AP Top Kansas News at 5:45 a.m. CDT

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hearing set for former Kline assistant

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A former assistant attorney general has been accused of making false statements to the Kansas Supreme Court about two abortion clinics, according to an ethics complaint filed Monday.

Eric Rucker, currently an assistant Jefferson County attorney, is scheduled to answer questions April 27-28 from the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys on charges that he violated rules of professional conduct, including breaching the public trust.

Rucker used to be chief of staff to Phill Kline who, as Kansas attorney general and Johnson County district attorney, started investigating abortion providers in 2003.

In the complaint, Rucker is accused of falsely denying knowledge of efforts to identify women who had received abortions at Women's Health Care Services, operated by Dr. George Tiller, and at Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson, who supervised some of Kline's investigations, subpoenaed patients' medical records at his request in 2004. A legal battle prevented Kline from accessing the records for more than two years.

During the records fight, Rucker represented Kline in an oral argument before the Supreme Court on Sept. 8, 2005. The complaint filed Monday accuses Rucker of lying about the review of records of live births by the attorney general's office, its pursuit of names of women who had received abortions, and whether the office knew the names of minors who had received abortions.

------ Kan. governor makes budget adjustments

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson announced $259 million worth of spending cuts Monday, reducing funds for highway maintenance and education to shore up a troubled state budget.

The cuts are the fifth such reduction for the state budget year, which ends June 30. Parkinson said Kansas was in historic times, never before seeing two consecutive years of revenue declines, let alone the four-year trough it faces now.

"This has been particularly challenging for the 2010 budget, which has been absolutely decimated by this decline in state revenue," Parkinson said. "There are no longer any easy answers."

The Democrat's plan also calls for drawing down an additional $85.9 million in federal stimulus dollars given to states to prop up budgets. That leaves $189.6 million remaining from Kansas's allocation.

Republicans said Parkinson was helpful in making the cuts, but thought he could have gone deeper in cutting spending without borrowing from transportation funds or federal funds that will be needed next year.

"I applaud the governor's effort to make what are some very difficult decisions," said Rep. Kevin Yoder, chairman of the House budget committee. "What we didn't see and hoped to see were real, significant reductions in government spending."

------ Kan. nurse resentenced in 'nude therapy' case

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A Kansas nurse convicted of enslaving mentally ill residents of a Newton group home was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday after a federal judge acknowledged the original seven-year term was too short.

Linda Kaufman and her husband, Arlan, were convicted in November 2006 of forcing residents to work naked and perform sex acts, while billing the government and their families for "nude therapy" sessions.

A federal appeals court upheld the convictions but sent Linda Kaufman's case back to U.S. District Judge Monti Belot to reconsider her seven-year sentence. Her social worker husband was sentenced to 30 years.

Trial testimony had indicated a stun gun was used on a resident's genitals. Belot found while reconsidering sentencing that it should be considered a dangerous weapon. He also found that a large number of residents were vulnerable victims and added time for obstruction of justice.

"I appreciate being given the opportunity to consider a new and appropriate sentence for defendant," Belot said Monday.

Nancy Jensen, a 53-year-old Wichita woman who was a resident at the home for 11 months in 1986, said she felt vindicated after Monday's sentencing and hugged Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway.

------ Kan. Congressman Moore won't seek re-election

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, the only Democrat in Kansas' congressional delegation, said Monday he will not seek a seventh term, calling it "time for a new generation of leadership."

Moore -- who represents the 3rd District, a heavily Republican district in suburban Kansas City -- said in a statement from his Washington office that he would finish out his term, which ends in January 2011.

Moore said trying to represent "the moderate mainstream of the district" was the most exciting and frustrating job he's had.

"As the first Democrat elected to represent this district in 40 years back in 1998, I know that there didn't used to be a partisan competition in northeast Kansas," he said. "This progress is good for democracy and important in ensuring that all voices are heard."

Tyler Longpine, spokesman for the Kansas Democratic Party, said the news "didn't blind-side" the party, but he declined to elaborate. "It's not a complete surprise. He's had a long and distinguished career," Longpine said.

Moore, 64, was first elected to Congress in 1998 and is a member of the House Financial Services Committee. He was the Johnson County district attorney from 1976 to 1988.

------ Kan. store clerks face charges in lottery sting

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Five store clerks accused of trying to steal winnings from the Kansas Lottery have been charged with theft and computer crime, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six said Monday.

The charges were filed in four counties after a sting operation conducted by the Lottery, Six said. In each case, known winning tickets were presented to clerks who claimed the tickets weren't winners.

All the tickets were for prizes of $5,000 or more, which must be claimed at the headquarters in Topeka, said Kansas Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten.

"We wanted it to be a sizable amount," he said.

Van Petten said Kansas decided to ramp up its efforts after other states, including California, conducted similar investigations and found dishonest clerks.

Two individuals were charged in Sedgwick County and one each in Johnson, Reno and Sherman counties. Each person faces one count of felony theft and computer crime. The attorney general's office said a sixth person in Liberal in Seward County is under investigation.

------ Abortion slaying suspect may use necessity defense

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Seemingly contradicting his own public statements, an attorney for the man accused of gunning down a Kansas abortion provider has argued in court documents that his client has an "absolute right" to present a defense that argues the killing was justified to stop abortion.

A defense motion made public Monday seeks to thwart prosecutors' efforts to ban the so-called necessity defense from Scott Roeder's murder and aggravated assault trial. A hearing on the issue is set for Dec. 22.

"For the Court to grant the State's motion to prohibit 'any evidence' in support of the necessity defense would be premature, and contrary to Kansas law," the defense wrote. "In addition, it would be rank speculation on the part of the state (and the Court if it were to grant said Motion) as to the purpose of any and all evidence that the Defendant may seek to introduce."

Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., is charged with one count of first-degree murder in Dr. George Tiller's death and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers who tried to stop him during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor's Wichita church. Roeder has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial on Jan 11.

He told The Associated Press on Nov. 9 that he shot Tiller to protect unborn children and he planned to present a necessity defense at his trial. He also said one of his two public defenders, Mark Rudy, had given him the "green light" to talk to the media about it.

But the following day, lead defense attorney Steve Osburn told reporters the necessity defense did not exist in Kansas law and the defense team did not plan to present that strategy.