• Oct 28, 2013
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – For the ninth consecutive year, criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Kansas and Missouri by the magazine, “Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers – 2013.”  Only 5 percent of all attorneys in Missouri and Kansas are included in Super Lawyers, making selection to the Top 100 the most elite of this exclusive legal group.

“The Top 100 is a pre-eminent group of attorneys that includes all areas of legal practice.  I’m honored and humbled to be ranked among them,” Monnat said.

Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 36 years.  A graduate of California State University, Monnat holds a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law and is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

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

Monnat is a Life Member and past Board Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; and is a two-term past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

A frequent national lecturer and editorial contributor on criminal defense topics, Monnat authored “Sentencing, Probation, and Collateral Consequences,” a chapter of the Kansas Bar Association’s Kansas Criminal Law Handbook, 4th edition.

  • Oct 25, 2013
  • KSNW TV

WICHITA  – A motions hearing tomorrow will determine whether or not the identity of a Crime Stoppers tipster can be revealed for the trial of an accused murderer.

The ruling could have a big impact on a successful crime fighting program in Wichita.

This past April, the body of 19 year-old Jordan Turner was found in a field in southeast Wichita.

Three people are charged with his murder: Ebony Nguyen, Erick Jackson and Kristoffer Wright.

A motion filed by the attorney representing Nguyen asks the state to disclose the name and contact information for their confidential Crime Stoppers informant.

“The problem with every informant is what is their motivation? Is it to work off their own case? Their own crime?” asks criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat.

He says if the anonymous information is in the possession of the prosecutor, the prosecutor may have a duty to make the identity of the tipster known.

The catch here is that no one has that information.

“If we are subpoenaed for information and the judge allows it through the only thing they’re gonna get is gonna be info about the informant,” explains head of the Wichita Crime Commission Gordon Bassham.

Bassham says not even Crime Stoppers knows who that caller was.

And he says regardless – he’s not giving out the information.

“There’s a lot of case law not only from Kansas but around the country that will not allow that to happen,” assures Bassham. “It’s just a way to get information from Crime Stoppers and as I said we’re not going to let that happen.”

Monnat adds, as history dating back to World War II shows, a successful defense doesn’t have to rely on anonymous tipsters or informants.

“Their testimony or evidence was deemed inadmissible in court it’s really only since then that the use of informants has crescendoed to the level that it now exists,” explains Monnat.

KSN will be at that hearing Friday morning.

See video at KSN

KSNW TV


  • Oct 16, 2013
  • KSN News
  • -
  • by Ashley Arnold

DERBY, Kansas – It was Colby Liston’s first few days as a freshman at KU when a crash left him pinned between two cars.

It cost him both his legs and left his family hoping for justice.

“This should follow him for the rest of his life. I think he should have been a convicted felon,” said Matt Liston, Colby’s father.

Now, a Douglas County judge is suppressing some evidence against the driver.

Namely, a blood test that the prosecution said proved Julian Kuszmaul’s blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit.

Citing a Supreme Court ruling out of Missouri, the judge said that because Kuszmaul refused to consent to the blood test and a search warrant for that blood was never obtained, the results can’t be used in court.

Attorneys say that from a legal standpoint, the judge made the right call.

“There was no warrant. There was no consent, and the state had wholly failed to demonstrate emergency circumstances excusing the need to get a search warrant,” said Attorney Dan Monnat.

But for the Liston’s family, it isn’t enough, and they say the situation at hand is far from over.

“I think something is wrong with the Douglas County system. I don’t know if the attorney general needs to investigate it or something else needs to happen. They have failed not only Colby, but my family in more ways than I can tell you,” said Liston.

Kuszmaul is due back in court on October 22nd when a trial date will be set.

He currently faces charges of second offense DUI, marijuana possession, following too closely and refusing to submit to drug or alcohol testing all misdemeanors.

See video at KSN

KSN News – Ashley Arnold

  • Oct 14, 2013
  • Monnat & Spurrier

Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, was inducted into the American Board of Criminal Lawyers at ABCL’s annual meeting in Atlanta last week.  Monnat is the first Kansas attorney to be selected for the ABCL, whose members include lawyers in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Founded in 1978, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers is an exclusive legal society for outstanding criminal trial lawyers, with admission to fellowship by invitation only. Fellows must have at least 10 years of criminal trial experience, and have tried at least 50 trials, including at least 35 felony jury trials.

“The primary concern of the ABCL is the preservation and the free exercise of fundamental freedoms for all those accused of criminal conduct,” Monnat said. “Over the years, ABCL Fellows have become regularly involved in high profile criminal cases throughout the country. I am honored to be included among this group of distinguished legal practitioners, whose collective hard work and dedication to criminal defense have made such worthwhile contributions to our American system of justice.”

Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 36 years.  A graduate of California State University, Monnat holds a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law and is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

A frequent national lecturer and editorial contributor on criminal defense topics, Monnat is the author of “Sentencing, Probation, and Collateral Consequences,” a chapter of the Kansas Bar Association’s Kansas Criminal Law Handbook, 4th edition.  Appointed by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Monnat served on the Kansas Sentencing Commission from 2007 – 2012.

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

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