Kansas same-sex marriage status: It’s Complicated

  • Nov 05, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Brittany Glas

WICHITA, Kansas — As the debate over same-sex marriage continues in Kansas, the courtroom drama is getting more complicated…. The state filed the action against a Kansas 10th Judicial District Judge, when last month he granted a same-sex marriage license to a Johnson Co. couple, pointing to recent cases in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah that found gay marriage bans unconstitutional. Says legal analyst Dan Monnat, “It applies to the Kansas law the rulings of the 10th circuit on the Utah and Oklahoma laws because the Kansas law is virtually identical….”

Foster Father of Baby Left in Hot Car Charged with First-Degree Murder

  • Jul 30, 2014
  • KSN TV

WICHITA, Kan. – The foster father accused of leaving a 10-month-old child to die inside a hot car was charged on Wednesday in Sedgwick County Court with first-degree murder. KSN News asked legal expert Dan Monnat why he is being charged with first-degree murder instead of a lesser charge. “What they’re saying is that he recklessly caused the child to be placed in a situation where the child was endangered and regrettably that resulted in the death. Elevating what otherwise would be ‘aggravated child endangerment’ to first-degree murder,” said Monnat.

Carr Brothers Still Face Life Sentence in Prison

  • Jul 25, 2014
  • KSN TV

WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the death sentences of the Carr brothers who were convicted of capital murder in a case involving robbery, rape and the fatal shooting of four people whose bodies were left in a snow-covered Wichita soccer field. “Superficially, it could be said that an error of the court has resulted in the reversal of the death sentences because the Carr brothers were tried together in the death penalty phase,” said KSN legal analyst Dan Monnat….

Questions Over Release of Sex Offender Continue in Cowley Co.

  • Jul 22, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Brittany Glas

WINFIELD, Kan. – Some residents of Winfield are outraged that a convicted sex offender was allowed to go home before being sentenced to life in prison. “Is this person a danger to the community, or is he a risk of flight? It is entrusted to the wisdom of the individuals we elect and put in place as judges,” said Dan Monnat, KSN Legal Analyst…

Kansas Judge Could Face Censure from State Supreme Court

  • Jul 09, 2014
  • KSN TV
  • -
  • by Brian Miller and Eric Armstrong

“Power tends to corrupt and judges have enormous power,” said legal expert Dan Monnat, as a state judicial board finds a Sedgwick County judge has been sexually harassing female co-workers for years. “The (Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications) has now found by clear and convincing testimony that this judge did not follow the rules designed to be a check on his power….”

Ketner Takes Plea Deal, Probation

  • Jul 08, 2014
  • Dodge City Daily Globe
  • -
  • by Christopher Guinn

DODGE City, Kan. — Dodge City pastor Jerrold Wayne Ketner pled guilty to a single count of aggravated sexual battery as part of a plea agreement with the state that dropped six other felony charges, including rape and attempted rape. “Dr. Ketner has accepted responsibility,” Ketner’s attorney Sal Intagliata said, pointing out the number of supporters in the courtroom which he said have helped and will continue to help Ketner meet the conditions of his probation.

Dan Monnat Comments for KSN on Teen Sexting

  • Jun 27, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Brittany Glas

GARDEN CITY, Kansas – At least six Garden City teens could face charges for allegedly texting nude photos of a Garden City High School student when she was 13 years old. KSN Legal Analyst Dan Monnat says the case hinges on who possesses the photos with the criminal intent to transmit them and, most important, whether the photos were obtained by a warrant, per the recent Supreme Court ruling. “We have to ask a question this week that we wouldn’t have had to ask last week: ‘Did the law enforcement officers here acquire the images from the sexting telephones with a valid search warrant?’ If they didn’t, then the photos cannot be admitted into evidence, and probably, these individuals need to go free of being accused of any crime.”

Wichitans React to Ruling that Could Clear the Way for Same-Sex Marriage

  • Jun 26, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Felix Rodrigues Lima

WICHITA, Kan. – Supporters of same-sex marriage may be closer to the ability to marry in Kansas thanks to a ruling by the 10th Circuit Court that struck down a Utah same-sex marriage ban that is also binding in Kansas. “Does the decision of the court necessarily say those law enforcement officials must issue licenses? No, because the 10th Circuit stayed its decision [pending an appeal to the Supreme Court],” legal analyst Dan Monnat said. “Whether or not the United States Supreme Court reviews this is a discretionary matter,” Monnat said.

Experts Weigh in on Ruling That Police Must Get Warrant to Search Cell Phones

  • Jun 25, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Felix Rodrigues Lima

WICHITA, Kansas – Individual privacy supporters applauded a Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that determined that the contents of cell phones can only be released to law enforcement through a search warrant, because “a person’s life… can be reconstructed, said the court, by means of their smartphone,” according to Dan Monnat, a legal analyst.

Battery Charge Dropped Under Kansas ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law

  • May 13, 2014
  • KAKE TV

OAKLEY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been granted immunity from liability under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law for shooting a former employee. Wichita defense attorney Dan Monnat said, “under Kansas law a person has no duty to retreat as long as that person is defending a dwelling, an occupied vehicle or a place of business….”