PER CURIAM: This is an original proceeding in discipline filed by the office of the Disciplinary Administrator against the respondent, Matthew M. Diaz, of Forest Hills, New York, an attorney admitted to the practice of law in Kansas in 1995. On October 20, 2010, the office of the Disciplinary Administrator filed a formal complaint against the respondent alleging violations of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct (KRPC). The respondent filed an answer on November 8, 2010. A hearing was...
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING IN DISCIPLINE PER CURIAM: This is an original proceeding in discipline filed by the office of the Disciplinary Administrator against the respondent, Christopher Y. Meek, of Baxter Springs, an attorney admitted to the practice of law in Kansas in 1979. On December 16, 2011, the office of the Disciplinary Administrator filed a formal complaint against the respondent alleging violations of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct (KRPC). After a motion to file an answer out...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BEIER, J.: Plaintiff Daniel L. Hemphill appeals the district court's statute of limitations dismissal of his lawsuit against his uncle, defendant Jay F. Shore, as trustee of the Shore Family Trust. The Court of Appeals affirmed in Hemphill v. Shore, 44 Kan.App.2d 595, 239 P.3d 885 (2010), and we accepted this appeal on Hemphill's petition for review. We hold that three of four of Hemphill's causes of action are time barred, but his claim based on...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: Kody Bicknell seeks our review of a Court of Appeals decision permitting Tammy Adamson to pursue punitive damages in her lawsuit against him after Bicknell rear-ended Adamson's vehicle at a train crossing. The punitive damages claim was based, in part, on Bicknell's positive screening in a postcollision test for marijuana and cocaine, on his admission that he was smoking marijuana approximately 4 hours before the collision, and on a...
The opinion of the court was delivered by JOHNSON, J.: Morgan D. Wade's convictions for first-degree felony murder and aggravated burglary were reversed by this court, and the case was remanded for a new trial. State v. Wade, 284 Kan. 527, 161 P.3d 704 (2007). Upon retrial, the jury convicted Wade of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated burglary. In this direct appeal, Wade argues that the district court erred in the following ways: (1) By failing to adequately answer the jury's...
The opinion of the court was delivered by JOHNSON, J.: Heather Page Hilton was sentenced to serve two consecutive 12-month probation terms. During the first term, the district court revoked both probations and ordered Hilton to serve her underlying prison sentences. Hilton appealed, claiming that the second probation term had not commenced when she violated the terms of the first probation term, so that the district court erred in sending her to prison on the second case. Hilton completed...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: Amy C. Miller sued her doctor, who mistakenly removed her left ovary during a laparoscopic surgery intended to take the right ovary, and a jury awarded her $759,679.74 in damages. But the district court reduced that amount by $425,000 because of a state law limiting noneconomic damages in personal injury lawsuits and a posttrial ruling finding her evidence of future medical expenses insufficient. Both sides appeal, with each claiming the...
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: This appeal follows a district court's denial of a defendant's motions for new trial based on postconviction DNA testing that was allowed under K.S.A. 21-2512. The postconviction DNA testing produced some results that were favorable to the defendant, some results that confirmed evidence at trial, and some results that were inconclusive because the small amount and the degradation of the DNA prevented DNA matching. Weighing the mixed...
The opinion of the court was delivered by MORITZ, J.: A jury convicted Kenneth E. Wilson of premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, burglary, and criminal possession of a firearm. In this direct appeal, Wilson contends the district court abused its discretion in admitting an audio recording of a 911 call made by the murder victim's wife and in admitting evidence of seven uncharged burglaries allegedly committed by Wilson for the purposes of proving identity and plan under K.S.A....
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: The primary issue before this court is whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that an action seeking reformation of an executory contract does not accrue until a party discovers a mutual mistake in the contract language. We conclude this holding is contrary to a long line of cases in which this court has held: (1) A claim for reformation of a contract is subject to the contract statute of limitations stated in K.S.A. 60-511(1), (2)...
The opinion of the court was delivered by Moritz, J.: In 2007, Coffeyville Resources Refining and Marketing, LLC (Coffeyville Resources) accidentally released about 90,000 gallons of crude oil into floodwaters of the Verdigris River in Coffeyville. In 2010, Benjamin and Marcita Eastman, as Trustees of the Eastman Family 1999 Revocable Trust (the Eastmans), filed an action in federal court alleging the oil spill damaged their pecan grove. Eastman v. Coffeyville Res. Ref. & Mktg., LLC, No. 6:...
The opinion of the court was delivered by MORITZ, J.: Carol Ann Ryser, M.D., appeals from the district court's order denying her petition to revoke an administrative subpoena issued by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts (Board). We affirm the district court's determination that Ryser was not required to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking relief from the district court under K.S.A. 65-2839a(b)(3)(B). And on the merits of this appeal, we affirm the district court's denial of Ryser's...
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: The primary question raised in this appeal is whether the Kansas saving statute, K.S.A. 60-518, applies and saves the plaintiff's action from being barred by the applicable statute of limitation. Under the Kansas saving statute, a plaintiff who timely files a legal action that is dismissed otherwise than on the merits after any applicable statute of limitation has run may file a second legal action within 6 months of the dismissal of the...
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: This appeal in an eminent domain action raises questions of law regarding (1) the application of the assemblage doctrine as a theory of valuation, (2) whether a change of traffic patterns is a compensable taking, and (3) whether a court in an eminent domain action has subject matter jurisdiction over a claim that the government's exercise of its police power to regulate traffic was unreasonable. As to the first issue, the district court...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: All persons and entities owning real property in and around the City of Neodesha, Kansas, brought a class action against the owners of a former oil refinery, alleging groundwater and subsurface soil contamination caused by the now dismantled facility. A jury found in the defendants' favor after a 17-week trial. But in posttrial proceedings, the district court decided it had made a mistake in submitting the strict liability claim to the jury,...
The opinion of the court was delivered by PER CURIAM: A jury convicted Scott D. Cheever of capital murder for the killing of Greenwood County Sheriff Matthew Samuels (K.S.A. 21-3439[a][5]), four counts of attempted capital murder of law enforcement officers Robert Keener, Travis Stoppel, Mike Mullins, and Tom Harm (K.S.A. 21-3439[a][5]; K.S.A. 21-3301[a]), criminal possession of a firearm based on a previous felony conviction for aggravated robbery (K.S.A. 21-4204[a][3]), and manufacture of...
The opinion of the court was delivered by NUSS, C.J.: This case requires us to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to support the bench trial conviction of Oliver McWilliams (McWilliams) under K.S.A. 21-3846(a)(1) for defrauding the Medicaid program. Because we conclude that it does, we affirm the district court and reverse the Court of Appeals. FACTS Mary McWilliams is a Medicaid beneficiary who received Medicaid's "Home and Community Based Services." Under the program she received...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ROSEN, J.: On review of an opinion by the Court of Appeals, Mark and Janis Evenson challenge the calculation of damages, primarily to trees, resulting from a fire on their rural property. Although we disagree with the analysis employed by the district court and by the Court of Appeals, we agree with their ultimate conclusions and affirm. The Evensons purchased 160 acres of rural property in Greenwood County in 2002. The property contained a number of...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: This appeal arises under the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act (KSVPA), K.S.A. 59-29a01 et seq. A civil jury declared Robert Ontiberos a sexually violent predator and determined he should be committed for treatment until he is safe for release. The Court of Appeals vacated the commitment and remanded for a new trial because it held that Ontiberos received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the State's attorney committed...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BEIER, J.: This direct appeal challenges defendant Perry Parks' convictions and his consecutive hard 20 life and 247-month sentences for the first-degree felony murder and aggravated robbery of Everett Suits in Kansas City in May 2008. Parks raises eight questions on this appeal: (1) Did the district judge err in admitting evidence of Parks' post- Miranda silence (2) Did violation of an order in limine prohibiting reference to Parks' possession of...
