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Thread: James Kraig Kahler - Kansas Death Row

  1. #21
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Kahler defense, prosecution spar over mental health in death penalty case

    Defense seeks second trial in ‘09 quadruple slaying in Osage County

    In a case where no one challenged that James Kraig Kahler fatally shot his two teen daughters, his estranged wife and his wife’s grandmother, Kahler’s defense was prejudiced when the judge failed to read an instruction on how jurors should consider the evidence provided by expert witnesses testifying about Kahler’s mental health, an appellate defender told the Kansas Supreme Court on Friday.

    Kahler’s defense in the four slayings was that mental illness prevented him from being able to form the necessary intent or premeditation for capital murder.

    Kahler was apprehended in Shawnee County near Auburn within hours of the slayings.

    On Oct. 11, 2011, Kahler was sentenced to death in Osage County District Court for murdering Karen Kahler, daughters Lauren Kahler, 16, and Emily Kahler, 18, and Karen Kahler’s 89-year-old grandmother, Dorothy Wight. The four were shot at Wight’s home during Thanksgiving Day weekend Nov. 28, 2009, in Burlingame.

    On Friday, Meryl Carver-Allmond of the of the Capital Appellate Defenders Office, argued that Kahler’s convictions and the death penalty sentence should be overturned.

    In Kahler’s appeal, appellate defenders contended psychiatric testimony supporting Kahler “provided sufficient evidence to support giving the (expert witness) instruction.”

    Stephen Peterson, a psychiatrist, examined Kahler for his defense and testified during the trial about Kahler’s severe depression, a single episode of major depressive disorder and his post-traumatic stress disorder, according to appellate defense records.

    Peterson found Kahler was “severely mentally impaired” on Nov. 28, 2009, and that Kahler’s ability to make rational decisions that evening was “heavily influenced by his major depression,” defense records contended. But Peterson didn’t think he was allowed to provide an expert opinion during the trial.

    The defense didn’t mention a key statement by Kahler “when it sounds like he is having an out-of-body experience,” Carver-Allmond said.

    To not allow the defense to point out this piece of key evidence showing Kahler’s mental state is harmful to the defendant, Carver-Allmond said.

    However, prosecution witness William Logan, a psychiatrist, did give an opinion, testifying he didn’t see anything in Kahler’s initial interview with law enforcement officers to suggest he lacked the capacity to premeditate or form the intent to kill.

    Kristafer R. Ailslieger, deputy solicitor general for the Kansas attorney general’s office, said a defense attorney did quote Peterson’s opinion about what Kahler said, and the defense attorney got the point into the court record.

    “There was no error, there was no prejudice, there was no harm,” Ailslieger said.

    Ailslieger said that Kansas case law spanning years instructs judges to not give expert witness instruction to the jury.

    Justice Lee Johnson noted that one expert had expressed an opinion in the Kahler trial and one hadn’t, and perhaps it was time for an exception to the rule to have Peterson express an opinion.

    Kahler, 53, who is being housed in the El Dorado Correctional Facility, wasn’t present in the Kansas Supreme Court during the appellate arguments on Friday. Defendants normally aren’t present during appellate hearings.

    Because Kahler is sentenced to death, defense and prosecution appellate attorneys had a maximum of one hour each to argue their points.

    Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones, who prosecuted the case with assistant attorney general Amy Hanley, sat in the supreme court to listen to the arguments. Tom Haney defended Kahler in the trial.

    The couple’s son, Sean Kahler — 10 at the time of the slayings — was the only other survivor.

    During the capital murder trial, the boy testified about seeing his father shoot his mother while he and Karen Kahler were cleaning coins in a kitchen sink. Kahler allowed his son to escape unharmed.

    During the sentencing of Kraig Kahler, two notes from Sean Kahler were read to jurors, both opposing imposition of the death penalty.

    It’s unknown when the court will issue a ruling on the Kahler appeal.

    http://cjonline.com/news/crime-court...h-penalty-case

  2. #22
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Kansas Supreme Court upholds Kahler death sentence

    WIBW News Now

    The Supreme Court affirms Kahler’s Osage County District Court jury trial convictions of aggravated burglary and capital murder for fatally shooting his wife, his wife’s grandmother, and his two daughters.

    Kahler raised 10 issues on appeal, including allegations of misconduct by the prosecutor and trial judge, challenges to the instructions given to the jury, and an argument the death penalty is unconstitutional when applied to a person who has a severe mental illness at the time he or she committed a crime.

    None of Kahler’s arguments convinced the majority of the court to overturn his convictions or death sentence.

    The majority held that the prosecutor did not commit an error by raising an objection during Kahler’s attorney’s closing argument. Although the majority found that the trial judge committed errors during the trial, the majority held that none of the errors affected the trial’s outcome and, therefore, the errors did not justify reversing either the guilty verdict or the death sentence.

    Furthermore, the majority reaffirmed the constitutionality of a Kansas statute that eliminated the insanity defense, and instead permits a jury to consider evidence of a person’s mental disease or defect solely to determine whether the person possessed the requisite mental state for the crime.

    The majority also reaffirmed its prior decision that the Eighth Amendment does not categorically prohibit the execution of persons who were severely mentally ill when the person committed the murder.

    Lastly, the majority concluded there was sufficient evidence that Kahler’s crime was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner to justify a death sentence.

    Justice Dan Biles wrote a concurring opinion, agreeing that Kahler’s conviction and sentence should be affirmed, but disagreeing with the majority that certain comments by the trial judge to the jury should be characterized as judicial misconduct.

    Justice Lee Johnson wrote a dissenting opinion, contending that the majority inadequately analyzed whether the statute removing mental disease or defect as a defense is constitutional in a death penalty case.

    Furthermore, the dissent agreed that the trial judge’s errors did not require reversal of Kahler’s guilty verdict, but they did warrant giving Kahler a new sentencing trial.

    Additionally, the dissent rejected the majority’s conclusion that the Eighth Amendment allows for the execution of the mentally ill.

    Lastly, the dissent argued the death penalty violates the Kansas Constitution’s prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment.

    https://www.wibwnewsnow.com/kansas-s...eath-sentence/

    So Justice Dan Biles is the reason why the DP in Kansas has been moving at a snails pace.

  3. #23
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    U.S. Supreme Court Mulls Kansas Inmate's Appeal Regarding Insanity Defense

    By Chris Haxel
    KBIA

    An appeal filed by a Kansas man on death row has caught the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court and could change how Kansas and other states prosecute people who commit crimes while mentally ill.

    Nobody disputes that James Kahler murdered four family members in 2009. But Kahler’s attorneys argued at trial and in subsequent appeals that he had spiraled into a mental health crisis in the months preceding the murders and was psychotic during the attack. The murders took place in Burlingame, about 30 miles south of Topeka.

    The Kansas Supreme Court upheld Kahler's conviction. In September, his attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that Kansas has effectively abolished the right to use insanity as a defense in criminal cases. That, they say, is unconstitutional because it violated Kahler's right to due process and resulted in excessive punishment.

    Three other states — Utah, Montana and Idaho — have also banished the insanity defense.

    From a statistical perspective, the petition faces long odds: Only about 80 out of 7,000 or more such petitions filed annually with the Supreme Court are granted.

    But last week the court requested more documents from the trial and subsequent appeals, which experts say may be a sign the court is ready to take on the case.

    All states require that defendants know what they were doing when they committed an offense. But most states also require defendants to understand that what they did was wrong, said Elizabeth Cateforis, a University of Kansas law professor who specializes in capital punishment and criminal procedure.

    If a defendant doesn't meet both conditions, he or she can invoke the insanity defense, which, if accepted, typically leads to mental health treatment instead of a prison sentence.

    In Kahler's case, a Life Alert recording device worn by one of the victims captured sound during the attack. At one point Kahler can be heard proclaiming, “Oh s**t! I am going to kill her… G*****n it!,” according to court records.

    In a brief opposing Kahler’s Supreme Court petition, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt wrote that the state hasn’t abolished but rather “redefined” the insanity defense.

    He also argued that the audio recording proves Kahler “knew at the time that what he was doing was both momentous and wrong.”

    Such a claim “rests on a thin reed,” Kahler’s attorneys replied in their brief. “A psychotic person’s use of profanity hardly suggests he knows right from wrong and has chosen freely to do wrong.”

    “For centuries, the insanity defense has protected those who cannot choose between doing good and doing evil,” they wrote. “Either because they cannot tell the difference or because they cannot control their conduct.”

    It’s unclear when the Supreme Court will decide whether to take the case. But if it does, Cateforis thinks the justices might be more interested in the narrower angle of capital punishment than the broader question of the insanity defense.

    The court in recent years has ruled that certain categories of defendants — such as juveniles or people with intellectual disabilities — cannot be sentenced to death.

    It’s possible, Cateforis said, that the Supreme Court intends to extend the same protection to people “suffering from such an extreme mental illness that (they) can’t form evil intent.”

    Or, she said, the court could choose to say that all defendants have a fundamental right to an insanity defense.

    Another possibility, she said, is that the the court would rule against Kahler. Should that happen, Cateforis expects other states to mirror Kansas and adopt more restrictive interpretations of the insanity defense.

    http://www.kbia.org/post/us-supreme-...fense#stream/0
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  4. #24
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court granted Kahler's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Kansas
    Case Numbers: (106,981)
    Decision Date: February 9, 2018
    Rehearing Denied: May 1, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/18-6135.html

  5. #25
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    U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Kansas Death Row Inmate's Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the appeal of a Kansas death row inmate who claims the state unconstitutionally abolished his right to use insanity as a defense for his crimes.

    Nobody disputes that James Kahler murdered four family members in 2009. But Kahler's attorneys argued at trial and in subsequent appeals that he had spiraled into a mental health crisis in the months preceeding the murders and was psychotic during the attack. The murders took place in Burlingame, about 30 miles south of Topeka.

    The Kansas Supreme Court upheld Kahler's conviction. In September, his attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that Kansas has effectively abolished the right to use insanity as a defense in criminal cases. That, they say, is unconstitutional because it violated Kahler's right to due process and resulted in excessive punishment.

    Three other states — Utah, Montana and Idaho — also have banished the insanity defense. The states could be forced to change their laws if the Supreme Court rules in Kahler's favor.

    All states require, as a prerequisite for conviction, that defendants knew what they were doing when they committed an offense. But most states also require defendants to understand that what they did was wrong. If defendants don't meet both conditions, they can invoke the insanity defense, which, if accepted, typically leads to mental health treatment instead of a prison sentence.

    In a brief opposing Kahler's petition, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt wrote that the state hasn't abolished but rather "redefined" the insanity defense.

    The Supreme Court will likely hear the case sometime after its next term begins in October.

    https://www.kcur.org/post/us-supreme...ppeal#stream/0
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  6. #26
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    US Supreme Court sets Oct. 7 for appeal in Osage County murder case

    By Chuck Samples
    KVOE News

    Three Kansas court cases will be heard by the United States Supreme Court this fall, including one from Osage County.

    The case of Kansas v. James Kraig Kahler will be heard Oct. 7. Kahler does not argue killing his wife, two daughters and his wife's grandmother in November 2009. However, he says state law did not let him assert an insanity defense and that prevention was unconstitutional.

    Kahler was convicted of capital murder in 2011. Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed both the conviction and resulting death penalty sentence in Kahler's case. The US Supreme Court has granted Kahler's request to have that decision reviewed.

    http://www.kvoe.com/news/item/44191-...ty-murder-case
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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  7. #27
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    U.S. Supreme Court to hear Kahler death sentence appeal

    Court schedules three Kansas cases for fall docket

    3 appeals involving Kansas will be on the U.S. Supreme Court docket when the court reconvenes for its October term, with 1 case centered on a capital murder conviction and subsequent death penalty sentence delivered by a jury and judge in Osage County, Kan.

    On Oct. 7, the first day of this year’s term, the Court will hear the defendant’s appeal in Kansas v. James Kraig Kahler, the capital murder case arising from Osage County. In the appeal, defendant Kahler does not dispute killing his wife, the couple’s 2 daughters, and his wife’s grandmother in November 2009, but argues Kansas law unconstitutionally prevented him from asserting an insanity defense in his case. The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted the defendant’s request to review that decision.

    The Kansas Attorney General’s Office reported it is the first time in modern Kansas history that the state has had three cases pending before the high court at one time. The attorney general’s office will represent Kansas in all three appeals as it does in all U.S. Supreme Court litigation.

    “The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear only about 1 % of the cases they are asked to review each term,” said Attorney General Derek Schmidt. “It is highly unusual for a single state, especially a small state like Kansas, to have 3 cases pending before the Court simultaneously. We are working vigorously to prepare for these 3 arguments and look forward to presenting the State’s cases in the fall.”

    Kansas last participated in oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, when the attorney general successfully argued that that the death sentences imposed on two capital murder defendants in Wichita and one in Great Bend did not violate the U. S. Constitution. Those cases were Kansas v. Jonathan and Reginald Carr and Kansas v. Sidney Gleason.

    (source: osagecountyonline.com)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #28
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    Kansas man's insanity defense case earns little sympathy from Supreme Court justices

    By Alex Sawyer
    Washington Times

    The Supreme Court opened its 2019 session Monday hearing from a Kansas man who murdered most of his family after learning his wife was having an affair with a woman, and now says the state is making it too difficult to mount an insanity defense.

    Kansas allows for a narrow insanity defense that requires a defendant to show a lack of intent. Kraig Kahler didn’t meet the standard, and he was convicted and sentenced to be executed.

    His case centers on whether he has a constitutional right to mount an insanity claim, arguing the Kansas law has denied him a fair trial by prohibiting that.

    Kahler, though, didn’t appear to earn much sympathy Monday from some justices, who peppered his legal counsel with questions about the severity of Kahler's mental disability and detailed the gruesome nature of his crime.

    Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told Kahler's attorney he had the opportunity to make insanity arguments during the penalty phase — after he was found guilty, noting the jury chose to impose the death penalty.

    “You have to keep in mind what he did. And this is an intelligent man, and he sneaked up on the house, where his wife and her mother and his children were staying. He killed his ex-wife. He killed his ex, her mother. He executed his two teenage daughters. One of them is heard on the tape crying. He, nevertheless, shot her to death. He spared the son, because he didn’t think the son was siding with the mother,” Justice Alito said.

    “And then he ran away and turned himself in the next day. Now, this is the stuff from which you’re going to make a defense he didn’t know that what he was doing was morally wrong,” the justice added.

    Sarah Schrup, Kahler's attorney, said her client’s use of the insanity defense at the penalty phase isn’t a substitute for being able to argue he was insane during the guilty-or-not guilty part of the trial.

    Kahler contends he has anxiety and depression but refused to take medication he was prescribed.

    Ms. Schrup also argued the U.S. has a long history in having the insanity defense used when appropriate, dating to 1791. She pointed to the protections afforded under the Eighth Amendment.

    “The original public meaning of that term was that it would be cruel and unusual to punish the insane,” she told the court.

    Most other states allow defendants to show they aren’t criminally liable if they do not know the nature of their act or couldn’t differentiate right from wrong at the time.

    Kansas says its insanity defense has been modified to focus on a criminal’s intent rather than ability to judge.

    The insanity defense is different from competency to stand trial. A judge will decide whether the accused is of sound-enough mind to go through with the trial. That has no bearing on guilt or innocence.

    Insanity, meanwhile, is an argument raised by the defendant during trial, and the jury is asked to make a determination about the accused person’s sanity at the time of the crime.

    Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. appeared skeptical of whether Kahler's court filings showed a severe mental disability, rendering him actually insane.

    He noted the court filings suggested Kahler was called a “tightwad” who would borrow instead of buy tools and would thrive on self-importance, trying to portray a perfect marriage.

    “Maybe that’s not the best way to order your life, but if that’s what you mean by insanity, you can understand why that might cause some reservations,” Justice Roberts said.

    “Borrows tools instead of purchasing them? That sounds like the reasonable option,” the chief justice added.

    Toby Crouse, Kansas’ solicitor general, said the state law doesn’t infringe on constitutional protections and the high court should not strike it down.

    “The states have had historical and traditional discretion to both define the elements of the criminal law, the defenses that are available in those criminal justice proceedings, and the substantive rules at which those defenses and elements are met,” he said.

    He pushed back on the notion there should be a universal rule for the insanity defense handed down by the Supreme Court.

    The high court also heard two other cases Tuesday, one dealing with patent law and the other concerning if the Sixth Amendment warrants a unanimous verdict.

    Justice Clarence Thomas was absent from the hearings because of an illness.

    Multiple media outlets reported he was out with the flu but would participate in the cases once he recovers.

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...rns-little-sy/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #29
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    U.S. Supreme Court affirms capital murder conviction of Osage County man

    NEWS RELEASE FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL
    WIBW News

    The U.S. Supreme Court today affirmed the capital murder conviction of James Kraig Kahler, who murdered four members of his family in Osage County in November 2009, Attorney General Derek Schmidt today.

    The high court ruled that the Kansas statute for handling evidence of a criminal defendant’s mental disease or defect does not violate the due process of law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Put another way, the Kansas law governing the “insanity” defense is constitutional.

    “Contrary to Kahler’s view, Kansas takes account of mental health at both trial and sentencing,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion. “It has just not adopted the particular insanity defense Kahler would like. That choice is for Kansas to make — and, if it wishes, to remake and remake again as the future unfolds.”

    In the 1990s, Kansas adopted a revised form of insanity defense, which is now referred to as the “mental disease or defect” defense. Under Kansas law, a criminal defendant may not be held culpable if he lacks the cognitive capacity to know that his actions violate the law. But, unlike in the majority of states, a criminal defendant in Kansas may be held culpable if he does not understand that his actions, although against the law, are also morally wrong. Kansas is one of five states that does not allow acquittals of defendants who do not recognize that their actions are morally wrong.

    The Kansas Supreme Court in February 2018 upheld the Kansas approach. The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 opinion today affirmed the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling.

    Kahler was convicted of capital murder by an Osage County jury in August 2011 in connection with the 2009 murders in Burlingame of his wife, Karen Kahler, their two teenage daughters, Emily and Lauren, and Karen Kahler’s grandmother, Dorothy Wight.

    Kahler was sentenced to death by Chief District Court Judge Phillip Fromme in October 2011.

    With today’s ruling, Kahler has now exhausted his direct appeals, and his capital murder convictions and death sentence have been affirmed. Further appeals are possible, however, through collateral attacks on the conviction or sentence in both state and federal court.

    This is the fifth death penalty case to exhaust direct appeals since the Kansas Legislature reinstated the death penalty in 1994. The others are State v. Scott Cheever (Greenwood County), State v. Sidney Gleason (Barton County), State v. Gary Kleypas (Crawford County) and State v. John Robinson (Johnson County).

    Kahler is one of 10 people under sentence of death in Kansas. The other death penalty cases that remain pending at various stages of direct appeals before the Kansas Supreme Court are State v. Jonathan Carr (Sedgwick County); State v. Reginald Carr (Sedgwick County); State v. Justin Thurber (Cowley County); State v. Frazier Glenn Miller (Johnson County); and State v. Kyle Flack (Franklin County).

    In an eleventh case, State v. Doug Belt (Sedgwick County), the defendant died in prison, but the Kansas Supreme Court in October 2016 declined to disturb the capital murder conviction and death sentence.

    Today’s decision is the second from the three cases the Kansas attorney general’s office argued last fall at the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the Court decided Kansas v. Garcia, ruling that state laws prohibiting identity theft and related crimes are not preempted by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act. The third case, Kansas v. Glover, remains pending with a decision expected by June.

    https://www.wibwnewsnow.com/u-s-supr...ge-county-man/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #30
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    James Kahler alleges juror misconduct when he was found guilty of killing 4 family members

    By Tim Hrenchir
    Topeka Capital-Journal

    Juror misconduct occurred during the trial of James Kraig Kahler, a convicted quadruple murderer who has been sentenced to death, he says in a civil suit against the state of Kansas filed last week in Osage County District Court.


    The lawsuit petition also contends Kahler's legal counsel did an ineffective job of selecting the jury and arguing a motion seeking a change of venue to a county where residents were less familiar with the victims.


    The 27-page petition in the suit, seeking to vacate Kahler's convictions and sentence through a process permitted by state law, was filed Jan. 19 by attorney Julia Spainhour, of the Topeka-based Kansas Capital Habeas Office.

    Victims ranged in age from 16 to 89

    The lawsuit petition cites 14 reasons Kahler's convictions and/or death sentence should be overturned, with 12 asserting he received ineffective legal representation during his trial and appeals process.

    Kahler, 60, was sentenced to death in 2011 after being convicted of capital murder in the 2009 gunshot slayings of his estranged wife, their two daughters and his wife's grandmother at their home at Burlingame in Osage County.


    Authorities said Kahler gunned down Karen Kahler, 44; Lauren Kahler, 16, and Emily Kahler, 18; and Dorothy Wight, 89, while letting his 10-year-old son, Sean Kahler, escape.


    James Kraig Kahler was represented at trial by defense attorneys Tom Haney and Amanda Vogelsberg, according to court records.


    Haney told jurors that James Kraig Kahler "snapped" after his wife began a lesbian relationship, his "perfect family" dissolved and he was fired from his job as water and light director for the city of Columbia, Mo.


    Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones and Amy Hanley of the Kansas Attorney General's office prosecuted the case.

    Kahler says 2 jurors reached premature agreement

    The trial court’s failure to sequester the jury that convicted Kahler generated instances of juror misconduct, which denied him a fair trial, the lawsuit petition said.

    "The court did not enact limitations sufficient to prevent jurors from talking to each other about the evidence," it said. "Two seated jurors were a mother and her daughter and traveled to and from court proceedings in the same vehicle. Mr. Kahler is aware that one juror observed and overheard two jurors discussing and agreeing on Mr. Kahler’s guilt before the guilt phase evidence was concluded."


    Kahler's trial counsel did an ineffective job selecting a jury, the petition added.


    "Mr. Kahler will show that one jury member had direct, personal knowledge and experience inside the residence where the victims were killed and discussed this knowledge and experience during deliberations," it said. "Mr. Kahler will show that at least one juror knew at least one or more of the homicide victims in either a personal or a professional connection.

    Kahler says media accounts prejudiced potential jurors

    The petition contends Kahler's attorneys ineffectively argued his motion seeking a change of venue to a different county, including failing to compile and analyze media exposure of the case in what the suit described as being "sparsely populated" Osage County.

    Osage County's population in 2010 was 16,295, according to figures from that year's census.


    "Mr. Kahler will show that the Topeka Capital Journal regularly reported on the facts of the case, and then those accounts were picked up by local television stations and broadcast on nightly news programming across area networks," it said. "The media accounts adversely impacted and prejudiced the relatively limited pool ofpotential jurors."


    Media accounts were followed closely in Osage County, where Wight and her late husband were long-term residents and widely known business owners, the petition said.


    "Mr. Kahler will show that jurors called to serve in the case had longstanding business or personal relationshipswith the Wight family," it said. "Many in the pool of jurors called to hear the case were familiar with the case and the crime scene."


    Such familiarity with the victims — in combination with extensive, negative pretrial publicity — would have been reduced in a different venue, the petition said.

    Kahler's son said he didn't want his father to die

    The petition said that after Kahler's son told prosecutors through a social media account that he didn't want his father to die because he didn't want to lose his whole family, prosecutors failed to reveal that until the trial's penalty phase, not giving Kahler’s trial defense counsel adequate time to investigate and develop the boy as a witness.

    The petition said defense counsel interviewed Kahler's son but acted ineffectively by failing to request a continuance to prepare his testimony to bolster their case for life without parole for Kahler.


    "But for the prosecution’s error, the son’s plea for his father’s life would have been completely investigated and developed for the jury’s consideration and their decision would have been for life in prison, rather than a death sentence," the petition said.

    Kansas and U.S. Supreme Courts upheld death sentence

    Kahler's death sentence was upheld by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2018 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020.

    He is an inmate being held under special management at El Dorado Correctional Facility, according to the website of the Kansas Department of Corrections.


    No execution date for Kahler has been set, as he hasn't exhausted his legal options.

    https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/...y/69839803007/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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