photo by: Journal-World File Photo
The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in this file photo from Aug. 4, 2020.
A local adult entertainment club has asked a judge to backtrack on her ruling that she would not stop Douglas County from enforcing a health order, and it’s now citing a recent San Diego court case.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the owner of Paradise Saloon in Lawrence filed a lawsuit that, in part, asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented county health officials from enforcing restrictions at that establishment. As the Journal-World has reported, Judge Kay Huff recently denied that request, but the civil case continues in Douglas County District Court.
photo by: Mackenzie Clark
Albert Wilson, from left, and his attorneys, Josh Dubin and Michael Whalen, have a brief discussion during a hearing to determine whether Wilson will get a new trial, on Nov. 2, 2020, in Douglas County District Court.
A prosecutor and a defense attorney this week submitted their final written arguments and now await the judge’s decision on whether a man convicted in a Lawrence rape case will get a new trial.
Lawyers for the man, Albert N. Wilson, have argued that their client’s appointed defense attorney was so “constitutionally deficient” that Wilson’s trial was unfair. They introduced evidence that had not previously come out in court during two days of hearings on Nov. 2 and 3.
photo by: Mackenzie Clark
Douglas County District Court Chief Judge James McCabria stands at the table that will be the judge s bench during jury trials and discusses new technology to be used, including lapel microphones for attorneys, at the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Dec. 18, 2020. Although the building is large, McCabria demonstrated that the sound system amplifies even soft speech. Behind the black curtain is a small table for brief bench conferences outside of the hearing of the jury.
For all intents and purposes, the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds was ready on Friday afternoon to hold jury trials, though a few finishing touches aren’t yet in place.
photo by: Elvyn Jones
New passenger cars are lined up Jan. 4, 2020, near the old Santa Fe depot in Baldwin City. The cars are among the seven that the Midland Railway wholly owned for-profit subsidiary Baldwin City & Southern Railroad purchased in the last two months after receiving a community development block grant.
Legal woes continue to mount for Baldwin City’s nonprofit Midland Railway and its two for-profit subsidiaries as recent lawsuits in Douglas County and Colorado seek recovery of nearly $1 million.
The Baldwin City government filed suit Nov. 30 against Midland, a tourist railroad, and its subsidiaries Baldwin City & Southern Railroad and Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, seeking to recover $321,059 in community development block grant funds that the city secured in December 2019 for the railroad through the Kansas Department of Commerce.
photo by: Screenshot
At top left, Douglas County District Court Chief Judge James McCabria pronounces the sentence of Tommy J. May, pictured at bottom right, during a sentencing hearing held via videoconference on Dec. 14, 2020. The others pictured, clockwise from top center, are Susan Benkelman with court services, Deputy District Attorney David Melton, attorney Carol Cline and Senior Assistant District Attorney Alice Walker. This screenshot was taken with permission from the judge.
A man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for his convictions in a 2018 double shooting in Lawrence that left a woman injured and a man paralyzed.