Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett is pushing for a law school or satellite law
school in the county. When KSN asked defense attorney Dan Monnat about this enterprise, he
said, “Amongst other things, it will furnish lawyers at law firms in Wichita with student law clerks
who can help reduce the price of having to have all the work and research done by lawyers
charging full fare….”
A Sedgwick County Sheriff’s detective allegedly mishandled cases in the Exploited and Missing Children and Internet Crimes Against Children units from 2019 to 2024. Defense attorney Dan Monnat explains what this might mean for child sex abuse or child abuse handled by that detective: “The two worst extremes from that are, one, real child predators or child abusers go uncharged and two, innocent people become wrongfully accused.” “The witnesses become harder and hard to find, and their memories become harder and harder to rely on….”
A federal judge in Kansas has tossed out a machine gun possession charge and questioned if bans on the weapons violate the Second Amendment. Defense attorney Dan Monnat tells KWCH TV that others charged with possession will try to use this ruling to their benefit. “I presume everybody accused of possessing machine guns will use this case as precedent to contend that the cases can’t be prosecuted….”
AUGUSTA, Kan. – Will two Augusta teens arrested in connection to the murder of a 93-year-old woman be tried as adults? Wichita attorney Dan Monnat tells KWCH TV that prosecutors will have to jump through a lot of hoops before that can happen, and a judge will have to find that the community will be better served by treating a child as an adult….
VALLEY CENTER, Kan. — The Valley Center police department will be wrapping up its investigation into the Valley Center boys’ varsity baseball team animal cruelty case in about a week, but it will be about a month before they’re able to meet with the DA’s office to consider charges. Dan Monnat tells KAKE TV there’s no rush for the DA to possibly make charges because there’s no threat to the public and the Valley Center Police Department said there’s no one in custody….
Even if the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration moves forward with reclassifying marijuana to make it considered a less serious drug, KSN Legal Analyst Dan Monnat points out this is only a reclassification by one part of the federal government, the DEA, and it’s not a done deal yet. He also says, “even if reclassified, this is not going to throw open the doors of the penitentiary….”
Jonathan and Reginald Carr are seeking to be re-sentenced separately for five murders committed in a weeklong crime spree in 2000. The case has a long history of appeals before the Kansas and U.S. Supreme Court. “Is all that necessary in a death penalty case? Absolutely,” Dan Monnat tells KWCH TV. “Whenever government anywhere seeks to render the ultimate penalty, the ultimate degree of care and fairness must be assured….”
Questions linger after the death of a Wichita man, fatally injured after being hit by a Wichita Police Department vehicle. Radio traffic shows that the officer never told dispatch that someone had been critically injured. “Could all of this be explained by the shock and panic of a sudden automobile crash? Maybe, but there are certainly questions that arise from the dispatcher tape that have to be addressed,” Dan Monnat tells KWCH TV. “…Why are no familiar codes for ‘injury accident’ used to express that a human being is lying in the street, severely injured?….”
Following the death of George Floyd, Gabrielle Griffie organized a Wichita protest and was arrested on two counts of unlawful assembly for “noisy conduct.” The ACLU questions the city ordinance that led to Griffie’s arrest, arguing that her First Amendment rights were violated. Criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat agrees, telling KWCH TV, “With a vague term like ‘noisy conduct’ that’s in the municipal ordinance, doesn’t that vague term threaten — even chill — your right of expression and free speech?’”
WICHITA — An Oklahoma sheriff believes Dennis Rader (BTK) is connected to a missing persons case, but Rader denies involvement. This leaves some people wondering why he’s not confessing. Dan Monnat, a criminal defense attorney, said this may have something to do with Oklahoma law, which reinstated the death penalty in 1973. “Every government prosecutor ought to be able to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt without the words of the accused” explains Monnat….
