JOHN HANNA, Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on a man convicted of fatally shooting a sheriff during a 2005 drug raid.
Kansas hasn’t executed anyone in more than 50 years, and Friday’s decision in Scott Cheever’s case is only the second time the court has upheld a death sentence under the state’s 1994 capital punishment law.
The decision came four years after the court ordered a new trial for Cheever over questions about an expert’s testimony. The U.S. Supreme Court directed the Kansas court to reconsider.
Cheever acknowledged shooting Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels as he tried to serve a warrant at a rural home about 75 miles northeast of Wichita. But Cheever’s attorney argued he was too high on methamphetamine for the crime to be premeditated
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is preparing to rule again on whether a man convicted of fatally shooting a sheriff during a 2005 drug raid will face execution.
The court said it would issue a decision Friday on Scott Cheever’s appeal. The case has been enmeshed in multiple legal battles over the state’s death penalty law.
Cheever acknowledged shooting Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels as Samuels tried to serve a warrant at a rural home about 75 miles northeast of Wichita. But Cheever’s attorney argued that he was too high on methamphetamine for the crime to be premeditated.
The Kansas court in 2012 ordered a new trial for Cheever over a dispute about a mental health expert’s testimony during his trial. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2013.