Jury trials to resume in Leavenworth County
The Leavenworth Times
After more than a year without a jury trial, trials with jurors are scheduled to resume in June in Leavenworth County District Court.
But seating arrangements for the trials will be different.
Jury trials were halted last year across the state because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court officials in Leavenworth County prepared a 15-page plan for how to conduct trials during the pandemic.
“We submitted a plan that was approved,” Court Administrator Steve Crossland said.
With the Kansas Supreme Court’s approval of the plan, Judge Gerald Kuckelman, who handles the criminal docket for Leavenworth County, has started scheduling trials for as early as June.
This is part one of an investigative series into the Kansas family court system.
After my investigative series on the corruption reported in the Missouri court system, in which victims have alleged that court-appointed guardians and therapists conspired to drain their bank accounts by dragging out court cases unnecessarily and giving children to alleged abusers, victims from all over the country have contacted PJ Media asking for help. But Kansas City, Kansas, began to stand out from the crowd with a quickly growing list of women who say they are victims of domestic abuse, which is being suppressed or exacerbated by the court system. One guardian ad litem, Trina Nudson, ties them all together.
Murder case bound over for arraignment
A man facing a murder charge in Leavenworth has been bound over for an arraignment.
The decision to bind over the case of Jeffery M. Samulczyk came Monday afternoon in Leavenworth County District Court.
Samulczyk, 37, is charged in Leavenworth County District Court with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and interference with law enforcement. The charges are connected to the stabbing death of Joshua Gilson, who was found dead Oct. 30 at his Leavenworth home.
Gilson’s wife, Alexandra, also faces a murder charge.
A preliminary hearing was conducted in Samulczyk’s case March 22. Several witnesses provided testimony during the hearing, but the judge did not make a ruling at that time about whether the case against Samulczyk should proceed.
The Leavenworth Times
Leavenworth County’s top prosecutor says he had a hand in a new law that suspends the state’s speedy trial requirements until 2023.
County Attorney Todd Thompson said the suspension of the speedy trial requirements is necessary because of the backlog of criminal cases that has developed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a large backlog of cases that we haven’t had resolved in over a year much less all of the new cases that will be coming as well,” County Attorney Todd Thompson said.
Leavenworth County District Court has not had a jury trial in about one year. But jury trials are expected to resume in June with measures in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
A trial has been set for a woman accused of murdering her husband in Leavenworth.
The trial for Alexandra Gilson is scheduled to begin Sept. 27 in Leavenworth County District Court.
Gilson, 31, is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of interference with law enforcement. She is accused of stabbing her husband, Joshua, who was found dead Oct. 30 at his home in Leavenworth.
Gilson appeared in court Friday for her arraignment. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The arraignment was conducted using the Zoom online videoconferencing service. Zoom is being used for many Leavenworth County District Court proceedings because of the COVID-19 pandemic.