Before Shawn Harris allegedly fired the shot that killed Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Deputy Elijah Ming on July 26th, his criminal history landed him in Anderson County. There, a criminal defense attorney not associated with the case, says decisions not to prosecute him by the county attorney and district judge eventually led him to his deadly encounter with Deputy Ming.
Originally reported in The Heartlander, Harris was charged with two felonies last year in Anderson County: for physical abuse of a child and failure to report changes in his status under the Kansas Offender Registration Act. But District Judge Kara Reynolds of the 4th Circuit in September threw out the abuse charge, even though one of the alleged victims in the case testified to the abuse. She allowed Harris to plead “no contest” to two misdemeanor battery counts in the abuse case. The judge sentenced Harris to time served, 208 days, and placed him on probation. Later, then-County Attorney Elizabeth Oliver agreed to drop the registration charge, and after a court appearance on December 17, affirmed both decisions, Harris was released from Anderson County custody.
Former prosecutor and now-defense attorney James Spies of Kansas City told The Heartlander he didn’t feel justice was served in the charges against Harris:
“He faced up to 46 months in prison” on the registration act violation alone. He would have been what’s called ‘presumptive imprisonment’ on that, meaning the law says he’s supposed to go to prison. Why do you then also dismiss the offender registration? Generally, those are slam-dunk cases. So, if you were so inclined to give a misdemeanor on the child abuse case, why not also hammer him for the offender registration?”
Former Anderson County Attorney Oliver defended her actions in the two cases to The Heartlander:
“It is highly unusual to put minor children that are under 12 on the stand at a preliminary hearing. In this case, I put the two minor children on and [one] testified and reenacted the event out, and Judge Reynolds found the state had not met the burden of probable cause for the felony count of child abuse.” She declined further comment on the judge’s action.
On her decision in the registration case:
“Mr. Harris was to get compliant on his registration offense and the case would be dismissed, but the state reserved the right to refile the case. My recollection in this case is that Mr. Harris made a good impression on the officer and the officer approved of the offer. It would have been unusual for me to dismiss this type of case without an officer’s approval.
“Judge Kara Reynolds had not bound over a previous case with the exact same charge at a preliminary hearing and that ruling dismissed that case at that stage.
“Her ruling in the other case was a significant consideration for me in making the decision in this case. It is difficult to say what would have happened had this case progressed. Sentencing is ultimately the Judge’s decision, and defense may make arguments for a departure to probation. I cannot commit to what could have been.”
The apparent “sweetheart deal” with Harris was not part of a plea agreement, according to Kelly Johnson, 4th District Court Administrator:
“A written plan agreement was not filed in AN-2024CR30.”
Oliver had been soundly defeated in the August primary election last year in her run for re-election before the decisions were made that resulted in Harris being released. She left office in January. Her successor, Steve Wilson, defended Judge Reynolds’s conduct in the case in a statement to Fox4.
“Any suggestion by my predecessor that the court failed in its responsibility to the public would certainly be misplaced. At a preliminary (probable cause) hearing the bar is very low, but the prosecution must show that there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed and that the defendant committed said crime. After hearing the evidence presented by the prosecutor, the court determined that the prosecution did not meet the standard necessary to bind the defendant over for trial. The court cannot be faulted for doing its job.”
Judge Reynolds declined comment for this story.
Attorney Spies was blunt in his assessment of the case he gave to Fox4:
“Had Shawn Harris been prosecuted…properly, he would have been in prison, and he would not have been in a position where he could have killed Deputy Ming.”
Reporter’s Note: Story updated with statement by court administrator that no plea agreement was filed.
