• Aug 24, 2023
  • KAKE TV
  • -
  • by Jocelyn Schifferdecker

WICHITA, Kan. — An Oklahoma sheriff says he believes Dennis Rader is connected to a missing person case but Rader is denying involvement. This is leaving some people wondering why he’s not confessing to these violent crimes if he was involved when he confessed to 10 murders in 2005.

Dan Monnat, a criminal defense attorney, said this may have something to do with Oklahoma law. The state reinstated the death penalty in 1973 which means if Rader were to confess to killing an Oklahoma teen he could be sentenced to death.
 
“Death is the ultimate penalty. Every human being convicted of a capital case has to have his or her case evaluated,” says Monnat when talking about the death penalty and the process it follows.

He also explains that each case is evaluated by multiple people and appellate courts. This is so every executions occurs in what Monnat describes to be a constitutionally perfect way.

Monnat says whenever Rader confessed to the 10 murders in 2005 Kansas did not have a death penalty so the killer is currently at the El Dorado Correctional Facility for life. 

Oklahoma however has an active death penalty and according to the Death Penalty Information Center, it is one of the states with the highest executions, second only to Texas.

Monnat says another reason Rader may be denying involvement is because he doesn’t think the law enforcements investigating him have actual cases.

“Every government prosecutor ought to be able to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt without the words of the accused,” explains Monnat.

However Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden says he believes he has a strong case. He tells KAKE news in his opinion he is 100% certain Rader is involved in the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney and calls the serial killer the number one suspect.

He says he is going to continue his investigation and won’t stop until he runs out of leads or closes the almost 50-year-old cold case.

Virden tells KAKE news Oklahoma investigators were in Kansas again on Thursday for a meeting involving the investigation.

Virden and other Oklahoma authorities were in Park City on Tuesday digging on Rader’s former property. He says they found some items of interest but couldn’t go into much detail about what they were because this is an ongoing investigation.

See full video at KAKE.com

  • Aug 17, 2023

WICHITA, Kan. — Four Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, attorneys have been honored by Best Lawyers in America® 2024, including firm President Dan Monnat, who was named to the list of legal luminaries for the 36th consecutive year.

Dan Monnat has practiced throughout Kansas and the United States for more than 47 years, defending individuals and companies in high-stakes jury trials, federal and state appellate courts, regulatory proceedings, grand jury, and other governmental investigations. Having first been named to the Best Lawyers in America list in 1989, Monnat makes his 36th consecutive appearance on the list, this year recognized for his work in: Criminal Defense-General Practice; Criminal Defense-White Collar; Bet-the-Company Litigation; and Appellate Practice.

A prolific author and lecturer on criminal defense topics, Monnat is a graduate of California State University, with a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law. He is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College.

Sal Intagliata makes his ninth consecutive appearance on Best Lawyers list, in the areas of Criminal Defense: General Practice; Criminal Defense: White-Collar, and DUI / DWI Defense. A shareholder at Monnat & Spurrier, his career includes 24 years as a distinguished criminal defense attorney in private practice, as well as four years as a Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney, where he prosecuted cases in the Gangs/Violent Crimes Division.

An alumni of the University of Kansas, Intagliata earned his 1992 bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in Spanish and political science. He earned his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1995.

Stan Spurrier, a noted legal scholar who co-founded the firm with Monnat in 1985, was recognized in the areas of: Appellate Practice; Criminal Defense: General Practice; and Criminal Defense: White-Collar.

Spurrier earned his bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Washburn University School of Law.

Eli O’Brien is an associate attorney whose primary practice includes defense of serious felony accusations, as well as DUI / DWI cases. He was honored by Best Lawyers this year in three separate practice areas: Criminal Defense: General Practice; Criminal Defense: White-Collar; and DUI / DWI Defense.

Before joining Monnat & Spurrier in 2015, O’Brien was a trial attorney with the Sedgwick County Public Defender’s Office. A graduate of Washburn University School of Law, O’Brien also holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Emporia State University.

  • Aug 14, 2023
  • KAKE TV

MARION COUNTY, Kan. — The feud between the Marion County Record newspaper and the Marion County Police continues as a letter from the paper’s attorney demands police not touch any of the electronic equipment or other records officers confiscated.

In a letter sent to Chief of Marion Police Gideon Cody, attorney Bernard Rhodes writes that the raid “violated state law, federal law and the publisher’s first, fourth, fifth, and fourteenth amendment rights.”

Rhodes continues saying the Chief of Police personally requested the search warrant, saying he had probable cause to believe the newspaper employees were committing identity theft and using electronic equipment to do it.

The letter ends, “Your personal decision to treat the local newspaper as a drug cartel or a street gang offends the constitutional protections the founding fathers gave the free press.”

With accusations flying in both directions in this case, KAKE senior reporter Pilar Pedraza spoke with legal experts to find answers to questions many viewers had about what the law says.

“Probable cause is much less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, much less than clear and convincing evidence,” defense attorney Dan Monnat said.

Monnat says the bar for how much probable cause is needed to get a search warrant is very low, less than a 50/50 chance of finding something incriminating.

Attorney Max Kautsch, who specializes in media law for the Kansas Press Association, says it’s what the officers were searching for that he believes makes this search a violation of federal law; identity theft and using a computer to do it.

“The federal law provides that a search warrant would only be permissible if some very serious personal crime, you know, a murder or something like that is taking place,” Kautsch said.

Monnat says there are several laws, starting with the constitution, that require search warrants be very specific.

“In the digital age, when you say something like ‘go to this place and search every communication device in the place, every phone, every computer, every iPad,’ again, you get closer to a general warrant,” Monnat said.

The affidavit has been officially requested by KAKE, but our attorney says whether or not we get it is completely up to the district court judge, and there is no provision for an appeal under Kansas law.

See full interview at KAKE.com

  • Aug 01, 2023
  • ABA Journal
  • Aug 01, 2023

WICHITA – The August/September issue of the ABA Journal – flagship magazine of the American Bar Association and read by half of the nation’s 1 million lawyers – features a behind-the-scenes look at local criminal defense lawyer Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, and how his lifelong passion for music has inspired his 47-year law career. The multi-page feature retraces Dan’s early roots as a Kapaun high-school musician playing in a local band, The Lion’s Mane, to his college days as a drummer in San Francisco, including gigs at the infamous Condor Club (which introduced America to topless go-go dancing). Read the full article here: Rock of Ages: This septuagenarian lawyer can beat both his clients’ criminal charges and a drum set

“The road to a legal career is sometimes circuitous,” says Monnat, who founded Monnat & Spurrier with fellow Lion’s Mane band member Stan Spurrier in 1985. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In each issue, the ABA Journal seeks to explore members of the legal profession who not only nurture their passions for activities outside the practice of law, but also utilize those passions to better serve the law, or their clients, or their communities. There are a million lawyers in this country, all making tremendous contributions to this profession. I’m incredibly honored that the ABA Journal chose to feature me and my journey in this issue, and I hope that young lawyers find inspiration from that.”

In Monnat’s case, he says his passion for music inspired in him the confidence to take risks and the discipline to follow every possible legal avenue in defending his clients. Well known for his work in criminal defense, white collar criminal defense and bet-the-company litigation, Monnat’s high-profile clients have included the defense and acquittal of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, the defense of an innocent man wrongly accused of being the notorious BTK, and acquittals and exonerations of his clients in shaken baby murder and other murder, sex and white-collar prosecutions. More importantly, he says, his passion for music gave him “an invaluable education in how to relate to and persuade an audience – whether it was in a nightclub or a jury box.”

Today, when he’s not defending clients in courtrooms across the state, Dan and fellow Wichita musicians Doug Webb and Phil Snow of The House Band can be found playing gigs at the Wichita Riverfest, Wichita Blues Society and area restaurants and clubs including YaYa’s Eurobistro. The House Band performs live at YaYa’s Eurobistro this Saturday, Aug. 5, from 8 – 11 p.m.

Rock of Ages: This septuagenarian lawyer can beat both his clients’ criminal charges and a drum set. ©2023 by the American Bar Association. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.