TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 42-year-old Kansas man claims he didn’t have effective counsel during a retrial of his death penalty case.

King Phillip Amman Reu-El wants a Shawnee County judge to void his two consecutive sentences, as well as his convictions based on no-contest pleas.

He was convicted in 2005 of capital murder and other charges.

The 2013 convictions were overturned, and the case was sent back for retrial. During his second trial, Amman Reu-El says he was misled into thinking a no-contest plea wouldn’t be used by the Kansas Supreme Court to deny a pre-trial action he filed in 2014.

Amman Reu-El changed his name from Phillip D. Cheatham Jr. while awaiting retrial in the capital murder case.

Cheatham was charged with the 2003 shooting deaths of Annette Roberson and Gloria Jones. A third victim survived.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 60-year-old man convicted of killing a Topeka woman in 1973 is up for parole.

The Kansas Prisoner Review Board is considering parole for James Elder, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the July 1973 slaying in Topeka of 23-year-old Barbara Butler. She was stabbed 23 times.

Elder was sentenced in Shawnee County to 15 years to life in prison.

The state has considered parole for Elder 19 times before. The state paroled Elder in 2005 but returned him to prison for violating parole in 2007. Elder then was considered for parole but denied in 2007 and 2012.

The board will accept public comments about the possible parole of any of 40 eligible inmates, including Elder on Sept. 18 in the Topeka Municipal Court chambers.

WAMEGO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in northeast Kansas are investigating the death of a woman who was found bleeding in roadway.

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Department received a call Sunday about a bleeding woman lying in a road northwest of Wamego.

Sheriff Greg Riat says deputies and emergency medical personnel found the woman with serious injuries lying in the road near a pickup. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s identity and cause of death haven’t been released.

The sheriff’s office and the Kansas Highway Patrol are investigating.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 32-year-old Springfield man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for death of his girlfriend.

Prosecutors say Jonathan Greer killed his girlfriend, 34-year-old Angie Holbrook, in July 2013. He was charged with second-degree murder but was found guilty Thursday of the lesser charge.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Holbrook was shot during a party at Greer’s Springfield home. Greer testified that he was drunk and high when he took a gun out of his pocket and accidentally pulled the trigger.

Greer was also found guilty of armed criminal action.

Prosecutors argued the death was a case of domestic abuse, not an accident.

A witness at the party said an argument between Greer and Holbrook turned physical and after they went to a bedroom, witnesses heard a gunshot.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis woman is facing charges for allegedly having sex with a jail inmate while she was working as a corrections officer.

Authorities say 29-year-old Deborah Gibson-Harris performed sex acts with an inmate between Feb. 1 and April 26 in a cell at the city’s Medium Security Institution. She is charged with two counts of sexual contact with an inmate by a jail employee.

Gibson-Harris was fired in May.

Meanwhile, another former corrections officer at the same jail is charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs in a corrections facility. Authorities say 43-year-old Robyn Anderson of St. Louis County delivered drugs to an inmate in April and was paid $50. She was also fired this spring.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The headquarters of Kansas City-based Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar is moving to California.

The company also says Steven Layt, president of Applebee’s, will not move and has resigned.

The Kansas City Star reports that a statement from DineEquity Inc., the California company that owns the Applebee’s and IHOP chains, said the move to Glendale, California, is aimed at spurring brand growth and developing traditional and non-traditional locations.

Applebee’s headquarters moved to Kansas City from Lenexa, Kanas, in 2011, after receiving a $12.9 million incentive package.

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper killed last week in an on-duty crash is being remembered as a dedicated law enforcer guided by his spirituality.

Hundreds of mourners attended Friday’s services for James Bava in the St. Louis suburb of Dardenne Prairie, including Gov. Jay Nixon and dozens of fellow state troopers.

The patrol has said the 25-year-old trooper died in the single-vehicle crash Aug. 28 while chasing a speeding motorcyclist in northeast Missouri’s Audrain County.

Bava’s older brother, Joshua Bava of the O’Fallon police force, told mourners that his late sibling was his best friend and hero.

Nixon has ordered flags statewide to fly at half-staff Friday.

Bava became a trooper in July 2013.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri advocate who says he was sexually abused by a priest as a teenager says the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City gave him $40,000.

David Clohessy said Thursday that the diocese paid him after he asked for $200,000 for therapy and medical expenses.

Clohessy says he agreed not to take legal action against the diocese.

A spokesman for the diocese confirmed it gave Clohessy money and said a bishop apologized.

Clohessy sued the diocese in 1991, saying he was abused by a priest. The case was dismissed in 1993 because the statute of limitations had run out.

Clohessy since 1991 has served as the national director of advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

SULLIVAN, Mo. (AP) — A 38-year-old man has died after being struck by a train in downtown Sullivan. Authorities are trying to determine if the victim was walking along the track or stumbled as the train approached.

His name is being held until his family is notified.

According to Sullivan Police Lt. Patrick Johnson, officers responded to a call about a man being hit by a train between the Clark Street and Elmont Road crossings.

Authorities say the man was struck around 10:30 a.m. Thursday by an eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe train.

An investigation is ongoing.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Mexican man who was deported while awaiting trial here will return to court Friday. And this time, prosecutors hope to prevent him from being deported too soon.

Prosecutors say their case against Lopez-Morales highlights problems that arise when immigrants who are illegally living in the U.S. are granted bail in criminal cases.

 

The 41-year-old was indicted on a felony charge of illegal re-entry last year. His attorney convinced the court to release him on bond despite vehement objections by prosecutors, who warned the move would lead to deportation.

After posting bond, Lopez-Morales was transferred into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and removed because of an outstanding deportation order.

He was arrested on a similar charge in July. A detention hearing in the case is scheduled Friday.