LEBEN, J. Before her death, Elizabeth Jones brought several legal claims against Rick and Lisa Graham. After Jones' death, the Grahams filed a notice in court that Jones had died, triggering a requirement that any successor to Jones' claim ask within a reasonable time to be substituted for Jones in the suit. See K.S.A. 60-225(a)(1). When more than 9 months had gone by after Jones' death, the Grahams filed to dismiss the lawsuit. Angela Herring was appointed the administrator of Jones' estate...
GREEN, J. Randy Dean Hart appeals from his jury trial convictions and sentences for two counts of indecent liberties with a child in violation of K.S.A. 21-3503(a)(1). Hart raises eight arguments on appeal. Hart first argues that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of indecent liberties with a child in regard to the victim, C.H., because the evidence failed to show that C.H. was 14 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age when the alleged crime occurred. We disagree. Based...
MARQUARDT J. Rodney P. Wrinkle filed a negligence action against his neighbors, Gene and Charlene Norman (the Normans), after he sustained injuries on their property. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Normans, finding that they did not breach a duty to Wrinkle. Wrinkle appeals. We affirm. At the time of Wrinkle's accident, Wrinkle lived across U.S. highway 59 from the Normans in Oskaloosa, Kansas. The Normans had 20 acres of pasture land along the west side of the...
MARQUARDT, J. Tasha Dakota Burns appeals the decision of the Appeals Board for the Kansas Division of Workers Compensation (Board) denying her claim for workers compensation death benefits. We affirm. On August 22, 2007, Anthony Anguiano (Tony) was working on scaffolding configured on a movable lift for Larry McCall Electrical Contractors (McCall). As another worker repositioned the scaffolding, the lift's tire dipped into a drain and caused the scaffolding to tip over. Tony fell...
GREEN, J. This case involves a wrongful death action. The plaintiff's decedent 8-year-old son, Zeus Graham, died on September 5, 2003, as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted by her estranged husband, Russell Graham. Graham, Zeus' father, was a convicted felon and prohibited from purchasing a firearm. Russell shot Zeus with a 12-gauge New England shotgun and ammunition that his 77-year-old grandmother, Imogene Glass, had purchased that same day from the Baxter Springs Gun & Pawn Shop while...
LEBEN, J. Inmate Kenneth Frost appeals his prison disciplinary sanction for possession of tobacco. He contends he didn't know that tobacco was in the sandwich being passed down by inmates from cell to cell; he says he thought that it was a sandwich and that he was just the unlucky one who was passing it along when a guard spotted the action. In this appeal, he claims that he was denied due process when he wasn't allowed to call two witnesses and that the evidence wasn't sufficient to convict...
GREEN, J. Daniel Hemphill, a beneficiary under The Shore Family Trust (Trust), appeals from a judgment dismissing claims against the surviving trustee, Jay F. Shore, for breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, constructive fraud, and constructive trust. The question in this appeal is whether Hemphill's claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations, statutes of repose, or both. For the following reasons, we determine that Hemphill's claims are barred by the...
McANANY, J. This appeal arises out of a dispute between brothers Paul and Earl Kopp over the terms of a contract for the sale of Blackbob Corners, a parcel of commercial real estate in Olathe. Paul, the owner of Blackbob Corners, extended an option to purchase the property to Eagle Management and Investment Co. (Eagle). Eagle assigned its option to Earl and Earl's wife, Carolyn. When Earl sought to exercise the option, Paul refused to honor it. Litigation followed. Eventually, the brothers...
GREEN, J. This case comes before us for the second time on direct appeal after the trial court found that Howard's first appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to adequately supplement the appellate record, which prohibited this court from adequately considering Howard's argument concerning his forced removal from the courtroom during a motions hearing. After finding that Howard's appellate counsel was ineffective, the trial court provided relief in the form of a second direct appeal....
LEBEN, J. The Kansas Legislature has provided a real-estate tax exemption when the property is "used exclusively" as a group home for low-income people with special needs. Kouri Place, L.L.C., sought an exemption for such a property, one that has 14 of its 15 units used to house people with special needs and 1 unit devoted to housing on-site managers. The Kansas Court of Tax Appeals agreed that the exclusive physical use of the property qualified for the tax exemption. But the court...
LEBEN, J. Prison inmates have some due-process rights when prison officials enter disciplinary sanctions against them that take away either liberty or property interests. So Keith Sauls filed a court action challenging the $20 fine and loss of good-time credits entered as a sanction against him for escaping from custody for a brief time. The district court threw out Sauls' suit because it had not been physically served on the Secretary of Corrections within time limits applicable to most civil...
MARQUARDT, J. Michelle Graham and David Martinez appeal the partial summary judgment granted to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), on MERS's petition to foreclose Graham and Martinez' mortgage. Graham and Martinez also appeal the summary judgment granted in favor of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (Countrywide), and the denial of their Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) and fraud claims. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and dismiss in part. In August 2002, Graham...
