It's a dark day for justice in Kansas City when a judge calls out a Jackson County Prosecutor for burying evidence and basically accuses the guy of outright lying.
This story comes in from out of nowhere and A VERY KICKASS TKC TIPSTER!!!
I only remember the case because Pitch writer Nadia Pflaum got front page coverage for her junkie friend while the deaths of so many other drug-addicted souls who don't happen to be beautiful and have parents with connections obviously never merit the same loving coverage.
First, background from the AMAZING TKC TIPSTER who has a better insight into this case than anybody else:
Here's the opinion of Judge Messina, issued last night, finding that Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Miller committed a fraud on the court by knowingly withholding 260 pages of police reports . . .This is definitely some pretty serious stuff and clearly demonstrates that not only that first person "journalism" offered by mainstream media can often skew perceptions but also (more importantly) that a judge has some serious problems with the way things are done in Jackson County.
It's the case of Matt Davis. Found his girlfriend dead in his apartment, didn't know what to do, and put the body in his Jeep for three days in River Market. It got a lot of coverage at the time, since Davis and his girlfriend, Amber McGathey, were both trust fund babies and Amber McGathey's dad is on the Board of Police Commissioners. Nadia did a story in the Pitch.
He "claimed" that he'd been calling his attorney to find out what to do, but the prosecutor called him a liar and said he didn't contact anyone. Problem was, the prosecutor knew Davis was telling the truth, but had hidden the police reports.
In this case, the prosecutor NEVER disclosed 260 pages of reports, lied to the court a couple of times, and Matt Davis is still sitting in prison.
READ THE LEGAL OPINION FOR YOURSELF POSTED FIRST AT TKC!!!
Here's the most important part for me . . . The judgment that could set up a major case being overturned:
The Court finds that, at sentencing, the prosecutor made a materially false representation to the Court when he stated: "The fact is he never called the police. He never called anyone."Thank you for reading this captivating case of KC justice first on TKC.
The Court finds that before the motion court, the State made a materially false statement when it pled "the State is not in receipt of my evidence or testimony to validate movant's claim of notifying attorney John Quinn."JudgmentBased upon the foregoing, this Court finds as follows:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that defendant's pleas of guilty are set aside.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that defendant's convictions and sentence are set aside.
Developing . . .
This story is nothing without a pic of the young "lady"
ReplyDeleteJunkies are just endlessly and phenomenally interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe Pitch is "mainstream media'?
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes, of course. And you are a successful blogger.
Village Voice Media owns dozens of papers across the country. You should read more.
ReplyDeleteI can just see the wheels moving in the justice department:
ReplyDelete"Welp, we've got this kid in a jail. He's as guilty as sin. Wait a minute!...what's this? Tony's calling it a mistrial...he's citing as his source one unimpeachable 'Kickass TKC tipster.' Looks like we better call the judge, or maybe even set the feller loose!"
Thanks to TKC's dedication to justice, we've got one less innocent man in the clink!
Hip Hip Hoo-RAY!
Clearly alert.
ReplyDeleteDa man is trying to keep a yuppie down.
ReplyDeleteWill Dan Miller get in any trouble over this?
ReplyDeleteSo I guess I can't keep my lady friends in carpet any more.
ReplyDeleteIT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Tony is a numb-nutz!
ReplyDeleteWhere is Alonzo, to stip this mis-carrige of the Justice System.
ReplyDeleteprobably the 1st time your wrote the word Nadia without an adjective insulting her. but it is an interesting...if they did that to a white guy what you think the prosecutor does to a brother
ReplyDeleteWho is the prosecutor? All BS aside, this is a BAD thing.
ReplyDeleteMentioned in the opinion: Matt Davis, Richard Buchli, Ted White. All 3 were wealthy white dudes who could afford to dig deep enough to uncover the crimes of the Jackson County Prosecutor's office and have their convictions overturned. How many more are there? Prosecutor Dan Miller should be disbarred for this. Frankly, he ought to go to prison.
ReplyDeleteThat legal opinion is very interesting to read. How is this prosecutor able to stay in his position with something like this on his record?
ReplyDeleteThis is simply amazing stuff. To answer the question, Jim Kanatzar is the prosecutor and if he doesn't handle this he ought to be removed from office.
ReplyDeleteIs this Miller guy still in the prosecutor's office?? Did they allow him to come back to his job?? Have you no dignity or respect Kanatzer??
ReplyDeleteBig black eye for Kanatzar. The real story hear is that he is in over his head in that office and this is the first major indication of a lack of leadership in the office. How can the head guy allow for and defend prosecutor's that withold evidence? Sorry Jim, you are being exposed.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat. This has legs.
ReplyDeleteJust saw the story on Channel 9. This makes we sick. All of those prosecutors should spend some time in jail to see how it feels to get railroaded by the system. Makes me sick.
ReplyDeleteThis story is horrible. Kanatzer has done a good job in responding to it. But I will say that Miller is not all bad, he had done some good work in other cases.
ReplyDeleteJunkies.
ReplyDeleteThe lowbrow drama continues even after they off themselves.
Law Guy: "Miller is not all bad" are you serious?? This is unforgivable. The guy has no morals. He bold-faced lied to a judge, other attorneys and a full courtroom. He is a disgrace to al in the legal field who abide by the rules. He has been doing this up for years and now that it has caught up with him he won't even take responsibility for his actions. No accountability. I have no sympathy for this fraud.
ReplyDeleteI'd feel worse for Davis if he hadn't smashed into my car while transporting large amounts of drugs while running from the cops, injuring me, my friends and my pregnant wife. Fucker can rot.
ReplyDeleteIt is outrageous that an officer of the Court is a liar. It is impossible that this seasoned prosecuting attorney accidentally withheld exculpatory or mitigating evidence. It cannot be seen as anything other than the intentional deprivation of a citizen's constitutional right to a fair trial. It is obscene that Dan Miller is still employed at the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's office, doing administrative grunt work while this case is reviewed. It is an insult to the good people that have to work near him. He should be out of the office. He should be on unpaid leave. He has embarassed the court and all other prosecutors who defend the people of Missouri. Yes, even guilty defendants are people with rights. Those who know Dan Miller know that he is a horse's ass, a good-old boy, an elitist and arrogant former state trooper who holds himself above all others. He is now exposed for who he really is. Dan Miller is an arrogant, pompous liar and cheat. No good thing he has ever done can possibly be a defense against this behavior, and indeed, it is unlikely that this is an isolated incident. Dan Miller needs to be removed, like a cancer, from the old and proud profession of law and law enforcement. His word is no good. He has no honor. He is a criminal.
ReplyDeleteAll right Jackals! That'll do! Dan Miller is a hard working Prosecutor. When this matter is completely investigated, the facts will be presented and Dan will face the music, however it's played. We cant judge him here until we know all of the facts, which we probably never will.
ReplyDeleteDan Miller does not care about the well-being or social justice of Jackson County citizens, and he's really not against drugs either. His son, Lucas Miller was arrested on his way from Kansas City to the University of Missouri last year over with marijuana, a pipe, psychedelic mushrooms, an array of prescription pills that were not his and alcohol. With the mushrooms and the prescription pills, for an ordinary (especially for a black) person, this would result in prison and multiple felonies. What does his son get? Nothing. His son still continues to use drugs, especially prescription pills and alcohol on a regular basis, but who cares when daddy will just come to the rescue? And don't call daddy Dan out on his fraudulent activities, because then the taxpayers might have to fork over some cash.
ReplyDeletePat Peters, the attorney for Matt Davis is one talented individual who knows how to manipulate the system. He gets Davis out with time served due to a technicality as a Defense Attorney and convicts an innocent man to life twenty years ago while he was a Prosecutor. I know what you're thinking, everyone in prison says they're innocent, but Pat Peters knowingly convicted a man of murder even though gunshot residue tests mysteriously disappeared. Tests that would have showed, Ken Middleton, was innocent. He also passed his father's business card (Civil Attorney) to the victim's family before the trial ever started and was instrumental in helping freeze assets belonging to the defendant so he had no means to the proper representation he deserved. It just happens that Judge Messina, the same Judge who blasted the Prosecutor in the Davis case, was also the Preceding Judge in the Middleton case. Messina ruled 15 years later that Middleton had ineffective counsel and should be granted a new trial. Instead he was offered an Alford Plea, admit guilt and walk, but he quickly refused that deal because he has honor and wouldn't admit to something he didn't do. By the way, the defense attorney representing Middleton was convicted of IRS evasion a year later and admitted to handling 3 capital murder cases in addition to Middleton's, to take care of that IRS debt obviously. All 3 other defendants were awarded new trials on the basis of ineffective counseling. Check it out yourself,
ReplyDeletewww.free-kenmiddleton.com. This story has the potential to get a someone a Pulitzer for Investigative Journalism or a screenplay deal. Good job Pat Peters at playing the game.
Nothing ever happened to Dan Miller....even though he is a disgusting vile excuse for a human being and was a blatently corrupt prosecutor. Sure he was fired....or was given 70 thousand dollars to "resign". He is now a private attorney who posts fake positive reviews of himself on google....claims he is the most experienced criminal defense lawyer. Looks like he is still a slithering snake doing what he does best..FRAUD
ReplyDelete