A Wichita defendant has become the justification for a bill to broaden Kansas’ civil and criminal anti-terrorism statutes. But the action is premature, says legal analyst Dan Monnat: “I’m always disheartened when I hear American government officials ignoring our time-honored presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial…”
WICHITA, Kan. – Eighteen-year-old Anthony Bluml has filed three handwritten motions in his capital murder case. But Legal Analyst Dan Monnat says it’s not a good idea…. Without legal expertise, Monnat says defendants can unknowingly incriminate themselves and end up paying a big price for it.
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday reversed the convictions and ordered a new trial for a former Inman police chief convicted on 15 counts of sexual assault on children living in his home. Daniel Monnat, a Wichita attorney who argued Akins’ appeal, praised the Supreme Court finding that the prosecutor’s comments denied Akins a fair trial and said, “Courtroom theatrics are not evidence….”
“A former Kansas police chief who was convicted of child sex crimes will get a new trial. Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court granted Akins a new trial after finding prosecutorial misconduct. Dan Monnat, Akins’ attorney, says he’s confident his client will be exonerated at a new trial. In the meantime, he’ll likely ask a judge to release Akins on bond. Michael Akins once served as Chief of Police in Inman. In 2011, Akins was sentenced to two life sentences for sexually assaulting three children.”
McPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a former police chief convicted of 15 counts of sexually molesting three girls. Forty-two-year-old Michael Akins Jr. was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to two life terms. He was police chief in the central Kansas town of Inman when he was charged. The Supreme Court reversed…
Citing prosecutorial misconduct, the Kansas Supreme Court has reversed 15 convictions and two consecutive life sentences of ex-Inman, Kansas, police chief Mike Akins Jr. “Mr. Akins is confident that he will be found not guilty at any new trial,” said his lawyer, Dan Monnat. The Akins’ decision was Monnat’s “fourth reversal of a life sentence for sex offenses under Jessica’s Law…”
The Kansas Supreme Court reversed a former Inman police chief’s convictions on sexual abuse charges Friday, and a new trial was ordered…. In the appeal, Akins attorney, Dan Monnat, alleged the assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case… made several errors that denied Akins a fair trial, saying the prosecutor “posed as her own unsworn psuedo-psychological expert….”
Though not representing alleged terrorist Terry Lee Loewen, Dan Monnat’s prominence as a Kansas defense attorney has made him a sought-after source for news media covering the case. In this AP story distributed worldwide, Monnat says the 21-page criminal complaint against Loewen doesn’t contain enough information to find his guilt or evidence of FBI entrapment. But he questioned the FBI’s tactics.
Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered Ranked Among Best Law Firms
As Rated by U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers
“Best Law Firms” – a listing produced by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers – has ranked Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered among the Best Law Firms in this metropolitan region in two categories:
• Appellate Practice
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar
In the first case arising out of a sex-sting operation conducted in October 2011, a jury has found a Wichita man not guilty of any crime…”It was obvious… an innocent man was entrapped in a government net that had simply been cast too wide,” said Trevor Riddle, Miller’s defense attorney.
