The opinion of the court was delivered by NUSS, C.J.: The City of Lincoln Center (City) cited Farmway Co-Op, Inc., and Farmway Storage # 1, LLC (together "Farmway") for violating municipal noise and nuisance ordinances. The violations arose out of Farmway's operation of a grain elevator facility inside the city limits. After the municipal court convicted Farmway under both ordinances, the district court reversed the convictions, holding the ordinances are unconstitutionally vague. The Court of...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BEIER, J.: Ivan Reed received life-saving medical treatment at Via Christi Regional Medical Center, Inc. (Via Christi), after his car collided with a Union Pacific Railroad train. Via Christi filed a hospital lien under K.S.A. 65-406 et seq. to collect on its bill for the services provided Reed. The lien initially purported to encumber $84,744.11 of Reed's $540,000 settlement with Union Pacific; Via Christi eventually modified the amount to $83,365....
The opinion of the court was delivered by JOHNSON, J.: Melanie A. Fisher attempted to commence a medical malpractice action against Alex F. DeCarvalho, M.D., by mailing the summons and petition via unrestricted certified mail, sent to the doctor's business address. The doctor actually received the petition and filed an answer that asserted several affirmative defenses, including insufficiency of process, lack of personal jurisdiction, and a statute of limitations bar. After participating in...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: This is a consolidated tax appeal disputing whether natural gas stored in facilities located in Kansas under contract with interstate companies is subject to ad valorem taxation. The Kansas Constitution, Article 11, 1 (2012 Supp.) exempts merchants' inventory from such taxation, but that exemption does not include tangible personal property owned by a public utility. The taxpayers claim they are entitled to the exemption. They are 40...
The opinion of the court was delivered by MORITZ, J.: We granted Nueterra Healthcare Management, LLC's (Nueterra) petition for review of the Court of Appeals' decision reversing the district court's grant of summary judgment in Nueterra's favor in this contract action brought by Iron Mound, LLC (Iron Mound). Iron Mound alleged that under the Operating Agreement of ASC Midwest, LLC, a limited liability company formed by Nueterra and Iron Mound and later dissolved, Iron Mound was entitled to...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ROSEN, J.: Before this court are two questions certified by the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Jurisdiction over the questions is provided by K.S.A. 60-3201 et seq. The federal litigation is in the pretrial stages. It involves claims by two Kansas residents who entered into an agreement with an out-of-state limited liability company to assist them in managing their consumer debt and in dealing with their creditors. The...
The opinion of the court was delivered by JOHNSON, J. A jury convicted Stephen Bernard Foster of certain offenses that included the crime of forgery based upon his attempt to cash a $350 check at CheckSmart. The Court of Appeals affirmed the forgery conviction in a published opinion: State v. Foster, 46 Kan.App.2d 233 , 264 P.3d 116 (2011). In reaching its decision, the panel rejected Foster's argument that the terms "issuing or delivering" in K.S.A. 21-3710(a)(2) establish alternative...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: Adam Simmons was seriously injured in a gasoline fire while at work. He sued his employer for negligently failing to provide him with a reasonably safe workplace. The district court denied his claim based on the common-law assumption of risk doctrine, which can bar recovery when an employee who knows of a dangerous situation voluntarily exposes himself or herself to that danger. The Court of Appeals affirmed based on existing precedent....
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: A jury convicted Christopher M. Lowrance of capital murder under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) for the intentional and premeditated killing of Rachel Dennis in the commission of, or subsequent to the commission of, attempted rape. We affirm Lowrance's conviction, holding: (1) The prosecutor did not commit reversible misconduct in closing argument by commenting on the defense expert's compensation or in drawing reasonable inferences from forensic...
The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.: In this appeal, environmental organization Sierra Club seeks judicial review of the decision of the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to issue an air emission source construction permit to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation (Sunflower) for the construction of an 895-megawatt coal-fired power plant, referred to as Holcomb 2, at the site of Sunflower's existing plant in Holcomb, Holcomb 1. Sierra Club...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: This is an oil and gas lease dispute regarding: (1) whether tracts of land could be unitized; (2) if so, what minerals were unitized; and (3) alleged drainage of the leased lands. The district court disposed of the first two questions by summary judgment and the drainage claim after a bench trial. Both parties appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the district court. Thoroughbred Assocs. v. Kansas City Royalty, Co., 45 Kan.App....
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: The Topeka City Council granted Grace Episcopal Cathedral and The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, Inc. (the Church) a building permit for a parking lot on Bethany Place, a registered state historic site owned by the Church, despite complaints that the construction would adversely impact that historic site. As a matter of first impression, we must determine who is obligated under the Historic Preservation Act, K.S.A. 75-2715 et seq., to...
MODIFIED OPINION The opinion of the court was delivered by ROSEN, J. On direct appeal, this court affirmed Lynwood Baker's conviction for first-degree murder but remanded the case for resentencing. Within 1 year of the resentencing hearing, but more than a year after the remand, Baker filed a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The district court appointed counsel, conducted a hearing, and dismissed the motion as untimely. The Court of Appeals reversed,...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ROSEN, J.: In this procedurally complicated medical malpractice action, issues of standing and the application of a statute of limitations defense are raised by the intervening attorneys, who are also defendants in a separate, but related, legal malpractice action. The Court of Appeals reversed the district court and remanded for a trial, and this court granted review. The plaintiff in this action, Herman M. Ternes, was injured on March 5, 2004, in...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ROSEN, J. This appeal addresses a civil proceeding following the tragic murder of a child by his father and the father's subsequent suicide. The child's mother brought an action in negligence against the parties who provided the father with the murder weapon. This court is called upon to decide two narrow legal questions that are related to general principles of negligence. The case was decided in district court on summary judgment. Reviewing the...
PER CURIAM: Waddell Warren was convicted of introducing a controlled substance into a correctional facility and sentenced to an additional 122 months in prison. Warren requested that he be given a departure sentence because the amount of marijuana found in his socks was very small. The district court ruled that it could not consider a lesser sentence on that basis. Warren appealed, claiming: (1) the district court erroneously concluded it could not even consider whether to grant a downward...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BEIER, J.: This trust and estate case began with family intrigue, betrayal, and revenge. The plaintiff is John D. Boucek; the defendants are his brother and sister, Richard Boucek and Diana Peck. John filed this suit in 2006 against his mother, Bernice Boucek, both individually and in her capacity as trustee for two trusts. Bernice has since died, and Richard and Diana have stepped into her shoes in their capacities as executors for her estate and as...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: State law requires anyone bringing a claim against a municipality under the Kansas Tort Claim Act, K.S.A. 75-6101 et seq., to provide that municipality with prior written notice of the claim. K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12-105b(d). This requirement exists to advise the municipality of the time and place of the injury and allow it to ascertain the character and extent of the injury before suit is filed. Dodge City Implement, Inc. v. Board of Barber...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BEIER, J.: This is defendant Melissa Wells' direct appeal from jury convictions of felony murder and child abuse, stemming from the death of 23-month-old B.C. Wells was sentenced to consecutive terms of life and 55 months' incarceration with lifetime postrelease supervision. She claims several errors entitle her to reversal on appeal, including failure to give a limiting instruction; prosecutorial misconduct; denial of her request for substitute...
The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.: Frederick W. Carlton seeks review of a divided Court of Appeals decision. The panel reversed the district court's order suppressing drug evidence obtained during a vehicle search conducted incident to Carlton's arrest following a traffic stop. The panel majority acknowledged the vehicle search was later invalidated by Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 129 S.Ct. 1710 , 173 L.Ed.2d 485 (2009), but held that the drug evidence should not be...
