The Kansas Prosecutor The official publication of the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association Volume III, No. 1, Spring 2006 TM The+ANSAS0ROSECUTOR#ASE-ANAGEMENT3YSTEM;+03= Now Available--- The Next Level for Criminal Justice hDESIGNEDBY+ANSAS0ROSECUTORSFOR+ANSAS0ROSECUTORS KEEPINGTHEMONTHE FOREFRONTOFTECHNOLOGYv Gordon E. Lansford - Director of Kansas Criminal Justice Information System h4HISPROGRAMMAKESUPDATINGCASESASNAP!FEWCLICKSHEREANDTHEREAND YOUgREDONE.OMOREWASTINGTIMEFILLINGOUTJOURNALENTRIES DISMISSALS ETC 7ITHINAMINUTETHEYAREDONE)TgSGREATv Tonia Driggs, Legal Secretary 4HESOFTWAREISVERYINTUITIVEANDEASYTOLEARNHOWTOUSE7ITHVERYLITTLE TRAINING )WASABLETOBECOMEVERYCOMFORTABLEUSINGTHESOFTWAREWITHIN ABOUTAWEEK Patrick J. Cahill, Assistant County Attorney 7HATUSEDTOTAKEMEADAYANDAHALFTODO )CANNOWACCOMPLISHIN ONEAFTERNOON Bill Winzenburg, Victim/Witness Coordinator h4HEFUNCTIONALITYOF+03PROVIDESTHEEFFICIENCYNECESSARYTOACCURATELY CHARGEANDPROSECUTEANINDIVIDUALANDTRACKEVERYSTEPOFTHECASE )LOOKFORWARDTOTHEDATAEXCHANGEWITHTHECOURTSTOIMPROVEUPONTHE EFFICIENCYOFBOTHTHE&ULL#OURTAND+03PROGRAMSh Kathy Carpenter, Office Manager To learn how FullCase (KPS) can improve your office productivity; and, for addi- tional information or product demonstration contact Justice Systems. * For federal funding opportunities contact Gordon Lansford, Director of KCJIS - [785] 633-7700. 4600 McLeod NE, Albuquerque, NM. 87109 - [505] 883-3987 ¸ www.justicesystems.com The Kansas Prosecutor The official publication of the Kansas The Kansas Prosecutor County and District Attorneys Association The official publication of the Kansas County Published by the Kansas County and District and District Attorneys Association Attorneys Association, 1200 S.W. Tenth Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66604. Phone: (785) 232-5822 Fax: (785) 234-2433 Volume III, No. 1, Spring 2006 Table of Contents President’s Page by Doug Witteman .................................................................. 2 Executive Director’s Page by Steve Kearney .................................................... 3 Our mission: The purpose of the KCDAA is to promote, Editor’s Page by Mary Napier ........................................................................... 4 improve and facilitate the administration of justice in the State of Kansas. Legislative Session Under Way by Phill Kline ................................................. 5 For questions or comments about this publication, please contact the editor: The Re-Write of the Code for Children and the Juvenile Justice Code Mary Napier by Rep. Jan Pauls ............................................................................................... 7 [email protected] Board of Editors A Thumbnail Sketch of Forfeiture Procedure by Colin D. Wood .................. 9 John Settle Jerome Gorman Dave Debenham Michael White The Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner Prosecutes Securities Mary Napier Fraud by Chris Biggs ...................................................................................... 11 Advisory Council Angela Wilson, chair Ethics and the Criminal Prosecutor by Robert Don Gifford ......................... 12 Brad Lippert Ernie Richardson Lee Davidson Kimberly Knoll KCDAA Milestones ........................................................................................ 19 KCDAA Executive Director Steve Kearney Presentation Skills for Lawyers by Elliott Wilcox ........................................ 20 KCDAA Administrative Staff Forgotten Victims: Workplace Aggression Encountered by Prosecutors Michael White Leisa Shepherd Andy Shaw Kellie Kearney by Patricia L. Fanflik ........................................................................................ 22 Kari Presley Former KCDAA Member Highlights: This magazine is dedicated to professional prosecutors Making the Leap from Prosecutor to Judge by Mary Napier ...................... 29 across the state of Kansas for public information. The KCDAA and the members of the Editorial Board assume no responsibility for any opinion or statement Walking the Red Carpet by Nola Foulston .................................................... 31 of fact in the substantive legal articles published in The Kansas Prosecutor. We welcome your comments, suggestions, questions, information, etc. From time to time, The Kansas Prosecutor will publish articles dealing with controversial issues. The views expressed About the Cover in The Kansas Prosecutor are those of the authors and The Ellis County Courthouse was built in may not reflect the official policy of the KCDAA. Send 1942 and is made of native limestone. It was a correspondence to: The Kansas Prosecutor editor, 1200 Works Progress Administration project. This is S.W. Tenth Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66604 or e-mail the third courthouse in Ellis County. The first Mary Napier at [email protected]. one was built in 1874, but burnt down. It was replaced in 1898 with the second courthouse, © The Kansas Prosecutor All rights reserved which was replaced by the current building at 1204 Fort Street in Hays, Kan. The building Photocopying, reproduction or quotation is strictly prohibited without the written consent from the is four stories high with lots of marble lining publisher or Editorial Board. Unsolicited material the hallways and courtrooms. One of the most and/or correspondence cannot be acknowledged or amazing features is the spacious third floor returned, and becomes the property of The Kansas courtoom. Prosecutor. President’s Page by Doug Witteman, KCDAA President In my experience, judges give do not have time to dwell on the significant weight to our sentencing decision that has already been made. recommendations. Does justice in Tomorrow we have another case, any specific case mandate that we another defendant and another decision argue for a prison sentence or agree to make. This is not to say that we to recommend probation? When should not learn from the outcomes dealing with serious crimes and serious of our past decisions. We must. But criminals our work may be long and it is to say that we cannot get bogged Today I find myself sitting at my hard, but our decisions on how to deal down or worry about the decisions we computer intent on fulfilling one of with these cases are usually straightfor- have already made. To do so would my first obligations as president of ward and clear. It is the lesser cases that be counter-productive to making the the KCDAA: writing an article for I find weigh more heavily on me, and decisions we must make today and the President’s Page. My instructions I suspect the same is true for many of the next day. In short, we must gather were short and simple. I am to write a you. the necessary information, make the 750 to 900 word article on absolutely In handling any case, it is important decision and move on. any topic. After having thought about to not let yourself get overloaded and By balancing the responsibilities of this task for the past few weeks, I have mentally bogged down to the point our work, we will be left with the time determined to opine on the subject of that it is difficult to effectively handle necessary to balance our work with the balance, both as it relates to balancing your entire case load. We all know rest of our lives. I suspect, for most of the pressures and responsibilities within that preparing for and trying a big case us, our work plays an important role our work, but also in balancing our may require late nights and weekends, in defining who we are. It is, however, work with the rest of our lives. and we are all prepared to do what it only a part of who we are. We must be Being a lawyer is not an easy line of takes in those instances. For many of able to put our work aside when we work. Being a prosecutor is not an easy us, however, it is not the big case or leave the office. We must put it aside line of lawyering. On regular occasions trial that occupies the majority of our to focus on our families, our friends, the nature of our work as prosecutors time. Year in and year out, it is all the our relationships and on ourselves. can leave us feeling like the weight of other cases that occupy the majority of Although we all know that this is not the world is on our shoulders. Justice our time and decision making process. always possible, we must come to know itself often depends on how successful Because our decisions in these cases that it is possible most of the time. we are at accomplishing the many tasks have profound effects on others, it is It is important that each of us take our work entails. Whether it is trying an important that our decision making time away from our work. There are important case to a jury, prosecuting an process be both efficient and effective. times we will need to work evenings appeal to uphold a conviction or simply I have been asked on more than one and weekends. It is just as important, deciding how to deal with a youthful occasion by people from many walks however, that we regularly schedule offender on a relatively small case, how of life how prosecutors deal with the time away from the office. An annual well we do our work really does matter. responsibility and pressure associated vacation should be scheduled and As prosecutors the law gives us with making these decisions. I have told enjoyed. If your work is caught up broad discretion to make decisions. The them that my process is fairly simple. I and your circumstances allow, take a decisions we make can have significant gather all of the information I