Kansas has been active with news the last couple weeks. From a man impersonating a cop, to another fatal shooting in Topeka, to a high-speed chase in Jefferson county, our state has been busy.

One story that jumped out to me was the one about Phillip D. Cheatham Jr., who will recieve a new trial from the 2003 shooting of two Topeka women. His lawyer allegedly collected $50,000 to do nothing, well, except to make his client look like a murderer. On top of that he only spent 60 hours working on the cas, declined funds which were available through the Board of Indigent Defense Services, which would have paid for investigators to check Cheatham’s alibi and wasn’t familiar with American Bar Association guidelines for death penalty cases. I don’t understand how this guy is still a lawyer. 

I am appalled at how the system works in some cases. I plan to follow this story and see how it turns out. Hopefully his name can be cleared and he can move on with his life. To read about this case go to http://bit.ly/VovYXC.