• Apr 25, 2012
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Deb Gruver and Tim Potter
 Prosecutors disputed Wednesday that a Wichita doctor who drove for three miles with a lawn worker’s body on top of his van suffered from a medical condition the morning of the June 10 accident last year, saying he had the presence of mind to make statements to police.
 

Mohammad Sarrafizadeh, 67, told police that he saw Ramon Martinez-Limon, the 31-year-old man who was trimming grass in an easement, 50 to 100 feet ahead of him on Greenwich Road near Douglas before he struck him three to five seconds later, chief deputy attorney Aaron Breitenbach said Wednesday afternoon. Sarrafizadeh also told police that he saw Martinez-Limon strike his windshield, Breitenbach said.

Martinez-Limon’s body flew onto the roof of Sarrafizadeh’s van, and the doctor drove home and into his garage. Witnesses tried to stop him, and some followed him to his home.

Sarrafizadeh’s lawyer, Dan Monnat, maintained during the case that the doctor, who surrendered his medical license, suffered a stroke that morning and said that respected physicians “have regarded the evidence and the testing as sufficient to conclude that he had a stroke at the time of the accident and his condition continues to deteriorate.”

But Breitenbach said there were no “scientific facts” to support that. Breitenbach said Sarrafizadeh did suffer what he called a “real” stroke in November, months after the accident.

“We obviously disagree,” Breitenbach said of the district attorney office’s opinion of Sarrafizadeh’s health that day.

Sarrafizadeh was driving his 22-year-old daughter, who is severely mentally disabled, to her special-needs school the morning of the accident, Monnat has said. Police said Martinez-Limon was working near the street when a minivan struck him at about 7:15 a.m. near a Hawker Beechcraft plant entrance. Police arrested Sarrafizadeh the next day.

Sarrafizadeh pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide on Friday. A judge sentenced him immediately to a 12-month suspended jail sentence and a year of non-reporting probation. He also had faced a felony – failure to stop at an accident resulting in death – but prosecutors dropped that charge. Monnat thanked the district attorney’s office for “permitting this simplified final resolution.”

Asked what he meant by that comment, Monnat said his client’s “condition is such that he’s not up to additional litigation. We needed to resolve it for that reason, and the DA worked out a plea agreement with us and permitted him not to contest the misdemeanor case against him.”

Monnat said the doctor plans to move to New York to be with family. Breitenbach and chief district attorney Tom Weilert spoke to the media Wednesday in response to comments Monnat made about the case. Sarrafizadeh “has allowed the court to find that he was responsible” for Martinez-Limon’s death, but the accident, Breitenbach noted, was an “unintentional action on his part.”

Asked if Sarrafizadeh’s sentence was fitting for a case that involved a man’s death, Breitenbach said the district attorney’s office does “look at the circumstances of the defendant.”

Sarrfizadeh did call police that morning, but it was after several people already had and after people had followed him home, Breitenbach. “It was untimely, obviously,” Breitenbach said of the doctor’s call. Sarrafizadeh had the wherewithal to drive home, drive into his garage and go inside his home that morning, Breitenbach said, saying those actions were “inconsistent with” someone who had blacked out. “All that shows a mental process inconsistent with a stroke or stroke-like event,” Breitenbach said.

Read Article on Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle – By Deb Gruver and Tim Potter
  • Mar 27, 2012
  • Monnat & Spurrier

By Dan Monnat and Paige Nichols, published in
The Champion, December, 2010.

  • Mar 16, 2012
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – For the 24th consecutive year, Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, has been named to The Best Lawyers in America®. In this 2012 edition, Monnat was selected for inclusion in three fields: criminal defense, white collar criminal defense and appellate defense. The publication bases its selection on a confidential, nationwide peer survey, rating attorneys for professional competency, legal scholarship, pro bono service, and achievement.

  • Mar 05, 2012
  • Monnat & Spurrier

By Dan Monnat and Paige Nichols, Journal of the
Kansas Association for Justice, May 2011.

  • Feb 23, 2012
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Helping raise funds for blood cancer research, Jon McConnell is a finalist for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man the Year. The Man & Woman of the Year finalists have kicked off a 10-week fundraising competition to earn the ultimate title of Man & Woman of the Year. Between now and May 5, 2012, each “vote” for Jon is a $1 pledge for LLS, the largest national voluntary health organization dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. Votes and secure donations can be made at Jon McConnell’s LLS Man of the Year webpage.

Candidates raise funds in honor of the Girl and Boy of the Year, in this case Mikala Hodgens, a 9-year-old with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, and Joseph Bacon, a 6 year-old with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

“Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with a blood cancer,” McConnell said. “Fundraisers create hope for a cure, plus generate funds to improve the quality of life of patients and families. I am extremely proud to be helping in this cause and appreciate the support of my friends and colleagues in this effort.”

  • Jan 19, 2012
  • KSN TV

TOPEKA, Kansas — Where does life begin? It’s a question the Kansas legislature has tackled before, but the question is taking a new route in the abortion debate. “Conception happens and it’s a unique and individual human being,” said Rep. Jim Howell, a sponsor of the proposal. The personhood amendment would change the language in the state constitution “to guarantee rights, and protection to humans from the beginning of biological development, including fertilization.”

“It’s time to address the issues and recognize that we no longer see it as a blob of tissue,” said Margaret Mans with Right To Life forKansas.  “It is a unique human being with its own DNA.” The amendment is stirring strong opposition from both sides of the abortion debate.  They argue the language is too broad and would create a legal frenzy.

“The anti-choice is divided, I don’t know how they expect the majority of Kansasto get behind it,” said Kari Ann Rinker, State Coordinator forKansasNOW. Because it would be a constitutional amendment, there would have to be an explainer on the ballot.  For those in opposition, that language is just as bad as what’s being proposed.

As it’s written, the current federal legal status of preborn humans “would remain that of a class of human being that can intentionally be killed.”

“It basically says if you do not vote for this you are condoning murder,” said Rinker. Supporters argue the main goal here is to challenge Roe v.Wade.  That’s an uphill battle for supporters.

“If our legislature adopts this constitutional amendment it is doomed to failure,” said attorney Dan Monnat. Monnat says the language is too vague to be upheld in court. “Does it mean from the formation of the egg? Does it mean from the formation of the sperm?  Does it mean from the second the sperm meets the egg?” Monnat questioned.

See video at KSN

KSN TV

  • Nov 15, 2011
  • KSN TV
  • -
  • by Craig Andres

WICHITA, Kansas (KSN) — New sports facilities at one Wichita high school means some homeowners are being forced out. Some say they will take it to court. “This could have been handled differently,” says John Layton who lives near North High School. “They told us they were going to get the house one way or another.”

Layton is one of ten property owners who have not come to terms with USD 259 on the sale of their homes. The school district wants the homes gone so it can build much needed parking spaces, new athletic fields and make other improvements. “North High sits on a very crowded space,” says USD 259 school board member Lynn Rogers. “Those kids at North High deserve to have decent facilities.”

And with ten homeowners near North High School not selling, the school district is using the power of eminent domain to acquire those homes. The district previously made offers on the properties. No terms were reached. “Fair market value,” says Rogers. “But they are not selling.”

“No. I didn’t even know what it was,” says Layton of the process of eminent domain. “I still don’t quite understand it. Basically, it seems to me it’s a way of kicking people out of their houses.” Which is true, according to legal analysts.

“The power of eminent domain is often a sad hardship on families who have understandable historical and emotional attachments to their homes,” explains legal analyst Dan Monnat. “Eminent domain is an inherent power of any sovereign state or nation Which allows the sovereign to take or confiscate or expropriate property.”

Some school board members say they are hesitant to use that power. “We’ve not used it often,” explains Rogers. “This is only the second time in the ten years that I’ve been on the board.” USD 259 last used the power of eminent domain in 2005. Linwood Elementary was proposed for building and expansion, but some of the property sat on city park property. Park enthusiasts wanted the park land to stay. It ended up in court, and the school won.

“I guess we will see what comes next,” says Layton. “We will talk to our neighbors here and see what they want to do. This could be a fight.”

See video at KSN

KSN TV – By Craig Andres

  • Nov 07, 2011
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Tim Potter
 A Garden Plain teacher and football coach appeared in court Monday to face three sex-related charges following what police described as a sting operation.
 

According to court documents filed last week, Todd Puetz, 39, is charged with electronic solicitation, attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted criminal sodomy. All three of the charges are felonies that occurred on or about Oct. 22, court documents say.

Puetz has taught physical education and health and has been a highly successful coach of the Garden Plain High School football team.

The solicitation charge accuses him of using an electronic communication to try to “entice or solicit” someone he thought was 14 or 15 “to commit or submit to an unlawful sex act.”

The second charge accuses him of trying to meet with a “child believed to be 15” to commit aggravated indecent liberties. The third charge accuses him of trying meet with a “child believed to 15” to commit criminal sodomy.

Puetz made his first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court on Monday morning with his attorney Dan Monnat.

Puetz was one of seven men arrested in late October after being suspected of communicating electronically with someone they thought was an underage girl, according to police and records. The communication was of a sexual nature, police said.

Police said that six of the seven men tried to meet with someone they thought was an underage girl for sex, but have not said which men. The special operation came in response to a surge in human trafficking cases in Wichita over the past couple of years, police said. The two-day sting operation involved the FBI, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Child Unit, Wichita police and Sedgwick County sheriff’s officers.

After Monday’s court appearance, Monnat, Puetz’s defense attorney, gave this statement: “The charges today show why it is critical for the public to continue to honor the presumption of innocence that Todd Puetz is entitled to. Two weeks ago, according to publicity generated by law enforcement, Coach Puetz was accused of some kind of human trafficking or human slavery said to maybe even merit federal prosecution. That accusation has now disappeared altogether.

“Today, the coach is accused of something completely different. We intend to fully investigate these new charges as well, and if necessary, take them to a jury trial until Coach Puetz is found not guilty.”

Puetz remains on administrative leave with pay and is suspended from activities, school district superintendent Tracy Bourne said Monday. The district will gather information about the charges before deciding whether Puetz’s status should change, Bourne said.

Puetz has been released on a $50,000 bond. He faces a hearing Nov. 21.

Read Article on Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle – By Tim Potter
  • Oct 28, 2011
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Tim Potter
 

An attorney for Garden Plain High School football coach Todd Puetz — arrested this past weekend in a human trafficking sting —  defended his client in a statement Thursday.

“Todd Puetz is absolutely entitled to the presumption of innocence. He has been a pillar of his community as a coach, teacher, husband and father of seven children,” said Dan Monnat, whose Wichita law firm, Monnat and Spurrier, is  representing Puetz.

“We respectfully request that the public withhold any judgment of Coach Puetz while we continue to investigate this accusation,” Monnat said.

Authorities have decided to pursue charges in the case in state district court, and investigators met Thursday and plan to meet Friday with prosecutors, Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred said. Charges could be filed as early as Monday,  Allred said.

On Oct. 24, Allred announced that investigators arrested seven men over the weekend. One of them, according to records, was Puetz, 39, a longtime and highly successful football coach at Garden Plain. The school district superintendent has  said, without naming the person, that a Garden Plain High School teacher and coach has been put on administrative leave with pay and has been suspended from all duties following an arrest.

All of the seven men who were arrested communicated electronically with someone they thought was an underage girl, and the contents were of a sexual nature, Allred said. Six of the seven men attempted to meet with a girl for sex, Allred  said, without elaborating.

Allred said Monday that four other people were under investigation and could be arrested later. As of Thursday, no other arrests had been made, he said.

The two-day sting operation involved the FBI, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Child Unit, Wichita police and Sedgwick County sheriff’s officers.

Read Article on Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle – By Tim Potter
  • Oct 28, 2011
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – “Best Law Firms” – a listing produced by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers – has awarded Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered with metropolitan first-tier rankings in two practice areas: Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar; and Criminal Defense: White-Collar Litigation. “Best Law Firms” is the latest in U.S. News’ series of consumer guides that include rankings of hospitals, colleges, graduate schools, and more. U.S. News teamed with Best Lawyers, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, to rank each practice area by tiers. In surveys, law firm clients and leading lawyers were asked what factors they considered vital for clients who hire firms, and for lawyers who choose firms to refer legal matters to.