Chandler to renew request for judge recusal

A Shawnee County Jail inmate facing charges of first-degree murder plans Monday to renew a request for recusal of the district court judge preparing to preside at the defendant's double-homicide retrial in June.

Dana Chandler, who has been incarcerated since arrested in 2011, had convictions overturned by the Kansas Supreme Court in the 2002 shooting deaths of her former husband and his girlfriend. Chandler is scheduled to appear before District Court Judge Nancy Parrish with a new request for Parrish's removal from the case.

Parrish, who presided at Chandler's first trial in 2012, ruled in December insufficient grounds existed for her to step down from proceedings leading to the second trial.

"I specifically move for the recusal of Judge Nancy E. Parrish for her deep-seated antagonism against me, most notable displayed in her caustic comments ... during the sentencing hearing, which showed disdain and malice towards me," Chandler said in an affidavit supporting her new motion for a change in judge.

Chandler was found guilty by a jury of killing her ex-husband Mike Sisco and his fiance Karen Harkness. At Chandler's sentencing, Parrish said Chandler's decision to murder the couple was "extremely self-centered." The judge said it was "inconceivable to me that a mother could intentionally hurt and scar her children so deeply."

"I'm sure you believed that you had gotten away with murder, but that is not the case," Parrish said before issuing a pair of 50-year sentences.

The Supreme Court overturned both verdicts in April and pointed to prosecutorial misconduct by Jacqie Spradling, who no longer works in the Shawnee County District Attorney's office. Justices concluded the Chandler prosecution "illustrates how a desire to win can eclipse the state’s responsibility to safeguard the fundamental constitutional right to a fair trial."

The Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys in December found probable cause to believe Spradling violated state ethics rules in the Chandler case.

Chandler's affidavit in support of recusal referenced statements Parrish made to an attorney conducting an ethics investigation of Spradling. The 2017 report documenting Parrish's comments to Ron Paschal was apparently unknown by Chandler when she made the initial attempt to oust the judge.

Paschal's summary of his interview with Parrish said the judge described Spradling as "a very good trial attorney." He wrote Parrish viewed Spradling as "a very smart and strategic prosecutor who was quick on her feet."

"She said at times, like any good trial attorney, she (Spradling) would aggressively try her case but she was not of the opinion respondent was a dishonest person," Paschal's report said.