They don't call it UNIFIED for nothing. UG judge kicks Schlitterbahn case.Protects his own tribe from culpability. I predict Loser AG Derek Schmidt does not refile, just "lets it SLIDE"

I am pissed.

And since I am the one who gave Tony Botello at TonysKansasCity.com the breaking news tip about the DECAPITATION of young Caleb Schwab, I must follow up on today's news, that Judge Burns dismissed the three big cases against the management and designers of the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn in Wyandotte County.


What did you expect? Too awkward to allow testimony by other county employees if their malfeasance and design shenanigans were partly at fault.

The AG's prosecutorial team gave the judge the perfect cover for dismissal.  They made classic novice errors with the evidence they showed to the grand jury.  Any fool who ever watched Perry Mason or Ally McBeal or LA Law knows that.  Oh I miss those shows.  And yes,
And yes, cue the music now! Law & Order... 

Ks AG Derek Schmidt is incompetent.  (Or was this a "wink and a nod" deal, one government giving cover to another??

This was not a frivolous case. It was an awkward one.  Wrapped up nice and tidy with a dismissal, from early wildly incompetent prosecution, by our AG. (Who other than being cross eyed, looks exactly like the smug actor in the National car rental ads.)

"Choose any attorney whose never prosecuted a Murder 2 case...and go!

 Derek had never tried a Murder 2 case. He wanted to keep the case in house, (ego) so was assisted by an equally inexperienced asst. AG. He clearly should have referred it out.

One must remember, the reason it was not handled, as it should have been, by the Wyandotte County's DA was--
a. The experienced guy retired or lost his election.  30 years experience, gone.

b. The new DA had zero experience and booted it up to the state.
    (In volleyball, that's called an "assist".)  At least he was smart enough to know to do that!

c. After all, Wyandotte County, the UG,was at least half responsible for the DECAPITATION
 of Caleb Schwab, because their Gang of Five--a committee of men appointed with zero credentials to the trumped up Wyandotte County Design Review Committee.
Men without training in design sat around a table over sammiches--and said, roughly, "We gotta show some control over these cocky Texas assholes. Not just rubber stamp their plan. So howsabout we make em put a net over the slide, and hold that in place with some metal HOOPS!  Pass the BBQ sauce and I need another brewsky.

d. (One of the five was some sort of planner, but not credentialed in slide engineering. )
But the other four were just the usual Dotheads, including the obligatory guy from the most corrupt utility in America, the BPU.)    As my futurist friend, Fritz Maffrey calls such dolts, the "prancing Dilberts of Downtown."

d1.  Sadly, even the great Steve Vockrodt at the KCStar, never reported the names of the five.   The STAR should have sued for that info.  But the only time recently they've hired an attorney was last month --to defend THEMSELVES!  re Sen. Jim Denning's defamation case regarding the hatchet job column by defrocked liar/columnist Steve Rose...the Jesse Smollett of Johnson County.  When his first story didn't bring down Denning, he concocted another, claiming to be The Victim.  (to be continued.)

and now back to Schlitterbahn:
e. It is an obvious logical explanation and fact that it was the UG designed and mandated hoops that decapitated Caleb.
f. And then it was the UG mandated netting that held the head up there for hours
and had to be cut down. Caleb's mom did not even notice, she was so traumatized, seeing her son's (headless) BODY lying on the tarmac. I know this from a police officer there, sworn
to secrecy.

g. So how could the county prosecute itself?  Duh, they couldn't...and wouldn't.  The county administrator would not allow it.   But again, Vockrodt couldn't get him on the record, or get in the damn building to interview him.

h. And how could the UG police department report or testify their own bosses, as witnesses?????--county administration in charge of their budget?

h1:  And why should the judge expose fellow UG staffers to being cross-examined?  Why have a jury be forced to decide which percentage of fault was the UG Design Review Team, vs the mistakes made by Jeff Henry, the co-designer and tyler the manager who could not seem to train high school kids to put the fat ladies in front.

h2.   Better to dismiss charges early.  A wink and a nod among governments that must work together on so much more.  Blame it on hapless Derek Schmidt, slap him on the back and say, "Sorry, buddy.  You lost a tough case, and the UG dodged a bullet."

i. THIS WAS A COMPLETE CLUSTERFUCK.

j. And the news media still refuses to report the truth, it was a DECAPITATION!  Not an "accident", it was totally preventable.  Designed and mismanaged to fail.

 Fear of losing future ad revenues from a huge summertime client.  Had this crime happened in the inner city, the cold brutal facts would have been immediately reported.  Just last week, a former TV5 producer now the social manager for Shawnee, told me management still maintains it was "out of respect" for the family.  Fake news.

And it was not --as the UG police officer told Ch. 9--"a serious neck injury." Jesus.  Who knew that Pinocchio was a cop for the UG??

k. No, Schlitterbahn and your attorneys, with your sanctimonious spin today--
While it WAS a tragedy, it was ALSO a crime.  Which your clients escaped being convicted of.  Because the final crime was the incompetent legal prosecution team by our state.

If this were sports, bettors might say you THREW THE GAME.  Is Derek Schmidt that fucking stupid?  After all, he misfiled the case initially, under a corporate name that did not exist.  Or did he do this on purpose?

Caleb Schwab's family will never know. 

Takeaways:
I am grateful that Scott Schwab's family got some closure with their private settlement.

I am embarrassed for the citizens of Kansas. The AG, Derek Schmidt, has clearly been outed as inexperienced--and lacking the basic judgment to REALIZE his limitations, and thus cheat the family and the citizens of Kansas from real justice.

He doesn't cut his own hair, change the oil in his car, or manage his own website.
AG Derek Schmidt, a simpleton Topeka attorney used to fixing tickets, should have known he needed an experienced attorney to prosecute these cases.

Shame. Shame. Shame.

I'd also add:
Carl Cornwell is a fine, fine defense attorney if you are ever charged with a major crime.

I don't know the other defense attorneys--forget their names. They too did a great job for their despicable clients, but it was Carl Cornwell who gets the win for Jeff Henry.

Who I hope gets a big sentence in Joco for his other pending charge.

Jeff Henry is the OJ Simpson of Schlitterbahn.  He got away with murder 2.
BTW, despicable is not a defamatory thing to say about Jeff Henry. The truth is its own defense.

I did have to laugh when Jeff Henry was caught drugging and whoring around as he was in Joco. Defense attorneys have a challenge trying to control their sociopathic and reckless clients.  He's self-destructive.  Again, just like OJ.

Do I think the state of Kansas will refile these cases? No. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.--who said that? TKC intellectuals, please weigh in.

AG Derek Schmidt could not possibly take enough remedial law seminars or crash courses in How to Prosecute a Murder 2 Case to refile. 
He might as well just let is SLIDE.
(Gallows humor intended.)
The next time there is a major murder case in Kansas, I hope a future AG will have the balls and the wisdom-- it takes both, (male or female) to refer the case out, to an experienced professional.