness during a pretrial hearing in Sedgwick County District Court on their request to have evidence suppressed or the charges dismissed.

Tiller's attorneys contend Carter pressured Morrison into filing the case against Tiller in June 2007, and one has suggested the charges were "scripted" by Morrison's predecessor as attorney general, Phill Kline.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, began investigating Tiller while serving as attorney general in 2003. Morrison, an abortion rights Democrat, was Johnson County district attorney when he defeated Kline in Kline's bid for re-election in 2006. But afterward, Kline was appointed to replace Morrison in the county office.

Carter was director of administration in the Johnson County district attorney's office for Morrison and kept that job after Kline took over. She testified that her affair with Morrison began in September 2005 and continued after he became attorney general -- even as she continued working for Kline.

She left the DA's office in November 2007, and two months later, Morrison stepped down as attorney general after publicly acknowledging their relationship.

Tiller's attorneys also called Kline as a witness and questioned him about his knowledge of the affair.

Kline testified that he received an anonymous letter in the spring of 2007, before Morrison filed charges against Tiller, but didn't read all of it. He said he gave the letter to a subordinate, dismissed it as "irrelevant" and didn't talk to Carter about her affair until months later -- when she approached him.

"I thought it was disgusting that people would write such anonymous letters," Kline said. "I was not interested in his personal life or his sexual relationships."

Kline testified that because of her job, Carter had access to records about Tiller that he had brought with him to Johnson County after leaving the attorney general's office. Carter testified that she asked to see some of those records.

Last month, one of Tiller's attorney's Dan Monnat, said, "We think that the evidence will show that Morrison's charges were originally, in effect, scripted by Kline."

But Carter testified that Kline never talked to her about pushing Morrison to file charges against Tiller. And when Monnat suggested Tuesday to Kline that he was eager to have Tiller charged, Kline said he believed the evidence warranted it, "So desire is somewhat irrelevant."

But Carter said her relationship with Morrison was strained by both the Tiller investigation and her remaining on Kline's staff in the district attorney's office. She portrayed their affair as volatile after Morrison won the attorney general's race.

She testified that Morrison was verbally abusive but also promised to leave his wife, gave her a $16,000 engagement ring and in March 2007, moved clothes and other personal items into a Lawrence apartment she had.

Morrison, who is expected to testify during the hearing, has previously labeled many of Carter's statements are "patently false."

Carter testified that in March 2007, an argument caused Morrison to storm out of her apartment and led her to pile his belongings on the floor and leave for the weekend. She said the fight began when she asked him about the Tiller investigation.

"I believe the question was, 'Are you going to do the right thing and charge Tiller?' " she said.

During a break in Tuesday's proceedings, Kline complained to reporters that the legal disputes surrounding the case against Tiller had become "a circus," but he declined to answer questions.

In attacking Kline's actions as attorney general, Tiller's attorneys also are seeking access to personal notes and excerpts from a diary he kept.

------ The case is State of Kansas v. George R. Tiller, No. 07CR2112.

Ft. Mills, S. C. Times
Defense claims misconduct in Kan. abortion case
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
January 07, 2009

WICHITA, Kan. — A pretrial hearing for Dr. George Tiller concluded Wednesday with the state defending its prosecution of the Wichita abortion provider and defense lawyers linking the criminal charges to "outrageous conduct" by two former attorneys general.

Tiller is scheduled to go on trial March 16 in Sedgwick County District Court on 19 misdemeanor counts of failing to obtain a second opinion for some late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law.

In closing arguments before District Judge Clark Owens, defense lawyer Dan Monnat said all evidence gleaned from an investigation by then-Attorney General Phill Kline must be suppressed because of what he called lies and misrepresentations to the judge who issued subpoenas in the case.

But Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney argued that the defense failed to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" its contention that Tiller was subject to selective prosecution by Kline, who is well known for his opposition to abortion.

Owens said he would rule in mid-February at the earliest on the defense's motion to dismiss the charges or suppress some evidence.

Kline, who opposes abortion, began investigating Tiller shortly after taking office as attorney general in 2003. He eventually filed 30 misdemeanor charges alleging that Tiller performed 15 illegal late-term abortions and failed to properly report details of his procedures to state health officials.

Those charges were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds before Paul Morrison - the longtime Johnson County district attorney - became attorney general after defeating Kline in the November 2006 election. Kline was then chosen by Johnson County Republicans to finish Morrison's term as district attorney.

Morrison filed the 19 misdemeanor counts against Tiller in June 2007. He resigned as attorney general in January 2008 after acknowledging an affair with Linda Carter, who had worked for him and later for Kline in the Johnson County prosecutor's office.

In his closing argument Wednesday, Monnat portrayed Kline as single-mindedly fixed on prosecuting Tiller - one of the nation's few doctors performing late-term abortions - and willing to skirt the law to do so.

"Contempt threats even before the Kansas Supreme Court don't deter Phill Kline," Monnat said. "Disciplinary proceedings of his subordinates and possibly himself don't deter Phill Kline. Two different spankings and scoldings and reprimands and condemnations by the Kansas Supreme Court don't deter Phill Kline."

Among the defense arguments is that Morrison improperly charged Tiller because he was influenced by Carter, who, like Kline, is an abortion opponent.

Disney argued Wednesday that the defense failed to prove that Morrison acted under pressure from Carter. He also attacked the defense claim of "outrageous conduct" in the transfer of medical records from the attorney general's office to the Johnson County prosecutor's office when Kline took that job.

"How long is the attorney general's office responsible for Mr. Kline? ... Once he leaves the attorney general's office, that ends what we have control over," Disney said. "This is the attorney general's case, it is not the Johnson County district attorney's case."

The preliminary hearing ended without Morrison being called as a witness. But in a second day on the stand, Carter testified Wednesday that she had seen medical records of an abortion provider's patients and decided that they showed that illegal late-term abortions had been performed.

Carter testified that Kline never asked her to pressure Morrison, but she acknowledged that she had seen the records from Tiller's clinic and asked Morrison to do the "right thing."

"I saw the truth with my own two eyes," Carter said.

Carter testified that she wasn't pleased with the charges Morrison did file.

"They are totally insufficient," Carter said of those charges. "He made me very unhappy."

Carter said Morrison was angry when she first brought up the Tiller case because he thought she was questioning his legal judgment.

Monnat suggested during his questioning of Carter that Morrison wanted to please her. She acknowledged that in September 2007 Morrison got heart-shaped tattoo with her initials inside.

Carter also testified their relationship was back on track for a while after the charges were filed against Tiller in June 2007, but she said Morrison would make his own decisions on major cases.

"I exercised no influence on him and I don't think he considered my opinion whatsoever in filing the charges," Carter said.

Morrison's attorney, Trey Pettlon, said in a phone interview that his client would have evaluated the case based on the facts and evidence.

"I think he was prepared to testify if they needed him to. I am sure he is relieved to put this chapter of his life behind him," Pettlon said. "It is probably indicative of the fact the allegation he was influenced by Linda Carter in any way regarding any charging decision was simply untrue."

Pettlon declined to comment on Carter's contention that the charges were insufficient.

Morrison called Carter after he filed the charges, but Carter testified that she did not discuss them at that time.

"I was really weary fighting about Kline or any issue relating to Tiller," Carter said.

Carter said that during their affair, she urged Morrison to make peace with Kline. She also recounted an October 2007 phone call after their breakup in which she said Morrison tried to rekindle the affair.

She testified Morrison asked her during that call, "If I obtain my divorce and make peace with Kline, could you and I have a future together?"

Also Wednesday, Owens rejected a request from Tiller's attorneys for the personal notes and excerpts from a diary kept by Kline. The judge said that such materials constitute protected legal work product.

---

The case is State of Kansas v. George R. Tiller, No. 07CR2112.

Phill Kline expected to testify in Tiller pretrial hearing
January 6, 2009

WICHITA | Former Attorney Phill Kline is expected to testify when a pretrial hearing resumes in a criminal case against abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

Tiller faces 19 misdemeanor charges in Sedgwick County. The Wichita doctor is accused of violating a law requiring a second opinion from an independent physician for some late-term abortions.

His attorneys hope to get evidence suppressed or the charges dismissed. They allege Tiller is the victim of an overzealous prosecution.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, began investigating Tiller while attorney general in 2003. Kline lost his bid for re-election in 2006, but much of the current case is based on evidence he gathered.

The Hayes Daily News
Ex-AG's notes sought in Kan. abortion case
January 6, 2009

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Attorneys are trying to gain access to former Attorney General Phill Kline's personal notes and even a diary he kept as they defend abortion provider Dr. George Tiller against criminal charges.

The Wichita physician, his attorneys and Kline returned Tuesday to Sedgwick County District Court for a pretrial hearing in a criminal case against Tiller. His attorneys are hoping to get evidence suppressed or the charges against him dismissed.

Defense attorneys called Kline to the stand Tuesday to question him about his investigation of the doctor. He sparred repeatedly with Dan Monnat, one of Tiller's attorneys.

Tiller faces 19 misdemeanors, alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion on some late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by law.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, began investigating Tiller in 2003, while serving as attorney general. Kline lost his bid for re-election in 2006, but much of the case now being pursued by Attorney General Steve Six is based on evidence Kline gathered.

Tiller's attorneys argue that the criminal case is tainted by what they describe as Kline's "outrageous" behavior. But Kline and the state contend Tiller is trying to avoid prosecution.

Defense attorneys subpoenaed personal notes Kline compiled while attorney general, as well as excerpts from a personal diary he kept. Kline's attorney objected but produced the documents for District Judge Clark Owens, who has so far has kept them sealed.

"In this case, the issue is the state of mind of this witness," Lee Thompson, another attorney for Tiller, told Owens, referring to Kline. "Did he draft things that reflect his state of mind?"

Kline's attorney, Caleb Stegall, of Perry, has questioned whether the documents are relevant and argues that some of them are protected from disclosure because they represent Kline's personal work product. Stegall was not present in court Tuesday.

Owens made no ruling on whether Tiller's attorneys would gain access to the records and said he still had to review the material. During a break in the hearing, Thompson said the dispute covers about 20 pages of records.

Tiller's attorneys are trying to persuade the judge that Kline targeted Tiller for an investigation because Tiller performs abortions. He is among a few U.S. physicians who performs abortions when a fetus is able to survive outside the womb, and abortion opponents have questions for years whether he is complying with Kansas law.

Monnat asked Kline whether he'd investigated, for example, gynecologists in Shawnee County who'd treated girls aged 10 to 15. Kline acknowledged he had not sought subpoenas for such doctors' records but said such a decision would depend on what evidence his office had.

"We investigated based on what evidence was brought before us," he said.

During a previous hearing in November, Tiller's attorneys pointed to an internal memo from the attorney general's office showing showed Kline planned as early as April 2003 -- fewer than three months after taking office as attorney general -- to investigate Tiller.

Internal documents also show that Kline's initial focus was whether Tiller and other abortion providers were complying with legal requirements to report instances in which they suspected children had been sexually abused. Kline's questions led to a court-supervised investigation in Shawnee County and, eventually, he obtained access to edited records from the files of Tiller's patients.

Kline left office in January 2007, and his successor, Paul Morrison, an abortion rights Democrat, filed the current case against Tiller in June 2007.

Morrison was forced to resign a year ago after acknowledging an extramarital affair. Before becoming attorney general, Morrison was Johnson County district attorney, and his former mistress, Linda Carter, worked for him in the district attorney's office.

After Morrison left the district attorney's office, Kline was appointed to replace him there, and Carter worked for Kline until late in 2007, just before the affair with Morrison became public. Kline leaves the DA's office Monday, having lost a Republican primary in August for a four-year term.

Tiller's attorneys plan to call both Morrison and Carter as witnesses. Defense attorneys allege Carter influenced Morrison to file the case against Tiller, something the attorney general's office denies.

Testimony out of Wichita could be a juicy affair
January 4, 2009
Check your thesaurus, and you’ll see where Kansas comes up as a synonym for “dull.” But its politics are seldom boring.

Just the other day, Republican turncoat Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson left Kansas Democrats in the lurch by bowing out of the 2010 gubernatorial race. Which is not a bad little story for political junkies to start off the new year. The state’s Democratic governor recruited Parkinson, a former chairman of the state Republican Party, to be her running mate in 2006. Some thought this meant the moderate Parkinson would be in line to replace Kathleen Sebelius. But no more, giving Democrats and Republicans something to agree on. Both now despise the guy.

Yet, a far juicier political story is expected out of Wichita this week. Sex in the Johnson County Courthouse. The matter of a certain love tattoo.

Might public testimony on these and other salacious matters be given in the case of abortion doctor George Tiller when former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, his former girlfriend Linda Carter and outgoing Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline take the stand in Sedgwick County District Court?

And should I be at all ashamed for hoping that the dirt is dished out in great big dollops?

Of course, there’s no telling what might come out, though Morrison, Carter and Kline are on the witness lists for Tuesday or Wednesday. Could be boffo or a bust.

As to the second question: Of course I should be ashamed.

Then again, as a columnist I must at times regrettably set aside human decency to dwell on the embarrassing deeds and character flaws of the high and mighty.

Yeah, I know, it’s a great job. But not everyone has such a convenient excuse.

It won’t just be rabid partisans on either side of the abortion debate who’ll be watching this week’s hearing closely. I’m betting that a wide audience will want to keep tabs because this marks the first time Carter has spoken publicly about her two-year courthouse romance with Morrison.

Press disclosures about that relationship, as you’ll recall, led to Morrison’s resignation a year ago as Kansas AG.

She refused comment at the time. But it was her written statement made in connection with a sexual harassment complaint and leaked to the press that detailed their two-year extramarital affair, which began while Morrison was Johnson County district attorney.

Carter was a top administrator for Morrison and later worked for Kline, who succeeded Morrison as DA after the latter denied Kline a second term as state attorney general in 2006.

So what does any of this have to do with Tiller and the state charges against him?

His attorneys allege that Carter influenced Morrison (something he denies) to file criminal charges against Tiller when Morrison became attorney general.

That was when she was working for Kline, who had earlier pressed charges against Tiller, though unsuccessfully.

Is any of this as important as the Parkinson story? Only to Tiller, who is asking a judge to throw out the case against him.

From a political standpoint, it’s inconsequential. Unless there’s some bombshell revelation, no one’s career in public service will be ruined.

Morrison and Kline are political corpses already, without hope of ever returning to public office.

Still, the story has all the makings of a trashy, but entertaining, low-budget movie. Dibs on the screenplay.

November 2008


Murder charges dropped for no new evidence
November 28, 2008
JOHNSON CITY -- With no new evidence in the wake of a third scheduled trial, murder charges against a former Stanton County couple have been formally dropped. However, the option to re-open the trial remains if new evidence against the defendants surfaces, officials said.

The charges against Chad and Shannon Floyd -- murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder -- were dismissed without prejudice after a brief hearing Monday afternoon at the Stanton County District Courthouse.

The Floyds were charged with the murder of Michael Golub, 27, who disappeared on May 20, 2005, and whose body has never been recovered.

Golub was an ex-boyfriend of Shannon Floyd, and together they have an 8-year-old son, Mikey. The Floyd family now lives together in Burlington, Colo. Dan Monnat, Chad Floyd's attorney, said the couple had no objection to dismissing the charges without prejudice, meaning the state may re-file the case at any time if it discovers evidence that the state believes "materially strengthens" its case, according to the dismissal order.

"The Floyds are innocent, and innocent people have no objection to leaving the prosecutors that option," said Monnat, during a press conference following the hearing. "The Floyds know that no matter how much more effort prosecutors put forth, the state is never going to discover any evidence incriminating them because no evidence exists or has ever existed."

Monnat referred to new evidence as an "impossibility" in the case, and he and Kurt Kerns, Shannon Floyd's attorney, characterized the prosecution's case as purely circumstantial, one based on "rumor, innuendo and coincidence."

Two month-long trials against the accused have resulted in hung juries, and repeated requests for dismissal with prejudice -- meaning the state could not retry the accused -- had been denied by the judge, said Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman with the Kansas Attorney General's office.

Anstaett said prosecutors agreed to the dismissal because they were concerned that if a third trial with the exact same evidence resulted in another hung jury, the Floyds most likely would have been granted a dismissal with prejudice.

During Monday's hearing, about 15 of the Floyds' friends and family gathered in the benches behind the couple.

Both family and friends and the Floyds declined to comment but appeared pleased with the events of the day.

Richard Guinn, the lead prosecutor assigned to the case through the Kansas State Attorney General's Office, had said during the trial that the Floyds' motivation to kill Golub stemmed from a custody battle for their son, Mikey.

The Floyds' attorneys insisted their clients were innocent and that Golub had a history of substance abuse, suffered from depression and had been suicidal. The defense attorneys also argued that because no body or murder weapon has ever been found, there is no certainty of Golub's death.

Small drops of blood belonging to Golub found on the Floyd's porch linked the couple to the alleged victim and was key evidence for prosecutors. However, the evidence was not enough to convince the jury in either trial.

Judge Robert Schmisseur, who presided over the hearing, questioned attorneys about language in the dismissal order, which states that "this dismissal will be final unless the state should discover evidence it believes materially strengthens its case against the defendants."

The judge was concerned, given the unusual circumstances of the case, whether the surfacing of new evidence that would "materially strengthen" the case would rest completely on the State and whether it would break new ground in the court system. Defense attorneys and state prosecutors disagreed, state prosecutors saying they had the right to refile charges at any time based on new evidence.

Schmisseur concluded the debate would be a moot point unless charges were re-filed. Monnat said he would challenge any new charges and evidence, though he strongly believed the chances of both are small.

November 24, 2008

Judge drops charges in W. Kansas murder caseAG's office cited fears of a third hung jury; news relieves community
JOHNSON CITY - Murder charges against a former Stanton County couple accused of killing the woman's ex-boyfriend have been formally dismissed.

During a brief hearing on Monday, District Judge Robert Schmisseur accepted an order previously prepared by attorneys dismissing the case against Chad and Shannon Floyd, without prejudice.

The Floyds were accused of killing Michael Golub, who was last seen on May 20, 2005. He reportedly was on his way to the Floyds' rural Stanton County residence to pick up his son, whom he had with Shannon Floyd, for weekend visitation.

Prosecutors with the Kansas Attorney General's office said that DNA found in possible blood stains on the Floyds' porch link the couple to Golub's disappearance. Defense attorneys proposed several alternate theories to explain Golub's disappearance and pointed out that since his body was never found, prosecutors could not be certain he was dead.

Two previous juries in the case have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the case was scheduled to go to trial a third time in January.

Kansas assistant Attorney General Rick Guinn said after the hearing that despite the dismissal, the case is still considered an open investigation.

"We were concerned that if we went a third time here in January there was the potential for another hung jury, and the potential for the presiding judge to rule that no reasonable jury could come to a unanimous verdict in the case and dismiss with prejudice," Guinn said.

By dismissing without prejudice, prosecutors have the option to re-file charges.

Defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns said that prospect doesn't concern the Floyds.

"That just means that prosecutors could possibly re-file if they ever discover the impossible - new evidence incriminating Chad and Shannon Floyd," Monnat said. "No such evidence exists nor did it ever exist."

Monnat, who characterized the prosecution's case as "rumor, coincidences and rank speculation," said the Floyds had been unfairly targeted.

"Chad and Shannon are innocent," Monnat said. "These charges should never have been filed in the first place."

Kerns said the couple thanks the community for its support through the ordeal.

Golub's mother, Deb Golub, said after the hearing that prosecutors made the right - but difficult - decision.

"We didn't want to go through a third trial and have a hung jury and be where we are now," Golub said.

Golub said that her son's loved ones have been patient for the past three years and will continue to do so.

"I understand the waiting process. That's what we've been doing - we're patient people. We'll wait for an outcome."

Golub said the dismissal is strictly a strategic move and that she still has faith that justice will prevail.

"We truly believe Chad and Shannon Floyd are guilty and we're willing to wait," Golub said.

The attorney general's office sought input from Golub's family before proceeding with a dismissal, Golub said.

In Johnson City, where many people have connections on both sides of the case, there is a sense of relief, tempered by the knowledge that there has been no resolution to Golub's disappearance.

"I think another trial would wear everybody out," said Richard Winger.

Winger and his wife, Marie, are related to the Floyds but know the Golub family as well.

"It is really a relief because all I could see was another hung jury - the last trial didn't have any more evidence than the first one," Marie Winger said.

The Wingers said there is a real sense of trial fatigue in the community.

"Everybody was dreading it," Marie Winger said. "Because they knew if they hadn't been called yet to serve on the jury that they would be this time."

November 21, 2008

Charges against former Stanton Co. couple formally dismissed
JOHNSON CITY – Charges against a former Stanton County couple accused of murdering the woman’s ex-boyfriend have been formally dismissed.

During a brief hearing Monday, District Judge Robert Schmisseur accepted an order previously prepared by attorneys dismissing the case against Chad and Shannon Floyd without prejudice.

The Floyds are accused of killing Michael Golub, who was last seen on May 20, 2005, reportedly on his way to the Floyds’ rural Stanton County residence to pick up the son he had with Shannon Floyd for weekend visitation.

Prosecutors with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office said DNA matching Golub’s found in possible blood stains on the Floyd’s porch linked the couple to his disappearance. Defense attorneys proposed several alternate theories to explain Golub’s disappearance and pointed out that since Golub’s body never was found, prosecutors could not be certain he was dead.

Two previous juries in the case have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the case was scheduled to go to trial a third time in January.

Kansas Assistant Attorney General Rick Guinn said after the hearing that, despite the dismissal, the case still is being considered an open investigation.

"We were concerned that if we went a third time here in January there was the potential for another hung jury and the potential for the presiding judge to rule that no reasonable jury could come to a unanimous verdict in the case and dismiss with prejudice," Guinn said.

By dismissing without prejudice, prosecutors have the option to refile charges.

In a press conference after the hearing, defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns said that prospect does not concern Chad and Shannon Floyd.

"That just means that prosecutors could possible refile if they ever discover the impossible – new evidence incriminating Chad and Shannon Floyd," Monnat said. "No such evidence exists, nor did it ever exist."

Monnat, who characterized the prosecution’s case as "rumor, coincidences and rank speculation," said the Floyds had been unfairly targeted.

"Chad and Shannon are innocent," Monnat said. "These charges should never have been filed in the first place."

Kerns said the couple thanks the community for its support through the ordeal.

Golub’s mother, Deb Golub, said after the hearing that prosecutors made the right – but difficult – decision.

"We didn’t want to go through a third trial and have a hung jury and be where we are now," Golub said.

Golub said her son’s loved ones have been patient for the past three years and will continue to be so.

"I understand the waiting process. That’s what we’ve been doing. We’re patient people. We’ll wait for an outcome."

Golub said the dismissal is strictly a strategic move and said she still has faith that justice will prevail.

"We truly believe Chad and Shannon Floyd are guilty, and we’re willing to wait," Golub said. "There’s evidence out there – possibly another person. We don’t know. So we just wait."

The Attorney General’s Office sought input from Golub’s family before proceeding with a dismissal, Golub said.

In Johnson City, where many people have connections with both sides in the case, there is a sense of relief, tempered by the knowledge that there has been no resolution to Golub’s disappearance.

"I think another trial would wear everybody out," Richard Winger said.

Winger and his wife, Marie, are related to the Floyds but know the Golub family, as well.

"It is really a relief, because all I could see was another hung jury. The last trial didn’t have any more evidence than the first one," Marie Winger said.

The Wingers said there is a real sense of trial fatigue in the community.

"Everybody was dreading it," Marie Winger said, "because they knew if they hadn’t been called yet to serve on the jury that they would be this time."

During the hearing, Judge Schmisseur questioned the attorneys about language in the dismissal order "that’s the first time I’ve ever seen this."

The order states "Although this dismissal is without prejudice, it is the contemplation of all parties that this dismissal will be final unless the state should discover evidence it believes materially strengthens its case against the defendants."

Schmisseur said that it would be entirely up to the prosecution to determine what evidence would qualify as materially strengthening the case, although Monnat disagreed and said the language was derived from statutes. After a brief sidebar, Schmisseur said if the issue ever comes up the court will decide on it at that point.

Murder case dismissed against southwest Kansas pair
November 21, 2008
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

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.

AG looks to drop couple's charges
Former Stanton County pair had been accused in slaying of boyfriend
By Jon Ruhlen - The Hutchinson News - jruhlen@hutchnews.com

JOHNSON CITY - Charges against a former Stanton County couple accused of killing the woman's ex-boyfriend will likely be dismissed on Monday, according to a defense attorney in the case.

Chad and Shannon Floyd are scheduled to appear in Stanton County District Court on Monday for a hearing regarding pre-trial motions. Chad Floyd's attorney, Dan Monnat, announced on Friday that the Kansas attorney general's office is expected to dismiss charges during that hearing.

"Chad and Shannon and their families are greatly relieved that the prosecutors have come to this conclusion," Monnat said. "Of course, they both wish that neither of them, nor their families, had to go through this in the first place."

Shannon Floyd's attorney, Kurt Kerns, echoed the sentiments.

"It's been a long, hard road, and I know my client and myself are looking forward to the dismissal hearing," Kerns said. "They've waited for a long time for the opportunity to be vindicated, and I think this dismissal is indicative of that vindication and a demonstration of their innocence."

In an e-mailed statement, Kansas attorney general's spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett mentioned that the charges are to be dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can file again if new evidence comes to light.

The case has been to trial twice, with each trial lasting nearly a month and with hung juries both times. A third trial was scheduled to begin in January.

Both defense attorneys say the prospect of charges being refiled is not a concern.

"The Floyds are innocent, and innocent people have no objection to leaving the prosecutors that option," Monnat said.

The Floyds have been accused of killing Michael Golub, with whom Shannon Floyd had previously been in a relationship and had a child. When Golub was last seen on May 20, 2005, he was reportedly on his way to the Floyds' home in rural Stanton County to pick up his son for weekend visitation.

Assistant Attorneys General Richard Guinn and Barry Disney linked Golub to the Floyd house through DNA in apparent blood stains found by Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents on a deck at the house.

Golub's body has never been found.

Charges against former Stanton Co. couple expected to be dismissed
November 21, 2008
JOHNSON CITY - Charges against a former Stanton County couple accused of killing the woman's ex-boyfriend will be dismissed Monday, according to a defense attorney in the case.

Chad and Shannon Floyd are scheduled to appear in Stanton County District Court on Monday for a hearing regarding pretrial motions. Chad Floyd's attorney, Dan Monnat, said in an e-mailed statement this morning that the Kansas Attorney General's office is expected to dismiss charges during that hearing.

"Chad and Shannon Floyd have waited more than three long years to be cleared of these accusations, and Monday's dismissal hearing can't come soon enough for them or their families. The Floyds are innocent, and they are anxious to put these trials behind them and move on with their lives," Monnat said in the statement.

The Floyds are accused of killing Michael Golub, with whom Shannon Floyd previously had been in a relationship and had a child. When Golub was last seen on May 20, 2005, he was reportedly on his way to the Floyd's home in rural Stanton County to pick up his son for weekend visitation.

The case has gone to trial twice, with hung juries both times. A third trial had been scheduled to begin in January 2009.
Golub's body never has been found.
 

AG's office expected to drop Floyd murder case
November 21, 2008

The Kansas Attorney General's Office is expected to request dismissal of all first-degree murder and conspiracy charges against Chad and Shannon Floyd during a hearing Monday, a defense attorney in the case said.

The Floyds, formerly of Johnson City, were first arrested in June 2006 on allegations of murder and conspiracy in connection with the May 20, 2005, disappearance of Shannon Floyd's ex boyfriend, 27-year-old Michael Golub.

Two trials against the accused resulted in hung juries. A body has never been recovered in connection with the case, and Golub's whereabouts, if he is still alive today, are unknown.

The order of dismissal, which has been signed by both defense attorneys and prosecutors in the case, awaits the signatures of the Floyds and Judge Robert Schmisseur, according to a copy of the paperwork from Chad Floyd's defense attorney, Daniel Monnat. A motions hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Stanton County District Courthouse is planned to formalize the dismissal of charges, Monnat said.

The Attorney General's Office did not return phone messages seeking comment this morning.

The prosecution's case in the initial trial, which ended in July 2007, centered on the custody struggles between Shannon Floyd and Golub over their son, Mikey, 8.

The Floyds, who have been free on a $1 million bond each, live in Colorado and moved there in the spring of 2006, according to court documents. The Floyd family have been long-term residents of the Johnson City area for four generations.

"Chad and Shannon and their families have had to endure three years of accusations, innuendo and rumor that have been absolutely false," said Monnat, Chad Floyd's defense attorney. "They've waited more than three long years to be cleared of these accusations, and Monday's dismissal hearing can't come soon enough; they're anxious to put these trials behind them and move on with their lives."

Morrison’s attorneys deny affair had effect in pursuing case against abortion doctor
The Associated Press
November 19, 2008

WICHITA | The lawyer for former Attorney General Paul Morrison said Tuesday that it was “absurd” to think he had filed criminal charges against a Wichita abortion provider at the behest of a mistress.

However, attorneys for physician George Tiller began trying to build their case through the testimony of an investigator who was involved in two interviews with the woman, who had been having an extramarital affair with Morrison at the time.

Tiller, one of a few U.S. physicians who perform late-term abortions, faces 19 misdemeanor charges alleging that he failed to get a second opinion from an independent physician for some procedures, as required by Kansas law. He is scheduled to go to trial in March in Sedgwick County District Court.

But his attorneys hope to get much of the evidence suppressed or the charges dismissed, and they’ve attacked investigations of Tiller by Morrison and a previous attorney general. Morrison filed charges last year, but was forced to resign in January because of his affair. Morrison’s replacement, Steve Six, is pursuing the case.

Tiller’s attorneys based their claim about Morrison’s motives on a newspaper report about a statement signed by Linda Carter, his former mistress. Tiller’s lawyers have been trying to obtain the statement and have subpoenaed the reporter and a special prosecutor investigating Morrison’s conduct to get it, so far unsuccessfully.

“That is an absurd allegation,” Morrison’s attorney, Trey Pettlon, of Olathe, said. “Linda Carter had no part whatsoever in that decision.”

But Dan Monnat, a Tiller attorney, said that if Pettlon were taking such a position, he should produce a copy of Carter’s statement.

“And show me where she didn’t say that,” Monnat said. click here for complete story

The Hayes Daily News
Ex-AG's sex scandal hangs over Kan. abortion case
By JOHN HANNA Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A sex scandal that forced Attorney General Paul Morrison to resign hung Monday over a criminal case against abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

Tiller's attorneys argued that a woman involved in an extramarital affair with Morrison influenced his decision last year to file 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller in Sedgwick County District Court. Morrison stepped down in January, but his successor, Steve Six, is pursuing the case.

Tiller's attorneys want to suppress most of the evidence gathered by the attorney general's office or to get the charges dismissed. They're hoping that during a pretrial hearing, they can present a written statement signed by Morrison's former lover, Linda Carter.

They subpoenaed Timothy Keck, a special prosecutor investigating Morrison's conduct, and Tim Carpenter, a Topeka Capital-Journal reporter, hoping to force either one to turn over a copy of the statement. In it, Carter discusses her relationship with Morrison and says she tried to persuade him to file charges.

The newspaper and the attorney general's office want to quash the subpoenas. Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens had a brief hearing about the subpoenas before hearing testimony on whether the evidence against Tiller should be suppressed.

Some details in Carter's statement have been widely reported. She has said her affair with Morrison began in September 2005 and continued both through Morrison's successful run for attorney general in 2006 and after he took office.

"Everyone in the state, apparently, has seen the statements of Linda Carter," said Dan Monnat, one of Tiller's attorneys.

Keck and a partner, Robert Arnold III, both Olathe attorneys, have been investigating whether Morrison broke any Kansas laws during his affair with Carter and have not announced any findings. Carter accused Morrison of official misconduct, which he has denied.

Carter worked for Morrison when he was Johnson County district attorney as his director of administration, but she didn't join his staff at the attorney general's office.

Morrison's attorney, Trey Pettlon, of Olathe, did not return a telephone message left at his office. Keck also declined to comment about the subpoena.

In court, Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney said courts generally avoid requiring law enforcement officials to turn over files of ongoing investigations, to protect their work.

"I think that's a bad precedent to set," he said of allowing the subpoena.

Mike Merriam, a Topeka attorney representing The Capital-Journal, said courts also have protected reporters from turning over unpublished material to protect their First Amendment right to gather news, especially when attorneys can get a document from someone else.

"It's not uncommon for litigants to try take the easy way out and subpoena the press, because it's a lot easier than going out and finding out stuff on their own," Merriam said. "If you have to give up everything you've ever gathered, whether you published it or not, then your sources will dry up. You won't have any sources."

Tulsa World
Cigarette-diversion plot alleged
OMER GILLHAM World Staff Writer

A Kansas-based wholesaler set up multiple companies and used different bank accounts to circumvent Oklahoma’s new tobacco tax and skim $25 million from tax revenues intended for the state and Indian tribes, a federal indictment charges.

Gary L. Hall, 66, masterminded a cigarette-diversion scheme that included cigarette transactions and money transfers in three states, according to a 43-count federal indictment filed Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in Kansas.

Hall and seven other defendants are charged with conspiracy to divert cigarettes, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, false reports and violation of the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act.

Hall’s attorney, Dan Monnat, said: “Gary Hall has already appeared in court and firmly stated that he is not guilty of the accusations in this indictment. He welcomes the upcoming jury trial that will clearly establish that.”

The Tulsa World reviewed the 29-page federal indictment, which offers extensive detail on how the defendants allegedly funneled low-tax cigarettes into higher-tax markets in Tulsa and elsewhere.

Hall reaped millions of dollars in profits by partnering with Indian smoke shops to undercut nontribal stores across Oklahoma, the indictment claims.

The alleged tax scheme skimmed off millions of tax dollars that were meant for health initiatives and to decrease smoking in Oklahoma.

As part of the new tobacco compact with the state, some Indian smoke shops are allowed to sell low-tax cigarettes along the Oklahoma border because the smoke shops are in competition with stores in adjoining states. Low-tax cigarettes bear a 6-cent stamp, vastly undercutting higher tax rates in Tulsa and elsewhere.

The compact rate for smoke shops in the Tulsa area is 86 cents and 77 cents per pack.

However, many of these smoke shops were selling low-tax cigarettes and undercutting nontribal stores by $3 to $4 a carton.

Hall and his co-defendants allegedly modified their delivery system in August 2005 after a Tulsa World investigation revealed how Hall was delivering low-tax cigarettes into the Tulsa area, the indictment states.

Hall is a self-made millionaire who owns a sprawling mansion near Joplin, Mo. The federal government is seeking to seize the mansion and Hall’s jet as part of a forfeiture. Hall also owns several companies, including Sunflower Supply Co., a tobacco operation in Galena, Kan. In about 2002, Hall reportedly made $110 million on the sale of the Medallion company, a discount cigarette company.

Hall maintains that he sold cigarettes with the correct tax stamp to Indian smoke shops and that he was not responsible for lower-tax cigarettes resold to smoke shops in a high-tax zone, according to the World investigation.

However, the federal indictment alleges that Hall was much more involved in how cigarette profits were collected and deposited.

The indictments allege that one Cherokee-a4liated store in Webbers Falls used the low-tax status of a second Cherokee store in Vinita to invoice cigarettes that were shipped to high tax zones by Hall’s trucking company. Additionally, Hall and his employees were allegedly involved in a bank account set up by a smoke shop owner to collect cigarette profits and to disburse payouts.

Hall also created two additional companies that were used to support his tax scheme, the indictment states. One company, Discount Tobacco Warehouse Inc. in Joplin, was created to maximize Hall’s cigarette profits.

October  2008

Tulsa World

Tobacco tax-case figure freed
He is released on $100,000 bond in the case, which alleges fraud and conspiracy.

OMER GILLHAM World Staff Writer
10/21/2008  12:00 AM

A tobacco wholesaler was released on bond Friday in connection with allegations that he masterminded a $25 million scheme to defraud Oklahoma and its Indian tribes out of tax revenues.

Gary Lester Hall, 66, was released on a $100,000 recognizance bond, said Dan Monnat, Hall's attorney in Wichita, Kan.

Hall and seven other people were charged Wednesday in a 43-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Kansas.

They are accused of conspiracy to divert cigarettes, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud (cigarette orders), wire fraud (money transfer), interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and violation of the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act.

Monnat said Hall looks forward to clearing his name in court.

"Gary Hall is a well-respected businessman and philanthropist from southeast Kansas, and he insists he is innocent, and he welcomes a jury trial that will establish that fact," Monnat said.

Hall owns several businesses, including Sunflower Supply Co. of Galena, Kan. It is licensed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission to do business in Oklahoma as a tobacco wholesaler.

The other defendants are Jeremy Wayne Hooker, 33, of Salina, Okla.; Thomas Anthony Grantham, 50, of Joplin, Mo.; Keith Dion Noe, 42, of Joplin; Justin Boyes, 32, of Galena, Kan.; Danny Ray Davis, 62, of Galena; James William Coble, 35, of Galena; and Justice Michael Berry, 36, of Joplin.

Also named as defendants are three businesses — Sunflower Supply Co., Discount Tobacco Warehouse Inc. and Rebel Industries Inc.

Jim Cross, a spokesman for acting U.S. Attorney Marietta Parker, said all of the defendants except Hooker were arrested Friday and released on bond.

Hooker appeared in U.S. District Court in Wichita on Monday and was released on bond then, Cross said.

Monnat said Sunflower Supply Co. conducted business on Monday and remains open.

The arrests and indictments come three years after the Tulsa World began investigating the methods and delivery route used by Hall's companies to ship low-tax cigarettes to Tulsa-area smoke shops licensed by the Creek, Osage and Cherokee nations.

Since 2005, the World has purchased low-tax cigarettes at about 20 smoke shops that should be selling cigarettes with a 77-cent or 86-cent tax stamp.

The World's investigation showed how low-tax cigarettes sold along the Oklahoma border by Indian smoke shops were being shipped into the Tulsa area, a high-tax zone.

Low-tax cigarettes bear a 6-cent tax stamp and by law can be sold only along the Oklahoma border by smoke shops in competition with low-tax states. The Tulsa tax rate is $1.03 per pack.

Cherokee-affiliated stores have stopped selling low-tax cigarettes in the Tulsa area in recent months after an arbitration ruling deemed such sales to be improper.

The Joplin Globe

Eight people with tobacco wholesale company face federal indictments
October 17, 2008 08:48 pm
By Roger McKinney

GALENA, Kan. — Gary Hall and seven others associated with his wholesale tobacco business are facing a 43-count federal indictment alleging they defrauded $25 million in tax revenue out of the state of Oklahoma and American Indian tribes.

Charges against the defendants include multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. “Mercy, it goes on and on,” Michael Schmitz, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said of the indictment. Agents with the ATF, Kansas Highway Patrol and U.S. Marshals Service moved in about 8 a.m. at Sunflower Supply Co. to arrest Hall and the other defendants, Schmitz said. The Internal Revenue Service also is part of the investigation, he said.

The defendants were being transported to Wichita for an initial appearance before a judge, Schmitz said. Though the initial appearances were scheduled for Monday, attorneys for Hall and some of the other defendants had filed a motion for immediate bond hearings on Friday. The results of those motions were not immediately available Friday.

“These federal charges filed in the district of Kansas involve the complex structure of cigarette taxes in the state of Oklahoma,” Hall’s attorney, Dan Monnat, said by phone Friday. “Gary Hall is a well-respected businessman and philanthropist from Southeast Kansas. He vigorously asserts his innocence of these accusations and welcomes a jury trial that will make that clear.”

Monnat said he was limited to what he could say based on the rules regarding pretrial publicity in federal cases.
A news release from acting U.S. Attorney Marietta Parker about the indictment states that Hall, 66, of Joplin, Mo., is the president and owner of Sunflower, and also exercised control over Discount Tobacco Warehouse, 402 Grand Ave., Joplin; National Tobacco Distributors; Rebel Industries Inc.; Halls Collection Inc.; Shawnee Tobacco Smoke Shop in Harrah, Okla.; and Sunflower Aircraft Inc.

Other defendants are: Thomas Anthony Grantham, 50, of Joplin, who works for Hall managing operations at Sunflower and Rebel.n Keith Dion Noe, 42, of Joplin, the accountant for Sunflower, Discount Tobacco Warehouse, Rebel Industries and Shawnee Tobacco.n Justine Boyes, 32, of Galena, who worked for Hall at Sunflower and now works for him at Discount Tobacco Warehouse.n Danny Ray Davis, 62, of Galena, who worked for Hall at Sunflower and now works for him at Rebel Industries.n Jeremy Wayne Hooker, 33, of Salina, Okla., who operates Pipestone Smoke Shop in Vinita, Okla.
n Justice Michael Berry, 36, of Joplin, who worked for Hall as an accountant.n James William Coble, 35, of Galena, who worked for Hall at Sunflower and now works for him at Rebel Industries.

Businesses named as defendants are Sunflower Supply Co., Discount Tobacco Warehouse and Rebel Industries.
The case relates to stamps on every pack of cigarettes that show that taxes on the cigarettes have been paid. The stamps are required in Kansas and Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, the tax varies from 6 cents per pack to $1.03 per pack, depending on the location of the retail store where the cigarettes are sold. Kansas also requires monthly reports stating how many cigarettes are sold, and dates and locations where they were sold.

The indictment alleges that Hall and the other defendants stamped cigarettes for sale at smoke shops in lower tax rate areas when they actually had been sold at smoke shops in higher tax rate areas. The indictment alleges they used the Internet, fax and money wire transfers in the scheme, and also routed payments through a third-party corporation called Gawkskey Inc.The indictment describes a complex web of transactions.

“Cigarette trafficking cases are complex financial investigations that involve money laundering, fraud and tax evasion,” said Michael Boxler, ATF special agent in charge, in the news release. “The fraudulent financial diversion that Mr. Hall and his associates are charged with executing has been exposed and millions of dollars in lost tax revenue identified.”
The government also is seeking a money judgment. Schmitz said the government would be seizing a jet plane owned by Hall, his house and other property west of Joplin, and property in Las Vegas. Schmitz said the jet has an estimated value of $20 million.

Schmitz said though the Sunflower Supply Co. building and property is listed as an asset that could be seized, the business will continue operating. The company had about 30 employees in 2006.

The ATF began its investigation in April 2006, when Davis was stopped by the Kansas Highway Patrol in Coffeyville on April 28, 2006, while transporting a truckload of cigarettes worth more than $200,000 without required documents and appropriate tax stamps.

Federal and state authorities on May 8, 2007, raided Hall’s offices and businesses in Galena and Joplin. They simultaneously executed search warrants at Discount Tobacco Warehouse in Joplin and Sunflower Supply Co. and Rebel Industries, which share the same address on the western edge of Galena. Agents removed computers and records from the Galena location.

Hall, at the time, said he didn’t know what the raids were about.“There’s no charges being made,” Hall said the following day. “We’re in business as usual.” He didn’t reveal at the time what had been removed in the raid.“To our knowledge, we’ve done nothing wrong,” he said. “Our attorneys will handle it.”

The charges seem similar to a situation in 2005 and 2006, in which the Oklahoma Tax Commission had sought to revoke Sunflower’s license in Oklahoma, alleging the company shipped cigarettes with improper tax stamps. In the initial allegation, the state accused Sunflower of “drop shipments,” defined as cigarettes received by anyone when payment for them is made to the shipper or seller by someone other than the person who received the shipment.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission ended its case against Hall and Sunflower in July 2006 with a confidential settlement that allowed the company to continue operating in Oklahoma.

Hall said after the settlement was reached that the Oklahoma Tax Commission was engaged in a “witch hunt” against him and that it never had a valid complaint. He said had he not had the resources to fight the matter, he would have been put out of business. He said he felt vindicated by the dismissal of the case.
“I’m bitter with what Oklahoma did to me,” Hall said at the time.

Hall is a business partner with developer Steve Vogel in HV Properties, which earlier this month filed a lawsuit against Penn National Gaming. The developers seek at least $37.5 million in damages. The lawsuit claims Penn National was obligated to pay HV Properties $37.5 million in addition to an initial purchase price of $2,030,000 under a real-estate contract. Penn National had paid HV Properties $2.5 million, but denied that it owed HV Properties anything else because it was no longer pursuing a casino in Cherokee County.

Hawker 4000 Seized In Cigarette-Tax Case

AINOnline.com  Avaition News

Kansas abortion case remains on track
By Roxana Hegeman
The Associated Press
October 3, 2008

WICHITA — A judge refused to give prosecutors more time to respond to allegations of "outrageous conduct" in an investigation against one of the nation's few physicians performing late-term abortions.

Attorneys for George Tiller claim former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline selectively targeted the Wichita doctor for prosecution. They argued the case is tainted by what they call the actions of the "obsessed" prosecutor who initially conducted the investigation.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanor counts of breaking a law requiring that a second, independent Kansas physician sign off on most late-term abortions.

The charges were filed in June 2007 by then-Attorney General Paul Morrison, based on the investigation conducted earlier by Kline. Attorney General Steve Six inherited the case after Morrison stepped down amid a sexual scandal.

Prosecutors wanted to wait until after a mid-November evidentiary hearing to respond to the allegations. But in court Thursday, Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens ordered the prosecution to file a response before that hearing.

Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney told the judge prosecutors want the facts established at the hearing before they respond.

"For me to argue what they claim are the facts simply is not fair," Disney said. "I can almost guarantee the facts are not going to come out the way they filed the brief."

Defense attorney Dan Monnat argued that for some "unfathomable political reason" the attorney general's office was unwilling to concede that the investigation Kline conducted wasn't ethical.

Monnat noted that the attorney general's office has filed an ethics complaint with the state disciplinary board against Kline and his attorneys, and told the judge the defense suspects prosecutors do not want to now say whether Kline's conduct was legal or acceptable.

"Does this attorney general's office embrace the conduct of Kline in this investigation or does it concede ... lies were told?" Monnat told the judge.

The prosecution countered that the point of a written brief was to assist the court, but the court would still have to make its own findings at the evidentiary hearing.

"We are not playing a game," Disney said.

In making their argument of selective prosecution, the defense made 496 factual assertions.

"What they really want is not to have to prove their assertions," Disney said.

In a separate ruling, the judge refused to order the Kansas attorney general's office to obtain evidence for Tiller's defense from an ongoing investigation in Johnson County into the extramarital affair between Morrison and a former employee.

Six inherited the case after Morrison stepped down amid the scandal over his affair with a woman who had worked for him when he was Johnson County district attorney. Kline was appointed to the Johnson County post after he was defeated in 2006 by Morrison, who had switched parties and become a Democrat to run against Kline. The woman continued to work in Kline's office, and Tiller's attorneys claim that Morrison was pressured by his "Kline-influenced paramour" to charge Tiller.

September 2008

July 2008

July 28, 2008
Judge upholds constitutionality of abortion law
A Sedgwick County judge ruled Monday that the Kansas abortion statute is constitutional, denying a defense motion to dismiss a criminal case brought against one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers. Abortion jurisprudence in this country has been going through an evolutionary process since Roe V. Wade in 1973," Owens wrote, adding that in light of all the interpretations, the statute survives all the constitutional challenges.

Tiller's attorneys contend that the law creates an unconstitutional burden on a physician's right to practice medicine and a woman's right to obtain an abortion. They also argued that the Kansas law was unconstitutionally vague. His defense attorneys also challenged it on the basis of violating a right to travel because of the requirement a woman be seen by two separate physicians in Kansas.

"We certainly respect the decision of the judge, but we hasten to point out that the decision on this one legal point does nothing to affect Dr. Tiller's innocence of the very technical charge still set for jury trial," said Dan Monnat, one of Tiller's defense lawyers. "Of course, Dr. Tiller is disappointed that the court did not take this opportunity to end his political prosecution and clear the huge roadblock that lies in the path of women who choose to exercise their right to get a lawful abortion in Kansas."

June 2008


June 16, 2008

please click here to read full article



Request for new judge in case denied
June 14, 2008

A motion for a new judge in the Stanton County murder case of husband and wife Chad and Shannon Floyd was denied Friday. The Floyds have been tried twice on charges that they killed Stanton County resident Michael Golub, with each ending in hung juries.

The Floyds' defense attorneys, Kurt Kerns and Dan Monnat, requested Friday's hearing, though no reason was given as grounds to have District Judge Jack Lively removed because state law does not require it. Lively was brought in from Coffeyville to hear both trials because Stanton County District Nells Noel recused himself.

At Friday's hearing, Lively refused to step down from the case, said co-prosecutor Barry Disney of the Kansas Attorney General's Office. Disney said he could not comment on the reasons given for the motion because the hearing was off the record and not public. Disney said if the defense chooses to pursue the motion, then an affidavit, stating the reasons for the removal, must be filed with the 26th Judicial District's administrative judge, Chief Judge Tom Smith of Hugoton, no later than June 20.

State law allows the filing of a motion to change a judge if a party involved believes a judge cannot provide a fair trial either because of conflicts of interest or personal bias.

Disney said if the administrative judge upholds Lively's decision, the defense does not have any other recourse to dispute the motion. He said if the Floyds were convicted, the defense could chose to file an appeal based on the denial of the change in judge motion. Kerns and Monnat could not be reached for comment. Lively also was not available for comment.

The Floyds are accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of Golub in May 2005. Golub's body has never been found. The couple's previous trials were in July 2007 and in April. Richard Guinn, lead prosecutor for the case through the Kansas Attorney General's Office, has said he is prepared to move forward with a third trial.

April 2008

Murder trial ends in hung jury - again
And state intends to try couple yet another time, prosecutor indicates.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
By Jon Ruhlen - The Hutchinson News - jruhlen@hutchnews.com

JOHNSON CITY - For the second time a jury has not been able to reach a verdict in the trial of a former Johnson City couple accused of murdering the woman's ex-boyfriend.

Kansas Assistant Attorney General Rick Guinn, the lead prosecutor in the case, immediately announced the state's intention to again prosecute the first-degree-murder case against Chad and Shannon Floyd.

"We just feel very strongly that in spite of the fact that it's a bodiless murder case, which makes it much harder for a prosecutor to get a conviction, we're going to pursue it a third time," Guinn said. "It's not a situation where you simply walk away from the case just because it's challenging."

The Floyds are accused of murdering Michael Golub on May 20, 2005. Golub was last seen on his way to the Floyds' rural Stanton County residence to pick up his son, with whom he shared custody with Shannon Floyd, for the weekend. Golub has never been seen again and his body has not been found.

The jury was split 7-to-5, said Stanton County Clerk Bonnie Parks, but it was not immediately clear in which direction it was split.

Kurt Kerns, Shannon Floyd's attorney, blamed the lack of a verdict on rumors in a small town.

"I think the community has been whipped up into such a frenzy - the rumor mill has really spun the case to where it's hard to find people who haven't formed an opinion one way or another," Kerns said.

However, Kerns said it was unlikely that defense attorneys would request a change of venue, citing the difficulty in Kansas law of gaining such motions.

Only defense attorneys can request changes of venue, and Guinn said he didn't expect to see one.

"Because the defendants want to have their case tried in Stanton County, that's the most likely place a third trial will occur," Guinn said.

Many residents of this Stanton County town of about 1,400 know the parties in the case, which attorneys for both sides say has contributed to the difficulties in reaching a verdict.

"We certainly know that in a small community like Johnson, with the prominence of the Floyd family, that it does create for us a situation where the evidence arguably needs to be very strong for a conviction to occur," Guinn said.

The case went to the jury on Thursday afternoon, after nearly three weeks of testimony that began April 7. The jury deliberated for three days before telling Senior Judge Jack Lively at 11 a.m. Tuesday that it was deadlocked.

In July 2007 a jury deliberated for two days before Lively declared a mistrial. That jury was split 8-to-4, and Guinn said it was in favor of a guilty verdict.

"For us to walk away at this point, we certainly wouldn't view it as giving it our every effort in obtaining a conviction," Guinn said.

Kerns said he would be ready for a third trial. Although third trials are rare, under Kansas law there is no limit to the number of times a case can be prosecuted if juries continue to become deadlocked.

"I guess it's always disappointing that all 12 couldn't see that Shannon is clearly innocent, but we will be ready to go next time," Kerns said. "We'll be there."

Dan Monnat, Chad Floyd's attorney, declined to comment because of the potential for a third trial.

"I think any comment would be inappropriate, given the attorney general's threat to try this case an expensive and unnecessary third time," Monnat said.

Because of the lack of a body and a murder weapon, prosecutors have focused largely on the bloodstains with Golub's DNA that allegedly were found on the Floyds' deck.

Defense attorneys have proposed several alternate theories for Golub's disappearance, including a theory that Golub is still alive but hiding.

A phone conference with the attorneys and Lively is scheduled for Tuesday.

Deliberations continue
Saturday, April 26, 2008
by Rachel Davis

The Floyds are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of 27-year-old Michael Golub, Shannon Floyd's ex-boyfriend who was last seen May 20, 2005. His body was never found.

Jurors were the main focus Friday at the courthouse as one juror was excused Friday morning because of an illness -- that leaves the 12-member jury with one more alternate.

The prosecution contends that the Floyds wanted Golub out of the picture because they wanted to leave the area and couldn't do so without jeopardizing their custody of Shannon Floyd's and Golub's son, Mikey.

But defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns believe the Floyds had no motive because they said Golub's child custody motion was groundless, adding a court would not take a child away from a family where he was well taken care of and the mother stayed at home to be placed in a home where the father worked 14-hour shifts and the child would spend more time with a baby-sitter.

"It's circumstantial evidence in a bodiless case," Monnat has said.

Jury set to begin deliberations
Friday, April 24, 2008
by Rachel Davis

JOHNSON CITY -- Closing arguments were made this morning in the murder re-trial of Chad and Shannon Floyd, with the jury set to begin deliberations in the afternoon.

The Floyds are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Michael Golub, Shannon Floyd's ex-boyfriend, in May 2005. Golub was last seen May 20, 2005, and his body has never been found.

The couple's first trial, which lasted nearly a month, resulted in a hung jury in July 2007. The retrial began April 7 at the Stanton County District Courthouse.

Closing arguments originally were scheduled for Wednesday, but heated discussion Wednesday morning between the prosecution and defense over the testimony of a defense witness delayed the proceedings and eventually led Chief Judge Jack Lively to call for a recess and for closing arguments to commence today.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat made a motion to have one of his witnesses, Helen Blevins, clarify a statement made on the stand about when a conversation occurred between her and Golub a few days prior to his disappearance.

Monnat said Blevins testified she had talked to Golub between "4 or 5 p.m. or a little later" on May 17, 2005. During that conversation, Golub allegedly told her he had done something that would anger people in town, that he knew about a meth lab and could disappear where no one would find him.

Defense attorneys argued that the state inferred to the jury that the conversation between Blevins and Golub did not occur between 4 or 5 p.m. because Blevins still was at work driving a school bus.

"They made it sound like the conversation never took place when they know it did," said defense attorney Kurt Kerns.

Richard Guinn, lead prosecutor assigned to the case through the Kansas State Attorney General's Office, objected to the motion, stating the defense had Blevins' job and time records and also had a report outlining an interview between her and their own investigator in their possession when she testified.

According to the investigator's report, Blevins said she spoke with Golub between 8:30 and 9 p.m. but the defense did not catch the discrepancy until after she left the stand.

Judge Lively denied the defense's motion and said the jury could decide what "a little later" meant without having the witness take the stand to clarify what she said.

According to the prosecution, the Floyds wanted Golub out of the picture because they wanted custody of Golub and Shannon Floyd's son, Mikey, and wanted to leave the area and move to Montana, Shannon's home state.

The prosecution has argued that to further the plot, the couple made a false representation with the First National Bank, a bank managed by Floyd family members, to sell a bank share for $50,000 to another relative. The $50,000 allegedly was to be used to pay Golub off in exchange for relinquishing his parental rights. The money was then sent to Western State Bank in Ulysses and an account opened under the full name of Golub and Floyd's son.

The defense has argued that the Floyds have been unfairly targeted and that everyday activities had been taken out of context during the investigation and subsequent trials.

Defense attorneys have argued that Golub never went to the Floyd home to pick up his son the night he disappeared, as he was supposedly intending to do, and instead drove into Johnson City and eventually disappeared.

Tiller to be focus of court arguments
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
By James Carlson

The Kansas Supreme Court today will hear arguments over whether George Tiller has to comply with a Wichita grand jury's subpoena of his patients' medical records.

In late January, a Sedgwick County judge, who is overseeing the grand jury's investigation into late-term abortions performed at Tiller's clinic, ordered the doctor to hand over the records. Tiller then appealed to the high court.

Dan Monnat, Tiller's attorney, wrote in his petition that the court should side with Tiller "to prevent the violation of patient rights."

Using the words of a previous court ruling, Monnat wrote that any time the court is weighing a woman's right to privacy in reproductive choices versus public regulation of abortion it's "an issue of great public concern."

Retrial begins in murder case

4/08/2008
By RACHEL DAVIS

JOHNSON CITY -- Questions of opportunity and motive to commit the murder of a Stanton County man were argued Monday in front of a jury, marking the first day of the retrial of husband and wife Chad and Shannon Floyd.

The Floyds are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the killing of 27-year-old Michael Golub, Shannon Floyd's ex-boyfriend, in May 2005.

Richard Guinn, lead prosecutor assigned to the case through the Kansas State Attorney General's Office, said in his opening statement that the Floyds wanted Golub out of the picture because they wanted to leave the area and move to Montana, Shannon Floyd's home state.

He said the motive for killing Golub stemmed from a custody battle between Golub and Shannon Floyd over their son, Mikey.

Guinn said the Floyds allegedly hatched a murder plot with Internet research from their home computer that included search engine queries on phrases such as "contract killer," "hit man," "decapitation," "sugar in gas tank" and "pipe bomb," accordinig to what was gleaned from the computer during an investigation.

Guinn said to further the plot, the couple made a false representation with the First National Bank, a bank managed by Floyd family members, to sell a bank share for $50,000 to another relative. The $50,000 was to be used to pay Golub off in exchange for relinquishing his parental rights. The money was then sent to Western State Bank in Ulysses and an account opened under the full name of Golub and Floyd's son. Guinn said Shannon Floyd then wrote a check from her First National Bank account in Johnson City May 6, 2005, payable to Michael Golub for $49,000, but the check was never endorsed though it had cleared the bank.

"They wanted everyone to assume Golub took the money and left town," Guinn said. "But in actuality, they spent all the money on themselves."

Guinn said Golub disappeared May 20, 2005, in Stanton County on his way to pick up his son from the Floyd residence.

However, defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns, of Wichita, argued Golub never went to the Floyd home to pick up his son and drove past the Floyd residence to go into town the night he disappeared.

They said their clients have been unfairly targeted and that everyday activities were taken out of context.

"Chad and Shannon Floyd are innocent but they are here because of an investigation done backwards," Monnat said in his opening statement.

Kerns backed up Monnat in his opening statement through a timeline of events involving Chad and Shannon Floyd.

But Monnat said the Floyds could not have killed Golub because it was impossible for them to be in two places at one time. Monnat stated the Floyds had no motive to kill Golub because his child custody motion was groundless.

He said a court would not take a child away from a family where he was well taken care of and the mother stayed at home to be placed in a home where the father worked 14-hour shifts and the child would spend more time with a baby-sitter than anyone else.

"It's circumstantial evidence in a bodiless case," Monnat told the jury. "No motive. Shannon and Chad weren't going to lose Mikey. No opportunity to kill Golub. The prosecutor is asking you to bring back a conviction based on speculation."

The prosecution was scheduled to begin its first day of testimony this morning.

Floyd trial No. 2 set to start Monday

4/04/2008
By RACHEL DAVIS

The retrial of husband and wife Chad and Shannon Floyd of Stanton County, who are accused of murdering a Stanton County man, begins Monday. Jury selection was scheduled to end today but lasted only Monday and Tuesday, said Bonnie Parks, clerk of the Stanton County District Court.

Defense attorneys Dan Monnat and Kurt Kerns, and state attorneys Richard Guinn and Barry Disney could not be reached for comment.

The Floyds are accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the alleged killing of 27-year-old Michael Golub, Shannon Floyd's ex-boyfriend, in May 2005. Golub disappeared May 20, 2005, on his way to pick up his son, Mikey, whom he had shared custody of with Shannon.

The initial trial ended July 27, 2007, with a hung jury, as jurors could not reach an agreement on a verdict. The prosecution's case in the initial trial centered on the custody of Mikey and the extremes the Floyds would go to keep residential custody of the boy.

The Floyds have been out of jail on bond since July 14, 2006, and living in Colorado. Golub still has not been found.

Depending on a person's criminal history, if convicted, first-degree murder can carry a term of life imprisonment. Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder can carry a prison term of nine to 41 years.

March 2008

Kansas Supreme Court Sets Date for Subpoena Arguments
March 3, 2008

The Kansas Supreme Court announced last week that it will hear arguments on three subpoenas for patient records by the grand jury investigating Dr George Tiller on April 8th. The court maintained its earlier order temporarily blocking the subpoenas, and ordered the grand jury not issue any more subpoenas for Dr. Tiller’s patients’ medical records, reports the Associated Press.

The grand jury has subpoenaed medical records of approximately 2,000 women from Dr. Tiller’s Wichita clinic, as well as records for another 60 of Dr. Tiller’s patients from Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six's office. Six’s office obtained those records through a previous investigation. Both Dr. Tiller and Kansas Attorney General Six fought the subpoenas to protect Dr. Tiller’s patients’ privacy.

"We are very pleased that the highest court of the state views the privacy rights of women patients so protectively as to undertake a careful examination of the important issues involved," Dan Monnat, one of the attorneys for Dr. Tiller’s clinic, told the Associated Press.

Dr. Tiller is one of the few late-term abortion providers available for women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems. This investigation was convened last month as the result of a petition drive led by the anti-abortion extremist group Operation Rescue. Kansas is one of six states that allow citizens to petition for a grand jury to convene. Previous investigations into Dr. Tiller’s clinic have not produced evidence of any wrong-doing.

Best Lawyers in Wichita
March 2008

Twenty-three years ago defense attorney Dan Monnat teamed with legal scholar Stan Spurrier to form the criminal defense team of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered.

Today the firm has seven lawyers, and one overriding philosophy: cases are won with vigorous courtroom argument, backed by rigorous legal scholarship. For every lawyer in the courtroom, there is one in the office, poring over case law and developing cutting-edge legal strategies.

The firm’s winning reputation for criminal defense is widely known through media coverage of Monnat’s tenacious representation of accountants, children, clergy, doctors, lawyers, law enforcement officers, teachers and the unfortunate person whose home was mistakenly raided by police as being that of BTK. Monnat’s articles have been featured in numerous legal publications, and he lectures nationwide on criminal defense strategies and juror psychology.

Monnat has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and has been selected as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 2007, Governor Sebelius appointed him to the Kansas Sentencing Commission. Monnat is listed in the Top100 of “Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers,” and, for more than a decade, has been listed in “Best Lawyers in America.”

February 2008

Chicago Tribune February 11, 2008  Abortion foes put grand jury on case
Wichita, KS
The latest skirmish in the abortion wars is being fought not on the sidewalk outside a clinic, but in the ornate jury room of a 19th century courthouse.  Kansas is one of a handful of states that allow citizen-initiated grand juries to investigate possible crimes. And anti-abortion activists have invoked a little-used law to get a grand jury empanelled that they hope will put a local abortion provider out of business and behind bars.

Dan Monnat, one of Tiller's attorneys, called the grand jury a "vigilante effort: a very small group of people can launch a petition drive and force an investigation based on false claims."  He noted that only five other states allow citizens to convene grand juries: Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Dakota and Nevada.

Tiller, a target for decades, drives a bullet-proof SUV has drawn the wrath of the anti-abortion movement for decades. His clinic, a windowless fortress, was firebombed in 1985, and he was shot in 1993, Monnat said.

Ms. Magazine  February 4, 2007 Tiller Takes Patient Information Fight to KS Supreme Court

Attorneys for Dr George Tiller appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court Friday over an order from the grand jury to turn over patient medical records. The Kansas grand jury subpoenaed the medical records of approximately 2,000 women who sought or obtained abortions at Dr. Tiller’s clinic after their 21st week of pregnancy from July 1, 2003 to January 18, 2008.

Attorneys for Dr. Tiller filed motions with Sedgwick County to block the subpoenas, but former Sedgwick County Chief Judge Paul Buchanan, who is overseeing the grand jury investigation, rejected their arguments that the subpoenas violate Dr. Tiller’s patients’ right to privacy, that to gather all the requested records and remove names and identifying information would place an undue burden on the clinic, and that the grand jury investigation into Dr. Tiller is unconstitutional, reports the Washington Times. Buchanan ruled that the medical records be turned over by noon on Thursday, January 31st, but no records were released to the grand jury, according to the Wichita Eagle.

Instead, attorneys for Dr. Tiller took the case the Kansas Supreme court, asking the court to throw out the grand jury investigation all together. "Those subpoenas cannot be enforced and this grand jury needs to be disbanded because it's unconstitutional,” said Dan Monnat, one of the attorneys for Dr. Tiller, according to KAKE ABC News.

Dr. George Tiller is one of the few late-term abortion providers available for women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems. This investigation is the result of a citizen petition circulated by anti-abortion extremist groups. Kansas is one of six states that allow citizens to petition for a grand jury to convene. Previous investigations into Dr. Tiller’s clinic have not produced evidence of any wrong-doing.

Kansas City Star  February 1, 2008
Judge orders Tiller to immediately turn over patient records
Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. | Abortion provider Dr. George Tiller must turn over thousands of patients' files to a grand jury while his attorneys take the legal battle over the medical records to the state's highest court, a Sedgwick County judge ruled Friday.

The edited patient records won't have the women's names, but they will have patient-identification numbers. Tiller's attorneys claimed that in an earlier case, former Attorney General Phill Kline was able to track down patients' names using the identifying numbers on patients' files.

As part of his investigation into Tiller's clinic, Kline had obtained redacted records from 60 of the doctor's patients. Kline eventually filed 30 misdemeanor charges against Tiller before leaving office last year, only to see the case dismissed for jurisdictional reasons.

Laura Shaneyfelt, one of the doctor's attorneys, told Sedgwick County Judge Paul Buchanan on Friday that if Kline could use that information to identify patients, then someone else could as well. Buchanan is overseeing the grand jury's investigation into Tiller's clinic and had ordered the doctor to comply with three grand jury subpoenas seeking 2,000 patient records and the names of current and former employees and referring physicians.

"This is the kind of abuse we know can happen, we have seen happen, and these women are terrified will happen," Shaneyfelt said.

Shaneyfelt said Kline cross-referenced patient file numbers with abortion records at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, then subpoenaed records from Wichita's La Quinta Inn, where patients were staying, to match dates with names.

After the hearing, Brian Burgess, a spokesman for Kline, who is now Johnson County district attorney, disputed Shaneyfelt's account. "No patients have ever been identified," Burgess said. He declined further comment, citing a related case now under seal before the Kansas Supreme Court.

Tiller attorney Dan Monnat told reporters that the doctor's lawyers found out Kline had been able to obtain the patient names when discovery material was turned over to Tiller in a criminal case filed by Paul Morrison, who replaced Kline as attorney general but has since resigned over a sex scandal. That case against Tiller is still pending.

January 2008

Los Angeles Times  January 31, 2008
Opponents hope the patient records will lead to additional charges against the Kansas doctor who performs late-term procedures.

One of the nation's few late-term abortion doctors was ordered Wednesday to turn over about 2,000 patient medical records to a Kansas grand jury investigating his practice.

Tiller's lawyers say he scrupulously follows the law. They plan to ask the Kansas Supreme Court to overturn a state district court judge's ruling that Tiller begin handing over files as early as today.

"It's an unprecedented encroachment upon a woman's right to privacy," attorney Dan Monnat said.

Monnat was joined in court by a lawyer from the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, who filed affidavits from three patients demanding that their medical records remain private.

Even though the judge ordered names and addresses removed from the files, the patients said they feared their identities could be deduced from details about their families and medical histories. The antiabortion group Operation Rescue has given the grand jury several photos that it says show pregnant women entering Tiller's clinic; the same pictures are posted online, with the women's faces blurred.

The grand jury investigating possible additional charges against Tiller is demanding the medical records of every patient who sought or obtained an abortion after her 21st week of pregnancy, or midway through the second trimester. The panel wants records dating back to July 1, 2003. The grand jury also has subpoenaed the names and addresses of Tiller's employees and of physicians who have worked with him. Monnat called such demands an attempt to intimidate Tiller, who has weathered decades of protests and violence directed at him by antiabortion activists

"Dr. Tiller has been bombed and shot at, and those incidents have not prevented him from providing high-quality healthcare for women who so desperately need it," Monnat said. "This additional attack will not blackmail him."