The Joplin Globe
August 27, 2006 01:38 am
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By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
The Democratic challenger to Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is making Kline's handling of an alleged school shooting plot in Riverton a campaign issue.
Paul Morrison, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, said Kline's appearance on the steps of the Cherokee County Courthouse the day the five Riverton High School students were arrested was a publicity-seeking move.
"My thought is he jumped the gun," Morrison said. "Phill Kline is all about publicity. They overcharged that case and the poor county attorney down there ends up holding the bag."
Attorneys with Kline's office initially charged each of the five students with felony criminal threat and felony incitement to riot. One of the students was later charged with felony solicitation to commit first-degree murder. The attorney general's office also sought to prosecute the four juveniles as adults, but later dropped that motion. The attorney general's office dropped the solicitation charge and handed the case back to Cherokee County Attorney Michael Goodrich. Goodrich reduced the charges against the five to a single misdemeanor - conspiracy to riot. Two have since pleaded guilty and were sentenced to a year probation and community service. Three others pleaded innocent and are awaiting either their juvenile hearing or a trial.
The five students were arrested April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting in Colorado, when Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman said a shooting spree targeting students and school staff was set to take place.
"It's all about publicity and there's very little substance," Morrison said. "Somebody else ends up having to do the real work."
Sherriene Jones, communications director for Kline's office and campaign, said Wednesday that Kline would not have time for an interview.
Jones said Kline's appearance before reporters at the courthouse came after he met with Goodrich about taking on the case. She said Kline has assisted many prosecutors with difficult cases.
"The news conference that followed was a plea to the media not to blow the Riverton situation out of proportion, to not compare the situation to Columbine," Jones said.
Kline said little to reporters that day, noting that it was important that he not release too much information during the investigation. He announced that five students had been arrested and gave their ages. He praised the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department for its swift action. He also said charges would be filed the following day, but charges were not filed until April 24.
Morrison said regardless of whether Kline said anything prejudicial to the case during the appearance, it was simply for the sake of publicity. He said when the publicity died down, Kline disassociated himself from the case.
"That happens all the time with that office," Morrison said.
Jones said Kline turned the case over to Goodrich because the attorney general's office doesn't typically handle juvenile cases. She said that though they were juvenile cases when the office took the case, it was expected that the office would seek to prosecute them as adults.
Regarding Kline's dismissal of the solicitation to commit murder charge, Jones said it's not uncommon for charges to be adjusted. Further investigation determined that the evidence didn't support the charge, Jones said.
Robert Myers, attorney for the adult defendant, also has been critical of Kline. Myers was the Republican candidate for Cherokee County Attorney in 2004.
"They were so quick to rush to judgment," Myers said of Kline's office. "If they would have objectively looked at this, a lot of things would have been different."
Myers also said the case was overcharged.
He said Kline's appearance before cameras on the courthouse steps was grandstanding. He said he didn't recall any plea by the attorney general for calm, as Jones portrayed it.
"You didn't see him on the courthouse steps when he dismissed the most serious charge and he sure as hell wasn't there when he turned the case over to the county attorney," Myers said.
Morrison's resume
Paul Morrison held office as Johnson County District Attorney as a Republican before switching parties to run as a Democrat against Republican Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.
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