photo by: Mackenzie Clark
In this photo from Oct. 1, 2019, Rontarus Washington Jr. tells the judge he has chosen not to testify during his trial in Douglas County District Court.
Attorneys defending Rontarus Washington Jr. against a murder charge have arranged for another expert to examine footwear evidence related to bloody footprints found at the crime scene.
Washington, 24, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in connection with the November 2014 death of his neighbor, 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso. Washington’s attorneys, Adam Hall and Angela Keck, have suggested Altamirano Mosso’s estranged husband, Felipe Cantu Ruiz, as a possible alternative suspect. The jury hung after Washington’s four-week trial in September 2019, and following delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the retrial is scheduled to begin Sept. 27.
photo by: Mackenzie Clark
Left to right, Rontarus Washington Jr. sits with his defense attorneys, Adam Hall and Angela Keck, on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, in Douglas County District Court.
Defense attorneys for Rontarus Washington Jr. alleged at a hearing on Friday that witness tampering and other prosecutorial misconduct were so rife that the possibility of a fair trial for Washington was destroyed and that the murder case against him should be dismissed.
However, state prosecutors said those allegations were based on suspicions rather than evidence and that the defense’s motion to dismiss was frivolous.
Washington, 24, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in connection with the November 2014 death of his neighbor, 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso. Washington’s attorneys, Adam Hall and Angela Keck, have suggested Mosso’s estranged husband, Felipe Cantu Ruiz, as a possible alternative suspect.
Johnathon L. West
A Douglas County District Court judge has set a $1 million bond for a Lawrence man who is accused of murder.
Johnathon Lee West, 43, made his first appearance in court this week for a second-degree murder charge where the court set the cash or surety bond, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden told the Journal-World. The court also appointed attorney Hatem Chahine to represent him. West remains in the Douglas County Jail, and his next court date is Tuesday.
The murder charge stems from the death of Jennifer Mosby, a 41-year-old Lawrence woman who was found dead in her home in January. Lawrence police announced the homicide investigation in a news release on Jan. 28, but little new information has been available about the case since.
Feb. 9 A University of Kansas doctoral student alleges in a new lawsuit that a professor disparaged and treated her unfairly after she accused one of his other grad students of sexual misconduct, which led to that man's expulsion. In the suit filed Friday in federal court, the woman accuses KU of violating her civil rights under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools .
khildebrand@recordcourier.com
A California woman admitted to being involved with a half-dozen burglaries of vehicles parked at trails last spring.
Carolyn Maxine Brinkman, 33, entered guilty pleas to felony principal to burglary and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Carolyn Maxine Brinkman
The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of up to 14 years at her April 6 sentencing in Douglas County District Court.
Under an agreement, Brinkman’s sentences will run concurrently and she would receive probation without additional jail time.
Brinkman and Harvis Berry, 35, were arrested on May 24, 2020, after the Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the vehicle burglaries from May 16-24 at trailheads in Lake Tahoe and at Carson Valley.