By NADIA PFLAUM
Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline might have lost his opportunity to stick Edwin Hall
with the death penalty if Hall is found guilty of Kelsey Smith’s slaying.During a hearing today in front of Johnson County District Court Judge Peter Ruddick, Hall’s defense attorney, Paul Cramm, contended that Kline has screwed up his petition for the death penalty so badly that the entire document is defective. Kline misstated case law in his petition and failed to sign the document with the proper signature block.
These errors were egregious enough to warrant that the death penalty be dropped as a potential sentence in the case, according to Cramm. Instead, life in prison without parole would be the maximum sentence if Hall is convicted. Cramm cited other cases in which judges had thrown out 40 years as the maximum possible sentence based on inaccurate paperwork filed by the prosecution.
Judge Ruddick then asked Kline, “You agree that the petition filed August 1, 2006, did not comply with Supreme Court rule 111?”
Kline said, “True.”
The judge continued, “If we’re talking about whether this is a matter of form over substance … it begs the question, why wasn’t it done right? Any idea?”
Kline had no answer for that question. But after a moment, he said, “This basically turns the statute on its head … It’s the statute that defines procedure.”
His argument was familiar to anyone who’s observed Kline in his years in Topeka before becoming the Johnson County district attorney: the argument that the Legislature trumps the Supreme Court. It was reminiscent of Kline’s days railing against “activist judges.”
But it might not have been a very wise argument to bring up in front of a judge.
Ruddick seemed to agree with Cramm, when the judge said that death penalty cases ought to be weighed against the highest standard.
Also today, Cramm argued that the case against Hall should be thrown out entirely because Kline withheld evidence from the grand jury that indicted Hall.
Ruddick agreed at least in part with Cramm, saying, “Frankly, the testimony that occurred in front of the grand jury is inconsistent, at the very least.” The judge called the inconsistent statements a detective made in front of the judge, versus what the grand jury got to hear, “surprising.” The grand jury, he explained, did not hear that other people besides Hall were identified and interviewed as possible suspects during the initial investigation of Smith’s disappearance.
Kline brushed the blame off on the detective. Kline said the detective believed at the time that an additional suspect’s alibi had been determined, when in fact it wasn’t determined until much later.
The judge also took it upon himself to define the word “alibi” for Kline, saying, “An alibi isn’t an excuse. It’s Latin for ‘in another place.’” But Ruddick denied the defense’s motion to throw out the case, saying that regardless of the evidence the grand jury missed, there was plenty of evidence against Hall to establish enough probable cause to indict him.
Ruddick declined to throw out Hall's indictment. But as to whether the judge would throw out the death penalty, Ruddick said he’d take the matter “under advisement” and rule later.
The next hearing in Hall’s trial will be heard before Ruddick on July 23.
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Know the difference between elegant and casual. Wedges come in a variety of styles and while some are great for a casual date they may not work for a sophisticated night on the town or a special occasion. If you look in the mirror and feel you're wedges aren't up to par with the rest of the outfit you're probably right.
O.K., A COP, I've known Cramm since Cornwell first hired him fresh out of law school. He's actually been practicing for 9 years and has handled a number of prior homicide and manslaughter criminal cases as well as civil wrogful death matters. (Ask the Johnson County Commissioners how much they had to shell out when Cramm represented the family of an inmate who died in the jai a few years ago - or ask the City of KCMO how much they shelled out when their runaway fire truck ran over an innocent bystander a few Labor Days ago. He seems to have gotten those right?!?) The fact of the matter is, there aren't enough Capital Murders committed here to really turn it into a 'specialty' practice. Anyone who doesn't think Cramm knows what he's doing is free to check out the court file, read his pleadings, check the case citations, and compare his work to the pleadings filed by Sean O'Brien in the John Robinson case or Ron Evans of the Kansas Capital Defense Office in any one of the several cases they have handled. I'm not saying Cramm is any better than these guys, but they are clearly the top of their field and it looks like Cramm is doing a pretty good job of crossing t's and dotting i's. I don't think Cornwell would have hired Cramm 9 years ago when he was fresh out of law school, helped him start his own practice, or been willing to work with him in a case of this nature if he was anything less than competent. P.S. If you happened to stop by Jerry's Bait shop a couple of summers ago and caught Cramm with his old musician buddies, he still knows his way around the neck of a Stratocaster! What the heck is wrong with that? How many lawyers (or cops) still make time for a softball league or golf or a weekly game of pick-up basketball just to blow off steam and stay sane???
Question: does A Cop realize the reality of law? Any procedural error, no matter how slight, is grounds for an appeal and potential dismissal. If you don�t believe me, go ahead and misread the Miranda rights on your next arrest and see what happens. Then again, if you happen to be a Leawood cop, you probably don�t make arrests, so go ahead and fill out the wrong license plate number the next time you are doing the only thing that Leawood cops do�write speeding tickets to people traveling south on State Line Road.
While the same procedural error requirements do not apply to journalism, Nadia points out the obvious fact that the Judge is considering the motion. Further, an appellate court will most certainly be considering the same motion at a later date.
A Cop, at least you provided some interesting facts, which if true, shed some interesting light on the story. While I question your logic that a rock guitarist could never be a defense attorney (we all know that spot is reserved only for those that play Rock Band guitar, and even then they are required to stick to the punk genre), it would be pretty amazing for an inexperienced attorney to try and defend someone from the death penalty.
@ A Cop:
If Cramm was so wrong, why didn't the judge toss out that motion right there in the courtroom? The fact that he has to take time to weigh the argument shows that it wasn't off-base.
Thanks for the career advice. Have fun writing parking tickets!
Nadia,
What an unbelievable article! Did you really listen to the arguments? This article is a political hack job, pure and simple.
The only "error" was the omission of the prosecutor's BAR number, and that was the only error. There was no mistatement of case law, that was Cramm's opinion, and he is the lawyer defending Hall. His hubris is outweighed only by his inexeperience. Cramm has practiced law for only 7 years. He used to be a rock guitarist for God's sake! Other than this case, he has tried only DUI's. If it wasn't for Cornwell there would be countless appeals available for the prosecution.
You may want to start looking for a new job, as a reporter you are lacking considerably.
The bigger issue here is not whether a murder goes to jail or gets the death penalty. The bigger issue is how long before Kline really fumbles the ball and either sends an innocent man to jail or puts a guilty one back on the streets. The point of due process is to provide insurance against both these possibilities. If due process fails, the system fails.
Were you in the same courtroom I was? It's really ridiculous that the media wants to slap Phill Kline around so badly that you'll resort to outrageously exaggerated scare tactics to make him look incompetent. I just have one question. If he's so incompetent why are so many attorneys filing motions and trying to get their cases delayed hoping he'll be out of office? Seems to me like they would want them tried quickly by "Phill the hack" before someone competent came into office. Oh wait, he always WINS those motions! Good thing I like to sit in courtrooms or I'd never know that.
It seems, as per usual, the media has mistated the facts in this case once again. I know this reporter was in the courtroom today, but she certainly did not hear or report the same things I heard take place. Please get the facts straight before you file your story. Your readers see this and accept your version of what took place as the truth. You are doing a disservice to Kelsey and her family.
To Trevor: Judge Ruddick is not a "her".
Looking up Supreme Court Rule 111 (using the convenient link provided by Plogger Pro Pflaum) makes me ponder the heinousness of the error. Please don�t tell me that Phill used 1.5-spacing or A4 paper. If so, shit yeah the guy should walk free. After all, THAT is the way the system is supposed to work, right?
I know Phill Kline is your whipping boy and the kooks will come out in force to pile on this one, but where is the justice in letting a potential killer off the hook on a minor procedural error before the trial even begins? Fortunately, it seems Judge Ruddick is using prudence by considering the matter carefully before making her ruling. However, at this point, no matter the findings, the appeal wheels are already in motion.
Too bad SCOTUS didn�t strike down the death penalty as cruel and unusual. Doing so for this case alone would have likely saved enough money to pay for a fixing some real �Air Force sized� procedural errors.
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