• Mar 23, 2016
  • Kansas.com
  • -
  • by Carrie Rengers

Merrick Garland hasn’t exactly had resounding support as President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, but Wichita’s Dan Monnat has had a nice plug for the job.

The attorney’s former law professor, retired Creighton University professor Richard Shugrue, wrote an article about the selection process for Omaha’s Daily Record, a legal and business news publication. In it, he decried the lack of non Ivy League nominees to the court through the years.

Shugrue argues that lawyers in the Northwest and Midwest “are every bit as good as the people usually considered for the high court,” though they may lack “pull” in the nation’s capital.

One of those people, he writes, is “… Dan Monnat in Wichita, the fabled trial attorney who graduated from Creighton 40 years ago.”

A modest Monnat says, “I thought that fabled was grandiose, but I was honored that he remembered me.”

He also says he’s open to the job.

“Of course. It’s the greatest legal job you could possibly have in the United States.”

Is he qualified?

“Well, that’s a completely different question,” Monnat says, adding, “Though I don’t think Professor Shugrue is nominating Dan Monnat to the United States Supreme Court.”

He says the point his former professor is making is that if certain nominees had gone to Creighton or a Kansas school, “They’d probably still be just as worthy.”

See full story at Kansas.com

Kansas.com – By Carrie Rengers

  • Mar 16, 2016
  • KAKE.com

By KAKE TV

WICHITA — Wichita police are releasing surveillance video of what two Wichita State students are calling a hate crime.

The attack happened Saturday between 3:15 a.m. and 3:18 a.m. at the Kwik Shop at 21st and Oliver.

The video shows two men filling up at the pumps when one of them is confronted by a man on a motorcycle. The video appears to show the men exchanging words. Then, one of the students pushes the man on the motorcycle, who then punches and kicks him multiple times.

The surveillance video does not have sound. We asked an expert to look at the video of the incident.

“You really need to hear what the language is, that is going on, because threats of use of force can include words or actions and that’s what we need to know, in order to tell who’s the aggressor and who may be acting in self defense,” said Attorney Dan Monnat of Monnat & Spurrier Attorneys at Law.

During a news conference earlier this week, Khondoker Usama, who is the student body vice president at WSU, said he and his friend, who is Hispanic, were at the Kwik Shop filling up with gas and getting snacks when a white man on a motorcycle was yelling racial slurs at a black man when all of a sudden he turned on him and his friend.

“He started yelling at my friend, hey brown trash, brown trash go home,” said Usama.

Usama called 911 and was on the phone with dispatchers when the man circled them on his motorcycle yelling “Trump, Trump, Trump.”

His friend, who hasn’t been identified, suffered a cut to the lip.

Police are looking to question the man on the motorcycle. He is described as a white man in his 30s, about six feet tall, and 200 pounds.

Police are also looking for the driver of a white van, who was at the gas station and may have witnessed the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (316) 268-4646.

See full video at KAKE.com

  • Feb 08, 2016
  • KAKE.com
  • -
  • by Chris Frank

KAKE TV – By Chris Frank

WICHITA – Some Kansas lawmakers say the punishments for teen sexting are too severe and need to be changed.

Rep. Ramon Gonzalez, a republican from Perry, says his bill is aimed towards rehabilitating middle and high school students caught sexting rather than punishing them with a felony and having them on a sex offenders registry for life.

Rep. Gonzalez is Police Chief in Perry, Kansas and a sheriff’s detective in Jefferson County. Gonzalez says, “If a 12 year old sends a (nude) picture to a 16 year old or vice versa it’s classified as a level 9 felony.” He asks, “Why would you want to penalize a young person like that with a level 9 felony?” He says they would also register as a sex offender.

He says with the bill’s changes, if a teen sends a nude photo of another teen or is caught possessing such a transmitted photo, it’s still a crime but a misdemeanor rather than felony.

He says, “The whole intent was making sure we don’t criminalize a child to that degree when the child’s brain is still developing as far as cognitive skills.”

Gonzalez says the teens are being “stupid” when sexting — sending sexually suggestive texts or explicit photo’s. But he wants them to have the chance at being rehabilitated.

Wichita criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat says, “Until these proposed amendments, the only Kansas law that applied to sexting were the child pornography or the child exploitation laws which carried lengthy prison sentences and lengthy periods of sex offender registration. Many viewed those laws as too severe to apply to the misguided acts or intentionally cruel acts of young people. As a result sexting in Kansas was either punished too severely or not at all.”

Monnat says the bill’s changes will give more latitude to courts. “The proposed amendments give judges and prosecutors a brand new tool with which to achieve more fairness.”

The bill came to the House floor Tuesday for debate. There wasn’t any opposition to it. On Wednesday it returns to the House floor for a vote and is expected to pass. The Senate is considering a similar bill.

See full interview at KAKE.com

  • Feb 04, 2016
  • KAKE TV
  • -
  • by Bryan Ramsdale

KAKE TV – By Bryan Ramsdale

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) — Repair Touch technology repair store near Towne West Square closed weeks ago, according to customers, and the store still has their cell phones and computers.

“I didn’t hear from them for a couple of weeks. I tried to contact them and found out that they were no longer open, so I couldn’t get a hold of anybody and I couldn’t get my phone back,” said Ryan Hilmes.

Hilmes operates Sewer Ratz Plumbing and says the cell phone he gave to Repair Touch for repairs has important contact information on it, and he also could be missing out on business from customers calling that line.

Hilmes says the store, located at 530 South West Street, has been closed for weeks now.

He has contacted the owner multiple times and is getting a different answer as for when he will get his phone back.

“He is telling me that will be back this day or the other day and he just hasn’t shown up to call me…he is just giving me the run around,” Hilmes added.

Repair Touch owner Ashraf Hamada tells KAKE News that he will give the phones and computers back when he returns to Wichita.

Customers should expect to have their phones back by Saturday night or Sunday morning.

“Everything happened all the sudden. I got a hold of most [the customers], there were a few that were not contacted,” Hamada said.

“There is nothing shady. There is nothing going on,” he added.

KAKE News spoke to local attorney Dan Monnat of Monnat & Spurrier, Attorneys at Law for guidance on this issue.

Monnat says that the best route is to keep calm, be courteous and hope that being cordial gets them their product back.

If that does not work, Monnat suggests a lawyer.

“Excuses, postponements, missed deadlines may indicate that a reasonable time for repair of the property has already passed and that some emergency action by a court is necessary to protect the consumers rights,” Monnat said.

Reasonable time can be tricky for both the customers and the business owner as for what is reasonable to get the consumers products returned.

KAKE News reached out to the Wichita Police Department. A lieutenant says that the affect customers need to file a police report to document the incident. Affect customers can call their local police sub-station to file a report.

  • Jan 13, 2016
  • KSN TV

TOPEKA, Kansas – Governor Sam Brownback Wednesday has ordered all state funds to Planned Parenthood be cut.

Brownback’s office said in a news release he has directed Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Susan Mosier to ensure no taxpayer money goes to Planned Parenthood through the Kansas Medicaid program.

The letter directs also to cut state funding to any other individual providers affiliated with Planned Parenthood.

Click here to read the full text of Brownback’s letter.

In a statement released by the governor office, Brownback said, “Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of baby body parts is antithetical to our belief in human dignity. No longer will we send the money of hard-working Kansas to fund an industry that disrespects life and violates the moral conscience of our people.”

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Missouri spokesperson Elise Higgins said the governor’s decision is a “smoke-and-mirrors attempt to distract from his failed fiscal policies.”

In a news release, Laura McQuade, the organizations president and CEO, said, “We refuse to serve as the Governor’s scapegoat while Kansas faces serious funding challenges in light of his weak and ineffectual fiscal policies.  His plans to cut Medicaid to PPDM will result in a legal battle which Kansas simply cannot afford to fight.”

To view the complete Planned Parenthood news release, click here.

KSN TV

  • Dec 31, 2015
  • KSN.com
  • -
  • by Craig Andres

WICHITA, Kan. – Drinking is certainly not for everyone. But, for those who include alcohol in their celebrations, police remind you to be safe and don’t drink and drive.

And, while officers across Kansas look for impaired drivers, KSN is calculating the cost. of DUI.

Court costs alone can go up to $2,500 and defense attorney fees can top $10,000 or more.

The experts recommend not drinking and driving for obvious reasons. In 2013 there were 102 DUI-related deaths Kansas roadways.

“If you are at .08 or more concentration of alcohol in your breath or blood … due to drinking within 3 hours of driving, you are incapable of safely operating a vehicle,” says Wichita attorney Dan Monnat. “If you are accused of DUI you may face a couple of legal issues.”

Monnat says the easiest answer to avoid paying for DUI, is to hand over the keys or call Uber or a taxi.

“Costs add up quickly because if you are accused of a first, second, third or subsequent DUI, what’s going to be involved is the possibility of jail time, community service, fines ranging from $750 to $2,500 and innumerable costs for treatment, (and) interlock devices on your car,” explains Monnat.

Costs for a DUI can vary by quite a bit, depending on where you are and what the circumstances may be surrounding the arrest for DUI.

With court costs up to $2,500 and bail costs up to $2,500, towing costs, insurance increases and other related costs can quickly top $15,000.

Uber technologies says it will have drivers available. And taxi services across the metro will be on duty as well.

“Best advice, just don’t drive if you are impaired,” says Monnat.

See full interview at KSN.com

By Craig Andres – KSN TV

  • Dec 08, 2015
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered – one of Kansas’ leading law practices for criminal defense and criminal appeals – celebrates its 30th anniversary Dec. 11. Over the decades, the firm has gained a national reputation through its successful defense of multiple high-profile clients, including abortion provider Dr. George Tiller; a former Kansas high school football coach accused of sexual solicitation, and a former Kansas chief of police accused of sexual offenses. This past summer, after a scientifically complex three-week jury trial in Dodge City, Kan., the firm obtained “not guilty” verdicts on all counts for a young man wrongly-accused of murdering a child by cruelly beating or shaking her.

Defense attorney Dan Monnat and legal scholar Stan Spurrier founded Monnat & Spurrier in 1985. Monnat and Spurrier, who were childhood friends and high school rock’n’roll band mates, have a partnership that perfectly pairs Monnat’s eloquence and finesse in the courtroom with Spurrier’s unparalleled legal research and writing.

Spurrier graduated second in his class from Washburn University Law School, while clerking for several Shawnee County District Court Judges. Monnat, who earned an honor’s bachelor’s degree in English from California State University-San Francisco and a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law, worked for firms in Kansas and Nebraska before collaborating with Spurrier to build a firm the way they believed it should be run.

“In law school, we’re trained to do research. But in actual practice, litigators don’t have time to do research because we’re always in the courtroom,” Monnat said. “It seemed to me that for every lawyer in the courtroom, there needed to be an equally outstanding lawyer doing research and writing compelling briefs.

“As is often the case with brilliant scholars, Stan is an introvert,” Monnat continued. “I’m the extrovert. Together, we made one solid legal team that brought the best arguments to the judge and jury.”

That teamwork has led to numerous successes, including cutting-edge decisions of the appellate courts and one half-million-dollar white-collar-fraud jury trial where the judge found the defendant “not guilty” at the end of the prosecutor’s opening statement, based on Monnat’s motion and Spurrier’s research.

In addition to its success in the courtroom, the firm has become known nationwide for ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Kung Fu Strategies for the Courtroom,’ a continuing legal education seminar presented by Monnat and his wife, internationally acclaimed Chinese martial artist and Monnat & Spurrier Office Manager Grace Wu-Monnat. The hour-long seminar teaches lawyers the art of jury trial strategy, based in part on Wu-Monnat’s marital arts wisdom and in part on Sun Tzu’s ancient treatise, ‘The Art of War’.

In addition to Dan Monnat and Stan Spurrier, the firm includes two former prosecutors and two former public defenders, all noted for their extraordinary work in the criminal courts: Trevor Riddle, Sal Intagliata, Robb Hunter and, starting in January, legal research and writing specialist Kathryn Stevenson.

“For three decades, Stan and I have deliberately chosen to keep this a small, focused firm, so we could practice the golden rule of professionalism: Give the clients we are privileged to represent the same exceptional thought, action, courage and care we would want for our own families and loved ones if they were ever accused.

“Our firm has been privileged to do that every day for the past 30 years, and we intend to keep doing that every day for many years to come.”

  • Oct 28, 2015
  • Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Matt Reidl

WICHITA, Kan. — Two men accused of murder appeared in a Sedgwick County courtroom on Tuesday.

In the first case, a 22-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly shot three men in a car on Thursday near 53rd Street North and Meridian.

Adam Ray was charged with one count of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of methamphetamine in connection with the shooting, which left one man dead and two critically injured.

Police have said Ray shot the three men in the head with a handgun because he thought they were trying to collect drug money he owed. According to court documents, 21-year-old Omar Garcia died at the scene.

After initially fleeing, Ray later returned to turn himself in, police have said.

Ray, appearing over a closed-circuit television monitor from the Sedgwick County Jail, asked no questions of Judge Jeff Goering in court Tuesday. He has hired attorney Sal Intagliata to represent him.

Ray is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $250,000 bond. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 10.

In the second case, a 41-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder in connection with a May homicide at a party at Parrot-fa-Nalia, near Hillside and George Washington Boulevard.

Grover James also appeared before Goering over closed-circuit television. He asked no questions as Goering read him the charges: one count of first-degree murder and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Police have said James got into an argument at a private party at Parrot’s Party Place, a rental space beside the Parrot-fa-Nalia Unique Boutique, on May 9. The argument escalated into gunfire, police have said.

One of the bullets struck Leon McClennon, 17, in the head, killing him. McClennon, a student at Wichita West High School, had no criminal history and was not involved in James’ argument, police have said.

James is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He is next scheduled to appear on Nov. 10.

Read the full article at Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle – By Matt Reidl

  • Oct 12, 2015
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered attorneys Dan Monnat and Sal Intagliata have been honored among the region’s most distinguished criminal defense attorneys by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2015. Only 5 percent of all attorneys are included in the Super Lawyers list.

Dan Monnat has practiced in Wichita for more than 38 years. 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 Association for Justice’ Board of Editors and is the Criminal Law Chair.  He is 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. 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 returned to the firm in 2010. His 20 years in practice include 16 years in private practice and 4 years as Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney prosecuting crimes in the Gangs/Violent Crimes Division. His practice remains focused on criminal, white-collar criminal and DUI offenses and 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.

  • Aug 26, 2015
  • KWCH.com
  • -
  • by Anne Meyer

FORD COUNTY, Kan. – A Dodge City jury has found Brock Cunningham not guilty on charges of child abuse and murder.

Cunningham was accused of killing 3-year-old Natalie Pickle in 2008.

He told police the little girl fell off of the bed, but doctors said Pickle’s injuries were severe, not something caused by a fall or minor accident.

Attorney Dan Monnat says Brock Cunningham shed tears of joy after the verdict and wants to focus on spending quality time with his family.

Monnat felt the strongest evidence in the case, was Cunningham’s own testimony. He told jurors he did not kill Natalie.

“You know sometimes we’re not that confident, but on this case we felt that Brock was so clearly innocent as shown by every piece of evidence involved in the case,” Monnat said. “Including the two lie detector tests he passed.”

Family described Natalie Pickle as a bundle of joy with a big smile and head full of curly red hair. The three-year old died in November 2008, from what doctors say was blunt force trauma.

Family says she was in the care of Cunningham, who was the boyfriend of Natalie’s mother at the time.

Charges were not field in this case until 2013. That’s when a new Ford County attorney took office and issued an arrest warrant for Cunningham.

Ford County Judge Leigh Hood said Cunningham cannot be charged again in the case.

“I think right now what he really wants to do is spend some quality, carefree time with his wife and children,” Monnat added. “I’m sure he has been stressed out to the maximum especially in the last few months.”

See full video at KWCH.com

KWCH TV – By Anne Meyer