Matter of Carpenter

808 P.2d 1341, 248 Kan. 619, 1991 Kan. LEXIS 76, 1991 WL 53571
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 12, 1991
Docket65934
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 808 P.2d 1341 (Matter of Carpenter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Carpenter, 808 P.2d 1341, 248 Kan. 619, 1991 Kan. LEXIS 76, 1991 WL 53571 (kan 1991).

Opinions

Per Curiam:

This is an original attorney discipline proceeding filed by the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator against Sue Carpenter, of Topeka, Kansas, an attorney duly admitted and licensed to practice law in the State of Kansas.

At all pertinent times, Ms. Carpenter was employed as an Assistant District Attorney in Shawnee County. In such capacity, Ms. Carpenter served as the prosecutor in State v. Clarence E. Jackson, Case No. 85-CR-1692. Mr. Jackson was charged with two counts of rape. The alleged victim, A.V.W., was a mentally and physically handicapped resident of a Topeka nursing home. Mr. Jackson was an employee of that facility. A.V.W. had reported that on two occasions during the early morning hours of August 22, 1985, she was raped by Mr. Jackson. In a jury trial, held in April 1986, Mr. Jackson was found guilty on both counts. The convictions were affirmed by this court in an unpublished opinion (State v. Jackson, No. 60,134, filed October 30, 1987).

On June 25, 1987, A.V.W. filed a civil action against the nursing home seeking damages for the rapes. In connection with the civil suit, A.V.W.’s deposition was taken. Certain inconsistencies between A.V.W.’s trial and deposition testimony were brought to the attention of the Office of the Third Judicial District Public Defender. Said office made further investigations and a motion for a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence was filed. The portion of this motion pertinent herein concerns testimony and Ms. Carpenter’s trial comments and actions in regard to the subject of whether or not A.V.W. had contracted gonorrhea as a result of the alleged rapes. Whether or not A.V.W. had gon[620]*620orrhea was of particular significance as defendant Jackson denied any sexual contact with A.V.W. If A.V.W. had gonorrhea, the inference was that she had contracted the disease from Jackson, which would tend to corroborate her version of the events on the morning in question. This was particularly so since testimony was introduced that she had tested negative for the disease later on the day of the charged rapes. The question of when the subject of gonorrhea was first known to Ms. Carpenter, according to her statement filed herein, was that “just prior to trial” A.V.W., her mother, and her social worker advised Ms. Carpenter of the treatment for gonorrhea. On the second day of trial, Ms. Carpenter requested that an employee of the district attorney’s office contact Memorial Hospital to corroborate A.V.W.’s having gonorrhea. Later the same day, the hospital called the employee back to advise that there were no hospital records indicating A.V.W. had ever been diagnosed with or treated for gonorrhea since the tests were negative. What the employee did with this information is unknown from the record before us. Ms. Carpenter’s written statement filed herein states that she did not learn of the hospital data until the motion for new trial was filed.

The final hearing report of the disciplinary panel contains the following procedural data:

“Prior to the scheduled evidentiary hearing, the Chairman was notified by telephone that a stipulation had been reached between the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator, the respondent, Sue Carpenter, and her attorney, Jerold Berger, of Topeka, Kansas. The Chairman was further advised that all exhibits would be admitted and considered as part of the evidence in this case by virtue of the stipulation. The stipulation was reduced to writing and mailed to the panel members by the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator on January 26, 1990.
“Through a telephone conference with members of the panel and after consideration of the stipulated evidence and all aspects of this case, it was determined that a full evidentiary hearing would not be required since the evidence to be presented would be identical to the written stipulation and agreement submitted to the panel. It was further agreed by the panel members that a complete review of the exhibits, written stipulation and other evidentiary items would be necessary before rendering a decision.”

The stipulation provides, in pertinent part:

“7. The public defender’s Motion for New Trial Based On Newly Discovered Evidence, And The Interests Of Justice noted a number of reasons why a new trial should be granted. One of the reasons raised in the mem[621]*621orandum dealt with the state’s allegation at trial that [A.V.W.] had contracted gonorrhea as a result of the rapes.
“8. On June 11, 1988, Judge Thomas W. Regan ruled on Mr. Jackson’s Motion for New Trial Based On Newly Discovered Evidence, And The Interests Of Justice. Judge Regan granted a new trial to Mr. Jackson. The judge noted that the gonorrhea issue was ‘extremely important.’ In addition, Judge Regan imputed knowledge to the respondent that the victim did not have gonorrhea. The judge further found that the respondent ‘continued to use this inflammatory allegation and when the district attorney gained knowledge that there was no basis for that claim they withheld that information from the defendant, his attorney, the Court, and most importantly the jury. ’ Subsequently, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office made the decision not to prosecute Mr. Jackson a second time.
“9. The allegation that [A.V.W.] contracted gonorrhea was first raised by the respondent in her opening statement. The respondent informed the jury: ‘and you will hear testimony that the girl was subsequently treated for gonorrhea.’ Later in the trial and during the state’s presentation of evidence, two witnesses were asked questions by the respondent which elicited responses indicating that [A.V.W.] had contracted gonorrhea. Nancy Applehans, a social worker associated with the Indian Trails Nursing Home, answered in response to a question by the respondent that [A.V.W.’s] chart indicated that she had been receiving antibiotics for gonorrhea. An objection to this testimony was sustained, but it clearly was before the jury. Subsequent to the Applehans testimony, Dr. Steven Kowalski testified. He was asked detailed questions by the respondent regarding the transmission of gonorrhea and whether transmission could occur if a man does not ejaculate. The respondent also elicited testimony from Dr. Kowalski that he had tested [A.V.W.] for gonorrhea. Dr. Kowalski testified that he had tested [A.V.W.] and that the test showed no gonorrhea organism after 24 hours. In concluding her questioning of Dr. Kowalski, the respondent asked the doctor if his earlier testimony had not been that it could take about 5 days for the gonorrhea to develop and if a follow-up gonorrhea test had been conducted. The doctor’s answer was in the affirmative. The respondent also asked questions of [A.V.W.] which elicited information indicating that she had been treated for gonorrhea.
“10. On the second day of trial, April 16, 1986, at approximately 10:30 A.M., the respondent directed an employee of the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office to place a call to Memorial Hospital and ask them for corroboration that [A.V.W.] had gonorrhea. An employee of the hospital returned the call on that same day and advised the district attorney’s office that there were no records indicating that [A.V.W.] had gonorrhea or that she ever had been treated for gonorrhea.
“11. At all times during the trial and for a significant time prior to the trial, medical reports and lab results existed which showed that [A.V.W.] had never tested positive for gonorrhea.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Miller
2013 OK 49 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2013)
In Re Jordan
913 So. 2d 775 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2005)
In Re Attorney C
47 P.3d 1167 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2002)
Matter of Carpenter
808 P.2d 1341 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
808 P.2d 1341, 248 Kan. 619, 1991 Kan. LEXIS 76, 1991 WL 53571, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-carpenter-kan-1991.