"Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by its example.
Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself."
–Supreme Court Justice Brandeis

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Judge David Debenham—Allows Murders, Batterers and Pedophiles to Roam Free

If your a child abuser or a lawyer with this Judge in Topeka you get away with murder and Battery and he rewards Abusive Fathers  like Hal Richardson. Convicted and admitted Batterer with Custody of my daughter Rikki Dombrowski.

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-04-11/schultz-pleads-no-contest-bicycle-fatality

Schultz pleads no contest in bicycle fatality

 

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Defendant Marc Schultz, right, listens Monday as his attorney, Doug Wells, addresses the court. Schultz pleaded no contest to three felonies tied to the traffic death in September of bicyclist Timothy Roberts, 55, on a rural Shawnee County road.  THAD ALLTON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

THAD ALLTON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Defendant Marc Schultz, right, listens Monday as his attorney, Doug Wells, addresses the court. Schultz pleaded no contest to three felonies tied to the traffic death in September of bicyclist Timothy Roberts, 55, on a rural Shawnee County road.

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By Steve Fry

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Within six hours of being charged, Topeka lawyer Marc A. Schultz pleaded no contest Monday to three felonies tied to the death of a bicyclist who was struck as he was riding on S.W. 53rd Street in September.

"I plead no contest" to involuntary manslaughter, Schultz, 40, told Shawnee County District Judge David Debenham.

Schultz then pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol in a fourth or subsequent case and leaving the scene of an accident in which a death occurs.

The plea calls for a 43-month sentence for the manslaughter, and the sentences for the other charges would run concurrently to the manslaughter sentence. Debenham isn't required to follow the plea.

The charges are tied to the death of bicyclist Timothy Roberts, 55, who was killed Sept. 12 when he was struck from behind by a car as he rode his bike in the 5500 block of S.W. 53rd.

"The (Roberts) family is satisfied with the charges," said Ron Pope, a Topeka attorney representing the family. "Obviously this is a horrific accident, devastating to this family."

The Roberts family wants a sentence that is fair but not one so long that it would take away a father as happened with them, Pope said. The family was "extremely impressed" with the district attorney's office during negotiations, Pope said. Monday was difficult for the family, and none attended the hearing, Pope said.

District Attorney Chad Taylor said he was "impressed beyond words with the strength and compassion demonstrated by Mr. Roberts' family." Taylor said he hoped the plea provided the Roberts family "with some solace while holding Mr. Schultz accountable for his actions."

Negotiations lasted two or three months, Schultz attorney Doug Wells said. The two sides discussed it fully, including "Marc's desire to accept responsibility and to spare the family the additional grief of a contested trial."

Schultz is to be sentenced June 2. After he made the pleas, Schultz was driven to Shawnee County Jail by his father to surrender and be processed before he was to be released on a $100,000 recognizance bond. Lowering the bond, which earlier had been $150,000 with professional surety, was part of the negotiations.

To sentence Schultz to 43 months, Debenham would have to depart upward from a sentence that ordinarily would be 31 to 34 months. Prosecutors must demonstrate an aggravating factor to justify the departure.

"The aggravating circumstance is that the victim was particularly vulnerable" as he rode the bicycle, assistant district attorney Jessica Domme said.

The charges were filed about 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Assistant District Attorney Dakota Loomis, spokesman for the district attorney, said Schultz' earlier DUIs occurred in 1989 and 2000.

According to Shawnee County District Court records, Schultz was convicted of a misdemeanor DUI on Aug. 3, 2000. Schultz was sentenced to two days in Shawnee County Jail and fined $200, court records said.

Schultz also was convicted June 20, 2000, of DUI, Loomis said.

Eleven years earlier, Schultz was placed on diversion on July 14, 1989, after he was charged with DUI and driving an unsafe speed for road conditions, court records said. When Schultz completed diversion, the charges were dismissed on July 20, 1990. For sentencing, a DUI diversion is treated as a conviction.

In 2003, Schultz pleaded no contest to driving an unsafe speed for road conditions, and to speeding 75 in a 70 mph zone in 2007.

In the fatality accident, Roberts was riding west on S.W. 53rd about 4:30 p.m. when he was struck by a westbound Chrysler Pacifica. Schultz and his son were in the Chrysler.

A blood draw showed Schultz had marijuana; tramadol, a narcotic-like pain reliever; and citalopram, an antidepressant, in his system, Domme said, and his blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent.

Pope said a civil lawsuit would be filed before Schultz is sentenced.

Roberts was a financial planner, starting his own firm, Lord-Roberts Insurance, in 2002 with a partner. In September 2009, Roberts started working for Tarkenton Financial.

Roberts served as a Marine during the Vietnam War, graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma State University in 1980, and earned a masters degree in administration of justice from Wichita State University in 1984.

Schultz has been a lawyer in Topeka for about 10 years, and his law practice included the defense of juveniles facing criminal charges.

In 2006, Schultz represented then-15-year-old James Raymond Roberts-Watkins in two jury trials in which the youth was charged with intentional second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his stepfather, Konard Miller, 50.

Jurors were unable to reach verdicts, and mistrials were declared. Roberts-Watkins then pleaded guilty to the less-serious charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Steve Fry can be reached

at (785) 295-1206

or steve.fry@cjonline.com.