Wonder if PhilL will screw this one up?

[proud2BlibKansan]

Conviction overturned in 1974 Prairie Village murder
By DIANE CARROLL
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas Supreme Court today overturned the conviction of John Henry Horton, who was found guilty in 2004 of murdering Lizabeth Wilson, a 13-year-old Prairie Village girl, in 1974.

In the opinion, the court said that the state failed to present sufficient evidence at Horton’s preliminary hearing. Because of that, Horton should not have been bound over for trial, the ruling said.

Wilson disappeared on July 7, 1974. She was last seen in a parking lot behind Shawnee Mission East High School at 75th Street and Mission Road after leaving the Prairie Village municipal pool. Her skeletal remains were found six months later in a Lenexa field being cleared for construction.

A Johnson County District Court jury found Horton guilty of first-degree felony murder in January 2005. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years in accordance with the law in effect at the time of the murder.

more . . .
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/16608324.htm

[SheilaT]

1. I was not living here in Kansas

in 1974, and somehow totally didn't pay attention to the recent trial and conviction of John Horton.

That said, we can rest assured that Phill will screw up at least one major trial during his term as DA. And I do think we need to have a full-page ad ready to go for the KC Star with a list of the Republican precinct committee chairs, saying These are the people who gave you Phill Kline.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Sheila, bring that idea to the next Jo Co Dem breakfast!

next Saturday, right?

Yes this was a horrific crime. I was away at college but followed it in The Star. I grew up in PV. This was a very shocking crime. And it took forever to find this little girl and then to find her murderer.

[SheilaT]

3. What I should probably do is

run the ad idea by Bill Roy. The main consideration probably needs to be if we really can print all the names without being open to some kind of law suit. I don't know if precinct committee chair, although an elected position, would be considered enough of a public office to render immunity.

[Mabus]

4. More than likely he'll get someone with litigation experience

to act his second chair who ends up doing all the work while PhilL sits in first chair and acts like he's running the show. The other thing he could do is to assign it to one of his ADA and let them run the trial. That way PhilL would say he intends to act more in a supervisory position rather than an actual litigator. Let's just hope that the attorneys he's hired aren't as incompetent as he is but I'm not going to hold my breathe.