Kansas Court of Appeals rules on local cases

The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled on a couple of Riley County cases, with one reversed and remanded and another affirmed.

One involves an aggravated criminal sodomy case from 2012 and the other an attempted murder case.

The appeal from Ziad Khali-Alsalaami, with a conviction of two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, was the case that was reversed. The court of appeals Friday  indicated it was a unanimous ruling , and that the appellant’s attorney, or defense attorney at the time of the trial, committed errors during his representation of Ziad. Six errors were listed in the 34 page opinion including failure to request an interpreter at trial, failure to file a motion to suppress Ziad’s confession, and failure to object during certain portions of the trial.

The case which was affirmed involved a search of Anthony Nichols’ cellphone and admissibility of his statements to police in an attempted murder case. The court’s review of the record reveals no errors and Nichols’ conviction was affirmed. Nichols is serving a 51 year sentence in the case, with Riley County jurors finding Nichols guilty of attempted murder in July of 2015. John Burroughs was found dead in his Manhattan home in September of 2013, with multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound.