Former Inman Police Chief to Get New Trial

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • KWCH TV
  • -
  • by John Boyd

“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.”

Ex-Kan. Police Chief to Get New Trial

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • SFGate

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…

Kansas Supreme Court Reverses Convictions, Life Sentences of Ex-Kansas Police Chief Mike Akins Jr.

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • The Pitch
  • -
  • by Justin Kendall

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…”

Sex Convictions of Former Inman Police Chief Overturned by Kansas Supreme Court

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • McPherson Sentinel
  • -
  • by Cristina Janney

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….”

Free Speech Battle Heats Up

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • KSNW TV

LAWRENCE, Kansas – Freedom of speech. It’s in the First Amendment. Some say it’s been dampened in Kansas. Says KSN Legal Analyst Dan Monnat: “The issue involved in the Board of Regents policy here, brings up exactly the question that has not been decided by the United States Supreme Court. That is, whether the rule restricting speech of public employees applies in academic freedom and scholarship.”

Questionnaire Could Determine Who Has to Take Drug Test for Welfare Benefits

  • Jan 07, 2014
  • KSNW TV
  • -
  • by Felix Rodrigues-Lima

WICHITA, Kansas – A drug abuse assessment form may become one of the factors that determines which welfare recipients will have to take a drug test to receive benefits. But how the test is administered may mean a person could be giving up Constitutional rights just to feed her or his family, says KSN Legal Expert Dan Monnat…

Was Wichita Airport Bomb Suspect a Victim of Entrapment?

  • Dec 17, 2013
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Tim Potter

Wichita defense lawyer Dan Monnat says entrapment involves two elements: law enforcement inducing someone to commit a crime, and the person having no predisposition to commit the crime….“The defense of entrapment reflects the sound public policy that it is unconscionable for government officers to ensnare the innocent and law-abiding into the commission of crime,” Monnat said. Entrapment exists when the criminal idea originates with government agents instead of the accused and when the accused is persuaded by the officers to commit the crime, he said.

Entrapment Could Be Used In Defense of Loewen

  • Dec 16, 2013
  • KSNW TV

WICHITA, Kan. — Terry Lee Loewen made national news when he tried to blow up his car on the tarmac at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport. Court papers show Loewen reached out to people he thought were Al Qaida….But those people were really FBI agents. Attorneys say entrapment defense likely on tap for Loewen. “For there to be entrapment, two ingredients are necessary,” said Dan Monnat, KSNW Legal Analyst. “One, government inducement. Two, no predisposition by the accused to commit the crime…”

Undercover Stings Used to Fight Domestic Terrorism

  • Dec 14, 2013
  • Associated Press
  • -
  • by Roxana Hegeman

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.