• Nov 21, 2018
  • Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered

WICHITA, Kansas – The 2018 Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers list has honored three Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered attorneys:

Dan Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 40 years, concentrating on criminal defense, white-collar criminal defense, and appellate defense. A graduate of California State University, Monnat earned 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 Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Editors and is the Criminal Law Chair. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He is a Life Member and past Board Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, as well as a two-term past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Sal Intagliata has practiced law more than 20 years, including 19 years in private practice and 4 years as Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney prosecuting crimes in the Gangs/Violent Crimes Division. His practice focuses on criminal, white-collar criminal, and DUI offenses, as well as appeals in federal, state and municipal courts throughout Kansas.

Intagliata serves on the Kansas Judicial Council Criminal Law Subcommittee and the Board of Governors of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is a past vice president of the Wichita Bar Association, a past member of its Board of Governors, and past Chair of its Criminal Practice Division.

Intagliata earned his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Kansas, graduating with dual majors in political science and Spanish. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law. He is also a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College.

Matt Gorney joined Monnat & Spurrier as an associate in 2016 and was named for the first time this year to the Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” list. Formerly a professional journalist,

Gorney graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2013 where he earned certificates in both Advocacy Skills and Media, Law and Technology. He 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 a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University majoring in journalism with a minor in Leadership Studies.

While in law school, Gorney joined the American Bar Association’s Law Student Division and served a year as one of the division’s four national officers. Gorney also worked as a graduate teaching assistant and later adjunct instructor for KU’s journalism school during his time in Lawrence.

Gorney serves on the board of directors for both the Delta Chi Fraternity and Music Theatre Wichita.

  • Nov 08, 2018
  • State of Kansas Office of Judicial Administration
  • -
  • by Anita Cash

Kansas Courts News Release

TOPEKA—The Kansas Supreme Court has formed an ad hoc task force to examine pretrial detention practices in Kansas district courts and report its findings and recommendations to the court within 18 months.

The 15-member task force was created by a November 7 Supreme Court order signed by Chief Justice Lawton Nuss. Its membership includes judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and court services and community corrections officers. It will have its first meeting December 13 and 14 in Topeka.

The task force is charged with examining current pretrial detention practices for criminal defendants in Kansas district courts, as well as alternatives to pretrial detention used to ensure public safety and encourage an accused to appear for court proceedings.

The task force will also compare Kansas practices to effective pretrial detention practices and detention alternatives identified by other courts. This comparison could be used to develop best practices for Kansas district courts.

“Every day Kansas judges decide whether to detain criminal defendants and under what circumstances. These decisions are made amid a national discussion about alternatives to pretrial detention and the need to ensure no person is unnecessarily deprived of his or her liberty,” said Nuss. “This is the perfect time for Kansas to examine its pretrial detention practices to identify if and where improvements can be made.”

Judge Karen Arnold-Burger, chief judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals, who will serve as chair of the task force, agrees.

“We’ve seen a lot of change in pretrial detention practices across the nation the last few years. We have an opportunity to learn from other jurisdictions, what they have tried and how it has worked for them,” Arnold-Burger said. “We won’t know what is useful to us until we take a closer look at it, and that’s what this task force will do.”

The Supreme Court created the task force under authority granted to it by the Kansas Constitution to oversee all courts in Kansas.

Creation of the task force follows closely a report from the ad hoc committee on municipal courts fines, fees, and bonding practices that in September made its recommendations to the Kansas judicial administrator and the executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities. Judge Brenda Stoss of the Salina Municipal Court chaired that ad hoc committee, and she has been appointed to serve on this task force.

The municipal court ad hoc committee recommended that areas in need of additional study included bail and pretrial detention practices.

Members of the task force are:

  • Nancy Dixon, judicial administrator, Kansas judicial branch, Topeka
  • District Judge Mary Mattivi, 3rd Judicial District, Topeka
  • District Judge Lori Bolton Fleming, 11th Judicial District, Pittsburg
  • District Judge Wendel Wurst, 25th Judicial District, Garden City
  • District Judge Jared Johnson, 28th Judicial District, Salina
  • District Magistrate Judge Keith Collett, 8th Judicial District, Abilene
  • Judge Brenda Stoss, Salina Municipal Court
  • Charles Branson, district attorney, Douglas County
  • Todd Thompson, county attorney, Leavenworth County
  • Tom Drees, county attorney, Ellis County
  • Sal Intagliata, defense attorney, Wichita
  • Justin Barrett, defense attorney, Colby
  • David Harger, defense attorney, McPherson
  • Robert Sullivan, corrections director, Johnson County

Anita Cash, chief court services officer, 29th Judicial District, Kansas City, Kan.


Contact:

Lisa Taylor
Public Information Director
785-296-4872
[email protected]

  • Nov 01, 2018
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Krystle Sherrell

WICHITA, Kan. – James Dalrymple was taken into custody the night of a crash that killed Wichita police officer, Stacy Woodson and his son, Braeden, but it wasn’t until this week, six months later, that charges were filed.

Dalrymple was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one charge of failing to yield the right of way.

“The complaint in this case says that the two people were killed by the accused while the accused was either committing, attempting to commit or in flight from a violation of KSA-8-1567, the DUI statue,” said Dan Monnat, Wichita criminal defense attorney.

KSN spoke to criminal defense attorney, Dan Monnat. He is not connected to this case but reviewed the court documents to help break them down.

According to the complaint, Monnat said the district attorney will have to present evidence that Dalrymple was under the influence at the time of the deadly accident.

“The prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that indeed the accused committed the offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both,” Monnat said. “Two, the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that DUI offense caused the death of another human being as accused in this involuntary manslaughter prosecution.”

Another raised questions is why so long between the crash and charges?

Monnat said the district attorney has to wait for the results of the investigation, which likely included blood tests and engineering reports of the reconstruction of the accident.

“The fact that there is a death in April, and we get the results of the toxicology report in October is not unusual,” Monnat said.

Dalrymple is scheduled to appear in court on November 28.

See full video at KSN.com

  • Nov 01, 2018
  • Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered

(WICHITA, Kan.) – A joint survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers has
awarded Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, three “Best Law Firms” Tier 1 Rankings in the areas of
General Practice Criminal Defense, White-Collar Criminal Defense, and Appellate Practice.

Rankings are based on a rigorous process that includes client evaluations, peer review by leading
attorneys in their practice areas, and Best Lawyers’ independent analysis of the firms. Clients were
asked to rank firms regarding their expertise, responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, civility, and
whether they would refer others to the firm.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier founded Monnat & Spurrier in 1985.
The firm has gained an international reputation for its defense of such high-profile clients as late-
term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller; the unfortunate innocent person whose home was
mistakenly raided by police as being that of serial killer BTK; and most recently, the Western
Kansas man wrongly accused of murdering a four-year-old child by cruelly beating or shaking her.

In addition to Monnat and Spurrier, the firm includes shareholders Trevor Riddle and Sal Intagliata,
and associates Matt Gorney, Eli O’Brien and Sarah Ellen Johnson.