LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — A federal workplace safety investigation is planned in the case of a man who fell to his death from scaffolding during an apartment renovation site in suburban Kansas City.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it will scrutinize the death Friday in Leawood, Kansas, of a Van Trust Real Estate LLC employee.

The man’s name, age and hometown have not been released.

As OSHA’s area director in Wichita, Kansas, Judy Freeman says the agency extends its sympathies to the victim’s family and friends. She says OSHA will thoroughly investigate whether any safety standards were violated.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed the retired chief financial officer of an advertising and public relations agency to lead a review of the state’s revenue-projecting process.

Brownback announced Friday that Sam Williams of Wichita will help budget director Shawn Sullivan evaluating the forecasting process. The governor’s office also said Williams will help analyze tax policy.

The governor’s budget staff, Department of Revenue officials, legislative researchers and university economists issue revenue forecasts for state government twice a year. Tax collections have fallen short of their projections 10 of the past 12 months.

Williams is a former CFO for Sullivan Higdon & Sink who ran unsuccessfully for Wichita mayor in 2015. He also served as chairman of a task force set up in 2014 to look for efficiencies in public schools.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A woman has admitted that she killed a Lawrence woman who had given her a place to live.

Angelica Kulp pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder and aggravated burglary in a plea agreement that dropped a first-degree murder charge.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Kulp killed 56-year-old Christine Kaplan in July 2014. Police found dozens of stab wounds on Kaplan’s body when it was found in her home.

Prosecutor Eve Kemple says Kaplan was known for helping those in need and had given Kulp a place to stay. But Kaplan eventually asked Kulp to leave and said she was afraid of her.

Several days after Kaplan’s body was found, Kulp was arrested in Topeka after an unrelated burglary of an acquaintance’s house.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 1.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A spokeswoman for Gov. Sam Brownback says his staff is looking at shuffling funds within state government to cover a projected short-term budget deficit.

But Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said Friday that budget-balancing measures won’t be finalized until officials have a better picture of revenues this month.

Tax collections fell $74.5 million short of expectations in May. That leaves Kansas with a projected deficit of about $45 million when the fiscal year ends June 30.

Hawley said the governor does not anticipate trimming spending to address the problem. But making cuts so late in a fiscal year is difficult anyway.

She said the governor’s budget staff is looking at diverting fees collected in dozens of special funds into the state’s main bank account, where the shortfall would occur.

 

ELLSWORTH COUNTY – On Friday, Joe Shepack, Ellsworth County Attorney provided an update on the conviction and sentencing of two Great Bend juveniles involved in the incident on a school swim team bus trip.

In a media release, Shepack stated: On May 31, 2016, Connor Furrey, age 17, of Great Bend was convicted of a Class “B” misdemeanor battery in Ellsworth County District Court Case 2016-JV-04. Sentencing has been set for 2:00 P.M. on July 5, 2016. Mr. Furrey will remain free on bond until sentencing.

On June 1, 2016, Mr. Furrey’s co-defendant, Alan Matthew Bobbitt, was sentenced pursuant to his conviction for a Class “B” misdemeanor battery. Sentencing was conducted by the Honorable District Magistrate Judge Verle Willey.

The sentence was sentence to probation through May of 2017.

The sentencing judge noted that this was Mr. Bobbitt’s first conviction for a misdemeanor and that Mr. Bobbitt had previously issued an apology, through social media, to the victim, and that neither the victim nor a spokesperson for the victim appeared at sentencing, notwithstanding having been given notice of the sentencing date and time back in April of 2016. The sentencing judge also took note of a pending civil lawsuit directed at Mr. Bobbitt’s parents, which necessarily precluded Mr. Bobbitt from speaking on his own behalf at his sentencing.

 

On May 11, in Ellsworth County District Court Case (2016-CV-17) a lawsuit seeking monetary damages was filed on behalf of the defendant against twenty-one (21) named defendants including the Superintendent of USD 428; the Principal of Great Bend High School; two (2) Great Bend swim team coaches, a bus driver, and members of the USD #428 School Board. Also included as defendants are the parents of certain Great Bend High School students, including the parents of Mr. Bobbitt and Mr. Furrey.

The Ellsworth County Attorney makes no comment about the merits, or lack thereof, of said lawsuit, other than to remind the public that the standards of proof for civil lawsuits and criminal proceedings are vastly different.

 

To compare, a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit can prevail by presenting evidence that is 51% believable. This is called proving a case by a preponderance of the evidence. In criminal cases, the standard for conviction is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”. Although there are no Kansas cases quantifying “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”, logic would suggest that we are talking about a 98% or 99% or 100% proof of guilt. Thus, persons who may not be convicted, nor even charged in criminal cases, may still face civil liability. Indeed, comparing civil cases to criminal cases is like comparing apples to oranges.