Renwick School District Superintendent Tracy Bourne says the focus this week is on the students at Garden Plain High School. Bourne says they’re trying to get back to normal after the arrest of a long time teacher and coach. “We really need the coaches and kids to rally around each other right now,” Bourne said in an interview Monday.

Todd Puetz was hired as a teacher by the district in 1996. In 2001, he became head football coach at Garden Plain High School. Last weekend he was arrested, as police say he tried to meet an underage girl for sex. Puetz’s attorney is Dan Monnat. “Todd Puetz is absolutely entitled to the presumption of innocence. He has long been a highly respected member of his community, as a teacher, coach, husband, and father of seven children,” Monnat said. “We ask the public hold their judgement while we continue our investigation in to these accusations.”

No formal charges have been filed against Puetz. He’s been placed on administrative leave with pay while the investigation is ongoing. Six other men were arrested this week, along with Puetz. The two-day sting operation involved the FBI and local law enforcement.

Garden Plain’s football team plays Halstead tonight. The lead assistant, Greg Gegan, is stepping in as head coach.

Read Article on KWCH.com

KWCH TV – By Denise Hnytka

Dr. Mohammad Sarrafizadeh made his first appearance in court Wednesday on charges from a deadly accident in June.  Police say Sarrafizadeh hit and killed landscaper Ramon Martinez-Limon with his car.  They say he didn’t stop after the accident, drove home and then discovered the victim on the roof of his vehicle.

67-year-old Sarrafizadeh was charged with failure to stop at an accident and vehicular homicide.  The first charge is a felony and the other is a misdemeanor. Sarrafizadeh could potentially face up to 12 months in jail for the misdemeanor and between five and seven months with presumed probation for the felony.  His next court appearance is scheduled for November 23rd.

Attorneys for Sarrafizadeh say he had a stroke which caused the accident, and left him confused. Dan Monnat and Sal Intagliata of Monnat & Spurrier, lawyers for Dr. Sarrafizadeh, released the following statement last month:

“The sincere condolences and prayers of Dr. Sarrafizadeh and his family go out to the family of Mr. Martinez-Limon. This was a tragic accident. Dr. Sarrafizadeh is a highly respected physician who, that morning, was taking his autistic, severely mentally disabled 22 year old daughter to her special needs school, just like he did every day.


“This day however he suffered a form of stroke that caused the accident.  The medical evidence and testing of four independent Kansas doctors now clearly establish that. The condition left Dr. Sarrafizadeh so disoriented and confused that he turned around and drove home not even realizing he had been involved in an accident. Dr. Sarrafizadeh’s condition has left him unable to continue to practice his medical specialty and he has thus officially retired from his position with the Veteran’s Hospital.”

Make no mistake: Dr. Sarrafizadeh has every intention of proceeding to jury trial until his innocence is clear and he is found not guilty of the charges filed.  Dr. Sarrafizadeh did not consciously drive in an unsafe manner.  He suffered a medical condition that caused the accident.  It rendered him incapable of even understanding that an accident had occurred. Otherwise, as he has done with veterans and others his whole life, Dr. Sarrafizadeh would have done everything possible to render immediate aid to Mr. Martinez-Limon.

Beyond the above statement, Dr. Sarrafizadeh and his attorneys have no further comment at this time.”

See video on KSCW.com

Kansas CW TVBy Rebecca White

WICHITA — A deadly traffic accident resulting in the arrest of a Wichita doctor was caused by a stroke, the physician’s lawyer said today.

Mohammad Sarrafizadeh, 67, had been arrested the day after his car struck and killed 31-year-old lawn service worker Ramon Martinez-Limon the morning of June 10. Circumstances surrounding the death shocked the community, after police said the doctor apparently drove for three miles with the man’s body on top of his van after crashing into him on Greenwich Road near Douglas.

Today, Wichita lawyer Dan Monnat, who represents Sarrafizadeh, said the stroke left the doctor unaware an accident had occurred.

“The medical evidence and testing of four independent Kansas doctors now clearly establish that,” Monnat said in a statement released by his office. “The condition left Dr. Sarrafizadeh so disoriented and confused that he turned around and drove home not even realizing he had been involved in an accident.”

Sarrafizdeh had been driving his 22-year-old daughter, who is severely disabled, to her special needs school the morning of the accident, Monnat said. The stroke also forced the radiologist to retire his position at the VA Medical Center.

“Dr. Sarrafizadeh did not consciously drive in an unsafe manner,” Monnat said. “He suffered a medical condition that caused the accident.  It rendered him incapable of even understanding that an accident had occurred. Otherwise, as he has done with veterans and others his whole life, Dr. Sarrafizadeh would have done everything possible to render immediate aid to Mr. Martinez-Limon.”

A spokeswoman with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office said formal charges against the doctor had not yet been filed.

Last June, police said Martinez-Limon had been working near the street when a minivan struck him on Greenwich Road near Douglas around 7:15 a.m. that Friday near a Hawker Beechcraft plant entrance. Martinez-Limon was apparently thrown onto the roof of the vehicle. Witnesses saw the minivan driving with the victim on the roof and called 911, police said, adding that someone followed the vehicle to Sarrafizdeh’s house in the 1500 block of North Krug, near 13th and 127th Street East.

“The sincere condolences and prayers of Dr. Sarrafizadeh and his family go out to the family of Mr. Martinez-Limon,” Monnat said. “This was a tragic accident.”

Read Article on Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle / Kansas.com
BY RON SYLVESTER

WICHITA, Kan. – Best Lawyers, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, as the “Wichita Best Lawyers Criminal Defense: White-Collar Lawyer of the Year” for 2012. In each major market, only one lawyer in each high-profile legal specialty is honored as the Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting lengthy peer-review surveys in which lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers for legal ability, integrity, pro bono service and achievement. The lawyers honored as “Lawyers of the Year” received particularly high ratings in the surveys. In addition to his Lawyer of the Year designation for Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Monnat was also recognized in the fields of criminal defense and appellate defense.

A Kansas man has sued Facebook, claiming the social media company violated wiretap laws with a tracking cookie that records users’ web browsing history after they log off the site.  According to KSN Legal Expert Dan Monnat, “the plaintiffs in this case are likely to have an uphill battle…”

See video at KSN

KSN TV

A former Dodge City police officer will receive a new trial on charges that he shot and killed his ex-girlfriend. Christopher Tahah was convicted of felony murder, for the May 4, 2007 shooting death of Erin Jones. Tahah admitted he went to her home to kill her in a jealous rage but claims he reconsidered at the last minute before his rifle went off accidentally.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the jury should have been told to consider lesser offenses including second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. They based their decision off of a July Kansas Supreme Court ruling that now forces prosecutors in felony murder cases to allow the jury to consider lesser offenses in deliberations.

“That means even though the theory is felony murder, if there’s evidence to suggest a lesser degree of homicide than the jury must consider that lesser crime,” said KSN legal analyst Dan Monnat.

The case now goes back to the Ford County Attorney.

See video at KSN

KSN TV

WICHITA, Kan. – Dan Monnat has been named one of Kansas’ most notable litigation lawyers by Chambers USA 2011. According to the magazine’s editorial report, Monnat “is a seriously adroit and capable lawyer to have on your side, particularly for white collar criminal work.”
Lawyers are researched and ranked by Chambers USA based on legal ability, client service, business acumen, diligence, and professional conduct. Rankings also reflect pre-eminence in the attorney’s key practice area and achievement in the past year.

Topeka, Kan. – A controversial proposal in Kansas to restrict private health insurance for abortions has passed and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Brownback. The measure prohibits insurance companies from automatically covering abortions in their health plans, except to save a woman’s life. Individuals and employers wanting the coverage would have to buy separate abortion-only policies.

Some legal analysts say the measure could be challenged.

“This Kansas legislation has to be examined for unconstitutional gender discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause,” explains legal analyst Dan Monnat. “The Kansas legislature has singled out a medical procedure that only a woman can need and then cut off access to it based solely on emotional, religious and political considerations.”

Lawmakers who voted in the bill call it a fair measure.

“We also succeeded in passing legislation (HB 2075) that will, among many other amendments to the Insurance Code, provide for optional insurance coverage through riders for certain abortions, if an individual feels compelled to acquire such coverage,” explains Republican Dennis Hedke of Wichita. “Pro-life advocates were also likely pleased to learn that state monies will no longer be expended to provide insurance coverage to state employees seeking an abortion, unless the procedure is necessary to protect the life of the mother.”

Kansans for Life, a group that is strongly opposed to abortions, is calling this a big win.

“And [sic] abortion is not health care, so I’m glad that they just took that out of there,” says David Gittrich of Kansans For Life. “If you want a rider for abortion you can still get it, but for the vast majority of Kansans who don’t want to pay for abortions, and don’t want it as part of their health insurance, now they can have that taken out of there.”

The House approved the measure 86-30 on Friday morning, sending it to Governor Sam Brownback. The Senate passed it Thursday night, 28-10. House members’ action came only hours after they had blocked its passage. The House voted 70-51 early Friday morning against the measure, but it later reconsidered and launched another debate.

The anti-abortion language is bundled with other insurance regulatory changes in a single bill. House members initially objected, not over the abortion language, but over other insurance proposals.

Governor Brownback is expected to sign it into law.

See video at KSN

KSN TV – Craig Andres

 “… he spoke with conviction and passion about the value of the American Constitution and the rule of law in the United States, and you couldn’t help thinking that if you ever got into serious trouble with the police, you’d want him at your side.”

– Stephen Singular, author of the new “The Wichita Divide: The Murder of Dr. George Tiller and the Battle Over Abortion,” on Tiller attorney Dan Monnat

The Wichita Eagle – By Carrie Rengers

The International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers 2011 has named Dan Monnat one of the world’s leading practitioners in business crime defense. The publication is a strategic research partner of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law.

Monnat has practiced in Wichita for nearly 35 years, handling criminal and white-collar criminal cases attracting international attention. Last fall, he was named a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

“It’s a supreme honor to be recognized among this worldwide group of exemplary lawyers,” Monnat said. “Legal actions in Kansas can have potential global impact. That’s why we work so diligently to protect jurisprudence in Kansas, in the hope that it may become a model internationally.”