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Death Penalty Guide
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Provisions of the 1994 Death Penalty Law
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Eligibility for the Death Penalty
! Kansas’ 1994 death penalty law provided the option of a death sentence for intentional,
premeditated murders that contain one or more of these seven factors
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• kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping for ransom;
murder;
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• contract
• murder! of any person by an inmate in a correctional facility;
• murder of a victim of rape, criminal sodomy, or aggravated criminal sodomy in the attempt to
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commit
or the commission of, subsequent
to the crime;
murder
of
a
law
enforcement
officer;
•
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• murder of more than one person during the same act, or in two or more acts connected as
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done with the intent to commit an unlawful sex offense upon or with the child, or with the
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Death
Penalty
Applicability
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To
be
eligible
for the death penalty, the defendant must be at least age 18 at the time of the
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crime. Persons who are found to be mentally retarded are not subject to the death penalty.
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Alternative Sentences
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Persons convicted of capital murder prior to July 1, 2004, who were not given a death
sentence
were sentenced to either 25, 40, or 50 years in prison. These are “hard” sentences,
!
meaning
that
number
of years must
be served
before
the prisoner
may be/0(!
considered
for parole.4'#$! 3%0.
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There is no “good time” credit.
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The law was changed in 2004, and for murders occurring after July 1 of that year, the
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alternative to a death sentence is life in prison without parole. Like the death penalty, that
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sentence (life without parole) does not apply to individuals determined to be mentally retarded.
!
Death Row
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Men who have been sentenced to death are held at the El
! Dorado Correctional Facility in the
Administrative Segregation Unit. Any women sentenced to death would be held at the Topeka
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Women’s Correctional Facility.
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Executions
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Executions
will
be
by
lethal
injection
at
the
Lansing
Correctional
Facility’s
execution
chamber
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in the old Administration Building.
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Kansas Death Penalty Stats
85 Capital Cases Filed in 31 Counties
Top Four Counties: Wyandotte (20), Sedgwick (12 ), Johnson (7), Shawnee (5)
The rest: Atchison (1), Barton (2), Bourbon (1), Butler (1), Cherokee (2), Clay (1), Cowley (1),
Crawford (2), Dickinson (2), Doniphan (1), Douglas (1), Geary (2), Grant (1), Greenwood (1),
Harvey (1), Haskell (1), Leavenworth (2), McPherson (1), Miami (1), Montgomery (3), Osage
(1), Pottawatomie (1), Reno (4), Riley (1), Saline (3), Seward (1), Wichita (1)
Death Sentence Distribution by County
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2
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As!"of#$%
January
with the potential
a death sentence
pending
in Osage, Riley,
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Saline, and Wyandotte counties.
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25 Capital Trials since 1994
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12 men have received death ;)'<'-')'(0
sentences
capital
murder.
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3*#")(0
1.
Gary
Kleypas.
Death 9%$':7>
of Carrie:'6
Williams
in 1996.
Crawford
Death
sentence
thrown out 9.%/%;!7'7%;
by KS Supreme
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phase
held. #1
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death in 2008.
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2. Michael Marsh. Deaths of Marry Ane and Marry Elizabeth Pusch in 1996. Sedgwick Co. Capital conviction
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thrown out by KS Supreme Court. Marsh then pled guilty to felony murder on the charge which had
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originally
been
capital.
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3. Gavin
Scott.#1
Deaths
of Doug
Beth Brittain.
Sedgwick Co.
in 1996. Death sentence thrown out by KS
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#1 ' Scott
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78% '77%/97
7# &#//!7
Supreme
Court.
in 2010
to two
first degree
murder counts
or at
least 80
in prison.
4. Stanley
Elms.
Death of #15
Regina
Gray in 1998.
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7# 78% Sedgwick
&.!/%K Co. District Attorney’s office later agreed to drop
the
penalty
if Elms
dropped #11!&%.K
his appeal alleging prosecutorial misconduct and other errors.
! death
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5. Jonathan
Carr.
Deaths
of Jason
Befort,;D.!$<
Brad Heyka,
Heather
Sander
2000. Sedgwick
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6. Reginald Carr. Deaths of Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, Heather Muller, Aaron Sander in 2000. Sedgwick Co.
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7. John Robinson. Deaths of Izabela Lewicka and Suzette Trouten in 2000. Johnson Co.
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8. Douglas Belt. Death of Lucille Gallegos in 2002. Sedgwick Co.
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9.
10.
11.
12.
Phillip Cheatham. Deaths of Annette Roberson and Gloria Jones in 2003. Shawnee Co.
Sidney Gleason. Death of Darren Wornkey and Mikiala Martinez in 2004. Barton Co.
Scott Cheever. Death of Matt Samuels in 2005. Greenwood Co.
Justin Thurber. Death of Jodi Sanderholm in 2007. Cowley Co.
13 men were not sentenced to death after trial for capital murder.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Robert Verge. Deaths of Kyle and Chrystine Moore in 1997. Dickinson Co. Hard 40 + 19 years.
Virgil Bradford. Deaths of Kyle and Chrystine Moore in 1997. Dickinson Co. Hard 40 years.
Frank Deiterman. Death of Patrick Livingston in 1998. Cherokee Co. Hard 40. (Prosecution didn’t seek
death in the penalty phase.)
Richard Powell. Deaths of Mark and Melvin Mims in 1998. Wyandotte Co. In penalty phase, Court ruled
him mentally retarded so case then proceeded with non-capital sentencing.
Gordon Martis. Convicted of first degree murder of Alphonse Moore, second degree murder of Jerry Seals
in 1999. Wyandotte Co.
Jeffrey Hebert. Death of James Kenney in 1999. Clay Co. Hard 50 years + 46 months, 12 months, and 7
months.
Cornelius Oliver. Convicted of two premeditated first degree and two felony first degree murders in the
deaths of Jermaine Levy, Quincy Williams, Dessa Ford, and Raeshawnda Wheaton in 2000. Sedgwick Co.
Life, two Hard 50 year + two 20-year sentences. Co-defendant was acquitted on four counts of murder.
Christopher Trotter. Deaths of Traylenea Huff and James Darnell Wallace in 2001. Wyandotte Co. At least
50 years in prison.
Darrell Stallings. Convicted in the deaths of Tameika Jackson, Melvin Montague, Samantha Sigler, Destiny
Wiles, Trina Jennings in 2002. Wyandotte Co. Five hard 50 year sentences.
Greg Moore. Convicted in death of Kurt Ford in 2005. Harvey Co. Life in prison without parole.
Ted Burnett. Convicted in death of Chelsea Brooks in 2006. Sedgwick Co. Life in prison without parole.
Elgin Robinson. Convicted in the death of Chelsea Brooks in 2006. Sedgwick Co. Life in prison without
parole.
Nathaniel Hill. Convicted in the deaths of April Milholland and Samuel Yanofsky in 2003. Montcomery Co.
Hard 50 years plus additional time for drug crimes. (Death was not sought in the penalty phase.)
The Death Penalty in Kansas
Significant problems have been documented with the Kansas death penalty process.
• Jury Misconduct – In 1999, Judge Kennedy threw out a jury recommendation of death in
Sedgwick County due to juror misconduct in the penalty phase of Gavin Scott’s trial.
• Prosecutorial Misconduct – In 2001, the Kansas Supreme Court found that there were
“numerous” instances of prosecutorial misconduct in the case of Gary Kleypas in Crawford
County.
• Cost – Legislative Post Audit reported to the 2004 Legislature that the death penalty can cost up
to 70% more than a non-death-penalty case, even with incarceration costs included.
• Judicial Error – In 2004, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the capital murder conviction of
Michael Marsh had to be vacated due to error by the Judge in this Sedgwick County case. The
judge had refused to allow critical evidence to be heard in court.
• Disparity of Application – The Judicial Council November 2004 report noted that geographic
disparity exists. The Council found that persons who go to trial on capital murder charges in
Sedgwick County are more likely to get a death sentence than those in Wyandotte County.
• Withheld Evidence – In 2006, the first trial of Bob Fox ended in a mistrial in Seward County.
The ruling came when it was learned that a key piece of evidence favorable to the defendant had
been withheld from the defense.
• Inadequate Assistance of Counsel - In 2009, the State stipulated in a Shawnee County case
that the defendant had not received adequate representation during the penalty phase. This case
remains before the Court for a final ruling on all issues presented.
These are the findings of state courts and agencies, and not merely claims of those
concerned about the death penalty. It is a serious matter when a state with so few death
sentences has this many confirmed problems.
The Dilemma of Arbitrariness in Kansas Capital Cases
The public often assumes that the death penalty law in Kansas results in similar cases having
similar outcomes. A review of Kansas cases shows a different picture.
Multiple victim homicides: Alan White was charged with a triple homicide in Salina in 1996.
His case never even went to trial but rather was resolved with a plea bargain.
Meanwhile, in Barton County, the deaths of two persons in 2004 resulted in a death sentence
for one defendant, while another pled to a non-death sentence.
In Wyandotte County, a defendant was charged in the deaths of 5 persons. His case went to
trial. The jury came back with five hard 50 year sentences.
Single female homicide with sexual assault or rape: A review of the capital cases shows that
some of these cases go to trial, while others do not. In one case, Cowley County, the defendant
was willing to plead but the prosecutor refused to accept a plea.
The November 2004 report of the Kansas Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee
said “... it is obvious that a capital defendant in Sedgwick County is much more likely to proceed to
trial than one in Wyandotte County.” There is a good reason there is variance from county to
county: prosecutorial discretion.
The reality is that the prosecutor in each county holds the ultimate power. It is the
District Attorney who makes decisions on how cases are charged, how they are handled
(trial or resolved without trial), and many other critical issues.
For more information contact:
Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty
*[email protected]~www.kscadp.org
*Carolyn [email protected]
Murder Victim Families for Reconciliation~Bill [email protected]
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth~Sr. Therese [email protected]
Amnesty International~Donna [email protected]
Updated January 10, 2011