Monday, June 2, 2025

Dana Chandler: Topeka: Kansas: Bulletin: Having trumpeted her innocence from the outset, she is to be sentenced tomorrow (Tuesday May 3) after being found guilty earlier this year for the deaths of two people in 2002, in a prosecution tainted by a prosecutors lies, KSNT 27 News (Reporter Matthew Self) reports, noting that: "Chandler was accused of killing her ex-husband Mike Sisco and his fiancé Karen Harkness in 2002. The couple were killed by gunfire in their bed. Chandler was originally arrested in 2011 and convicted in 2012, receiving a life sentence. However, the Kansas Supreme Court later overturned the verdict after it was found the prosecutor in the case lied to the jury. A jury failed to reach a verdict on the case in 2022 during a second trial."


BACKGROUND:  "Chandler is being retried in a case that captivated national attention more than a decade ago when police and a politically ambitious district attorney teamed with “48 Hours” to identify her as the likely killer in an unsolved crime of passion, then coordinated with news media to film and photograph her arrest. Jacqie Spradling, the lead prosecutor in the case, won a conviction in 2012 by lying to the jury about nonexistent evidence. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the conviction on the basis of Spradling’s misconduct, then disbarred her after a prolonged disciplinary process."


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STORY:  Dana Chandler is set to be sentenced this summer in Topeka after she was found guilty earlier this year for the deaths of two people in 2002, by Reporter Matthew Self, published by KSNT 27 News, two months ago.


GIST: "27 News reached out to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay who confirmed that Chandler will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3. She was found guilty in a double-murder trial on March 7 in Pottawatomie County.

Chandler was accused of killing her ex-husband Mike Sisco and his fiancé Karen Harkness in 2002. The couple were killed by gunfire in their bed.

Chandler was originally arrested in 2011 and convicted in 2012, receiving a life sentence. However, the Kansas Supreme Court later overturned the verdict after it was found the prosecutor in the case lied to the jury. A jury failed to reach a verdict on the case in 2022 during a second trial.

A Shawnee County judge recently appointed a criminal defense attorney for Chandler in March as she works to appeal her recent murder convictions.?

The entire story can be read at: 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:


https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985


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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;


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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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