• Oct 24, 2011
  • The Wichita Eagle / Kansas.com
  • -
  • by Ron Sylvester

WICHITA — A deadly traffic accident resulting in the arrest of a Wichita doctor was caused by a stroke, the physician’s lawyer said today.

Mohammad Sarrafizadeh, 67, had been arrested the day after his car struck and killed 31-year-old lawn service worker Ramon Martinez-Limon the morning of June 10. Circumstances surrounding the death shocked the community, after police said the doctor apparently drove for three miles with the man’s body on top of his van after crashing into him on Greenwich Road near Douglas.

Today, Wichita lawyer Dan Monnat, who represents Sarrafizadeh, said the stroke left the doctor unaware an accident had occurred.

“The medical evidence and testing of four independent Kansas doctors now clearly establish that,” Monnat said in a statement released by his office. “The condition left Dr. Sarrafizadeh so disoriented and confused that he turned around and drove home not even realizing he had been involved in an accident.”

Sarrafizdeh had been driving his 22-year-old daughter, who is severely disabled, to her special needs school the morning of the accident, Monnat said. The stroke also forced the radiologist to retire his position at the VA Medical Center.

“Dr. Sarrafizadeh did not consciously drive in an unsafe manner,” Monnat said. “He suffered a medical condition that caused the accident.  It rendered him incapable of even understanding that an accident had occurred. Otherwise, as he has done with veterans and others his whole life, Dr. Sarrafizadeh would have done everything possible to render immediate aid to Mr. Martinez-Limon.”

A spokeswoman with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office said formal charges against the doctor had not yet been filed.

Last June, police said Martinez-Limon had been working near the street when a minivan struck him on Greenwich Road near Douglas around 7:15 a.m. that Friday near a Hawker Beechcraft plant entrance. Martinez-Limon was apparently thrown onto the roof of the vehicle. Witnesses saw the minivan driving with the victim on the roof and called 911, police said, adding that someone followed the vehicle to Sarrafizdeh’s house in the 1500 block of North Krug, near 13th and 127th Street East.

“The sincere condolences and prayers of Dr. Sarrafizadeh and his family go out to the family of Mr. Martinez-Limon,” Monnat said. “This was a tragic accident.”

Read Article on Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle / Kansas.com
BY RON SYLVESTER

  • Oct 21, 2011
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Best Lawyers, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Dan Monnat, of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, as the “Wichita Best Lawyers Criminal Defense: White-Collar Lawyer of the Year” for 2012. In each major market, only one lawyer in each high-profile legal specialty is honored as the Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting lengthy peer-review surveys in which lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers for legal ability, integrity, pro bono service and achievement. The lawyers honored as “Lawyers of the Year” received particularly high ratings in the surveys. In addition to his Lawyer of the Year designation for Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Monnat was also recognized in the fields of criminal defense and appellate defense.

  • Oct 06, 2011
  • KSN TV

A Kansas man has sued Facebook, claiming the social media company violated wiretap laws with a tracking cookie that records users’ web browsing history after they log off the site.  According to KSN Legal Expert Dan Monnat, “the plaintiffs in this case are likely to have an uphill battle…”

See video at KSN

KSN TV

  • Sep 30, 2011
  • KSN TV

A former Dodge City police officer will receive a new trial on charges that he shot and killed his ex-girlfriend. Christopher Tahah was convicted of felony murder, for the May 4, 2007 shooting death of Erin Jones. Tahah admitted he went to her home to kill her in a jealous rage but claims he reconsidered at the last minute before his rifle went off accidentally.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the jury should have been told to consider lesser offenses including second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. They based their decision off of a July Kansas Supreme Court ruling that now forces prosecutors in felony murder cases to allow the jury to consider lesser offenses in deliberations.

“That means even though the theory is felony murder, if there’s evidence to suggest a lesser degree of homicide than the jury must consider that lesser crime,” said KSN legal analyst Dan Monnat.

The case now goes back to the Ford County Attorney.

See video at KSN

KSN TV

  • Jun 24, 2011
  • Monnat & Spurrier

WICHITA, Kan. – Dan Monnat has been named one of Kansas’ most notable litigation lawyers by Chambers USA 2011. According to the magazine’s editorial report, Monnat “is a seriously adroit and capable lawyer to have on your side, particularly for white collar criminal work.”
Lawyers are researched and ranked by Chambers USA based on legal ability, client service, business acumen, diligence, and professional conduct. Rankings also reflect pre-eminence in the attorney’s key practice area and achievement in the past year.

  • May 15, 2011
  • KSN TV
  • -
  • by Craig Andres

Topeka, Kan. – A controversial proposal in Kansas to restrict private health insurance for abortions has passed and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Brownback. The measure prohibits insurance companies from automatically covering abortions in their health plans, except to save a woman’s life. Individuals and employers wanting the coverage would have to buy separate abortion-only policies.

Some legal analysts say the measure could be challenged.

“This Kansas legislation has to be examined for unconstitutional gender discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause,” explains legal analyst Dan Monnat. “The Kansas legislature has singled out a medical procedure that only a woman can need and then cut off access to it based solely on emotional, religious and political considerations.”

Lawmakers who voted in the bill call it a fair measure.

“We also succeeded in passing legislation (HB 2075) that will, among many other amendments to the Insurance Code, provide for optional insurance coverage through riders for certain abortions, if an individual feels compelled to acquire such coverage,” explains Republican Dennis Hedke of Wichita. “Pro-life advocates were also likely pleased to learn that state monies will no longer be expended to provide insurance coverage to state employees seeking an abortion, unless the procedure is necessary to protect the life of the mother.”

Kansans for Life, a group that is strongly opposed to abortions, is calling this a big win.

“And [sic] abortion is not health care, so I’m glad that they just took that out of there,” says David Gittrich of Kansans For Life. “If you want a rider for abortion you can still get it, but for the vast majority of Kansans who don’t want to pay for abortions, and don’t want it as part of their health insurance, now they can have that taken out of there.”

The House approved the measure 86-30 on Friday morning, sending it to Governor Sam Brownback. The Senate passed it Thursday night, 28-10. House members’ action came only hours after they had blocked its passage. The House voted 70-51 early Friday morning against the measure, but it later reconsidered and launched another debate.

The anti-abortion language is bundled with other insurance regulatory changes in a single bill. House members initially objected, not over the abortion language, but over other insurance proposals.

Governor Brownback is expected to sign it into law.

See video at KSN

KSN TV – Craig Andres

  • Apr 23, 2011
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Carrie Rengers
 “… he spoke with conviction and passion about the value of the American Constitution and the rule of law in the United States, and you couldn’t help thinking that if you ever got into serious trouble with the police, you’d want him at your side.”

– Stephen Singular, author of the new “The Wichita Divide: The Murder of Dr. George Tiller and the Battle Over Abortion,” on Tiller attorney Dan Monnat

The Wichita Eagle – By Carrie Rengers
  • Mar 29, 2011
  • Monnat & Spurrier

The International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers 2011 has named Dan Monnat one of the world’s leading practitioners in business crime defense. The publication is a strategic research partner of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law.

Monnat has practiced in Wichita for nearly 35 years, handling criminal and white-collar criminal cases attracting international attention. Last fall, he was named a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

“It’s a supreme honor to be recognized among this worldwide group of exemplary lawyers,” Monnat said. “Legal actions in Kansas can have potential global impact. That’s why we work so diligently to protect jurisprudence in Kansas, in the hope that it may become a model internationally.”

  • Mar 25, 2011
  • KSN TV

A teacher convicted of having sex with a student will try to get the law tossed out, saying the student was an adult and the sex shouldn’t be criminal. The teacher is 30 years old. The student was 18. And a state law makes sex between the two a felony. But the teacher’s lawyer says the law is unconstitutional and will fight to get it erased from the law books.

Attorneys for 30-year-old Charles Edwards are not fighting his firing from the Wichita School District. But they say his arrest on criminal charges is unconstitutional. Edwards taught vocal lessons at Northwest High School and had sex with an 18-year-old student.

Kansas law bans any sex between any kind of law enforcement officer and inmates. There’s also a clause saying it’s criminal if the offender is a teacher or a person in position of authority and the person with whom the offender is engaging in consensual sexual intercourse is a student enrolled at the school where the offender is employed. Edwards’ attorney says his client pleaded guilty to the charge so they could begin appealing the law.

“How far do we want the state to pry into our individual consensual sexual relationships?” said legal analyst Dan Monnat, who is not representing Edwards.
Monnat says Edwards may have a case against the constitutionality of the law.
A Supreme Court ruling declaring laws banning gay sex between consenting adults may apply to this case. Monnat says just because people may find a relationship inappropriate, doesn’t mean it should be against the law.

“There may be all kinds of consensual sexual relations that the public finds in bad taste, but does the public want to send those persons to prison?” he said.
Edwards will be sentenced on the conviction in May. His lawyer is expecting probation because of his client’s clean criminal record. The appeals process is expected to take about a year

See video at KSN

KSN TV

  • Jan 27, 2011
  • Monnat & Spurrier

10 N 1358 (Newton, Kan., Mun. Ct. Jan. 27, 2011): Trial judge suppressed all evidence of driving under the influence of alcohol; criminal case dismissed with prejudice; driver’s-license suspension dismissed, and client’s driving privileges restored