• Jul 22, 2016
  • by Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Matthew Gorney has joined Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered as an associate attorney.

A Wichita native, Gorney is admitted to practice before the federal and state courts in Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2013 where he earned certificates in both Advocacy Skills and Media, Law and Technology. Gorney simultaneously earned a Master of Science Degree in Journalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications after successfully defending his thesis: Social Media and Kansas Courtrooms: Assessing Kansas Supreme Court Rule 1001 and Exploring Possible Improvements. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University majoring in journalism with a minor in leadership studies.

While in law school, he served a year as an officer for the American Bar Association’s Law Student Division. Gorney also worked as a graduate teaching assistant and later adjunct instructor for KU’s journalism school. He began practicing law in Wichita in 2014.

Founded in 1985 by litigator Dan Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier, Monnat & Spurrier has built an international reputation for criminal defense and appellate defense. In addition to Monnat, Spurrier and Gorney, the firm includes two former prosecutors, Trevor Riddle and Sal Intagliata, and a legal research and writing specialist, Kathryn Stevenson.

  • Jul 08, 2016
  • by Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Who’s Who Legal: Business Crime Defense 2016 has named Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, one of the world’s leading practitioners in the sectors of Business Crime Defense and Investigations. The publication is a strategic research partner of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law. Monnat is one of only two attorneys in Kansas to be selected.

Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 40 years, handling criminal and white-collar criminal cases that have attracted worldwide attention. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America.

“I’m truly honored to be recognized among this worldwide group of exemplary attorneys,” Monnat said. “I believe this recognition is also a tribute to the quality of our criminal justice system in Kansas and in the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Rulings in the Heartland sometimes resonate globally, and can have a potential impact on white-collar criminal defense strategies worldwide.”

A graduate of California State University, Monnat received his J.D. 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.  From 2007 – 2011, Monnat served on the Kansas Sentencing Commission as a Governor’s appointee. He currently sits on the Kansas Association of Justice’ Board of Editors.

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.

Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

  • Jul 03, 2016
  • by Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, has been named by Chambers USA 2016 as one of Kansas’ top litigators in White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations. The publication, which conducts independent surveys of both lawyers and their clients, writes that Monnat is a “highly regarded criminal defense lawyer with significant trial and appellate expertise. Peers laud him as a ‘very impressive, intelligent and experienced’ attorney.”

Monnat has practiced criminal law, white-collar criminal law and appellate law in Wichita for 40 years. A graduate of California State University, Monnat received his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law.  He also 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.  He was the Governor’s appointee to the Kansas Sentencing Commission from 2007 – 2011.

Monnat has earned distinction as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America and the Kansas Bar Foundation.  He currently sits on the Kansas Association of Justice’s Board of Editors.

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

Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, celebrates its 30th anniversary as a firm this year.


  • Jul 01, 2016
  • KSN TV
  • -
  • by Brittany Glas

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A woman accused of giving her former boyfriend guns used in a shooting at a Kansas lawn equipment factory plans to mount a battered woman’s syndrome defense at her August trial.

The attorney for Sarah Jo Hopkins filed notice Wednesday saying he plans to introduce expert evidence related to her mental state. The defense is also seeking to suppress her statements.

Court documents state,

“Defendant’s mental state is relevant to the crimes charged, and expert testimony would assist the jury in determining her state of mind and whether she acted as she did because Cedric Ford [the shooter] threatened and abused her…”

The motion also states that Hopkins was evaluated by a doctor in March 2016 and that doctor concluded,

“… [The] Defendant suffered from PTSD and battered woman’s syndrome at the time of the alleged criminal offenses.”

The 28-year-old Newton woman has pleaded not guilty to transferring weapons to a prohibited person.

Prosecutors say she gave Cedric Ford an AK-47-type semi-automatic rifle and a .40-caliber handgun that he used in the Feb. 25 attack at Excel Industries in Hesston. Four people, including Ford, were killed and 14 others were injured.

Hopkins has told investigators that she gave him the guns because he had threatened her.

Dan Monnat talks to KSN about a battered woman’s syndrome defense

Dan Monnat talks to KSN about a battered woman’s syndrome defense

KSN spoke with legal analyst and defense attorney, Dan Monnat, about the defense.

“Battered woman’s syndrome typically refers to the psychological state of a woman who has suffered repeated, vicious, physical or psychological abuse,” said Monnat. “It is one aspect of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

Monnat says the defense is most often introduced in a criminal case to “help the jury understand why an accused person might not be able to act as freely and voluntarily as the rest of us.”

Monnat also told KSN that, in general, for anyone to be convicted of a crime, the law requires a “guilty mental state.”

“If a person is coerced or compelled to commit a crime by physical threats or force, or psychological conditions, then by definition, they didn’t commit a crime because they had no guilty mind.”

Hopkins’ trial is scheduled for August 9.

KSN TV – By Brittany Glas