A
Kansas City Attorney that was found guilty of murdering his law partner in a downtown office is fighting to get his license back. Richard Buchli as an
attorney licensed in the state of Missouri and at one time he was convicted of murdering his law partner. The case was later turned over because the prosecutors failed to turn over exculpatory evidence. Mr. Buchli was released and given back his freedom, with the promise from the prosecutors office that he would be tried again for the offense. That promise was squashed when a court of appeals threw out all of their evidence. Here is the updated article in the
KC Star.
Attorney whose murder conviction was tossed fights to regain law license
By Tony Rizzo and Mark Morris
A disbarred
Kansas City attorney once convicted of killing his law partner is fighting to regain his law license. Richard
Buchli II wants the Missouri Supreme Court to set aside its 2005
disbarment order, which was based on his 2002 first-degree murder
conviction in the death of Richard Armitage in their downtown office. Citing
evidence withheld from the defense, a judge overturned Buchli’s
conviction six years ago. Though Jackson County prosecutors had planned
to retry Buchli, they
dismissed the case earlier this year after an
appeals court threw out all their evidence.
“In order to move
forward and have the opportunity to reclaim some financial security,”
Buchli’s law license “should be reinstated without any further delay,”
attorney Robert Ernest Gould wrote in a court filing on Buchli’s behalf. Reached
by phone last week, Buchli, 62, declined to comment, but on a website
devoted to his case, he thanked the attorneys who fought for years on
his behalf.
“Due to a hurried and incomplete investigation of the
circumstances surrounding the death of my friend and partner, Richard E.
Armitage, I was wrongly accused and tried for his murder,” Buchli
wrote. When the Missouri Supreme Court disbarred Buchli, it cited
the murder conviction as its sole reason, but the lack of a murder
charge or conviction doesn’t necessarily mean a
lawyer will be
reinstated, said Ellen Suni, dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas
City law school.
Disciplinary authorities are not bound by the same standard of proof that is required to obtain a conviction, Suni said. “They
could look at all of the underlying facts and determine whether or not
they believed a crime was committed,” she said. “It doesn’t require that
there be a conviction.” No jury or judge has acquitted Buchli.
With no statute of limitations on murder, charges could be filed again
some day. “We are actively working the case,” said Jackson County
Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Baker does not want Buchli to regain his law license. Neither does Richard Armitage’s widow, Kathy Armitage.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/19/3974578/attorney-battles-to-regain-law.html#storylink=cpy
Stoney Whittle also known as Don Whittle, age 39 was injured and Dorthy Harvey, age 90 lost her
life in
a terrible accident in Linn County Kansas. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol on December 17, 2012 at approximately 1:48 pm on Kansas Highway 7 about 8 miles west of La Cygne the accident occurred. The
Police report states that the accident occurred as Dorthy Harvey failed to yield to traffic at a stop sign and was struck by Dodge pickup truck when she failed
to yield the path of Stoney Whittle. The reasons as to why the Ms. Harvey failed to yield are still unknown. Ms. Harvey a Kansas resident, were
pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Mr. Don Whittle was transported by EMS to a local hospital.
