It took 20 years, but KC man convicted of wife’s death finally gets his day in court | Opinion

One of the bedrock principles of the American justice system is a criminal defendant’s right to a fair trial. Absent that, all bets are off — it doesn’t matter if the accused committed a crime or not, they are entitled to fair and just criminal proceedings.

This concept is thoroughly laid out in the United States Constitution. But what’s happened to Ken Middleton, is anything but just.

After 20 years of requests, Middleton might get what he’s been asking for. In July, DeKalb County Circuit Court judge Ryan Wesley Horsman will hear arguments that could free Middleton from prison or grant him a new trial.

Middleton, a former over the road truck driver from Blue Springs, is serving a life sentence for murder in the 1990 shooting death of wife Kathy Middleton. I’ve written about Ken Middleton’s decades-long legal saga before. He once turned down a plea deal connected to his wife’s death that would have freed him from prison after he’d already served 14 years.

Rather than admit to something he said he did not do, Middleton took his chances appealing a guilty verdict that resulted in a life sentence for murder plus an additional 200 years behind bars for armed criminal action.

“If I was guilty, I would have said, ‘I’m guilty and I’m coming home,’” Middleton’s appellate attorney Kent Gipson told me during a recent phone interview.

Most of us would, I thought.

Ken Middleton has long maintained he did not kill Kathy Middleton. Evidence uncovered since Ken’s 1991 conviction cast doubt on his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

There was no blood splatter on Ken, according to a forensic expert hired by the family. A police report filed by Blue Springs Police detectives was altered with white correction fluid, legal documents show. Kathy accidentally shot herself fumbling with the gun inside the couple’s Blue Springs home, the forensic expert concluded.

Because of ineffective counsel Ken Middleton received during initial criminal proceedings, a Jackson County judge vacated his sentence and ordered a new trial.

Despite this 2005 ruling from former Jackson County Circuit Court judge Edith Messina, it is unconscionable that Middleton was not given the opportunity to prove his innocence in open court before now.

It’s taken nearly two decades to get here. And there are no guarantees that Horsman will side with Middleton’s claims of innocence. But one element of Middleton’s legal arguments could work in his favor — Middleton’s constitutional rights were violated during his first trial, according to Gipson.

Horsman will consider evidence that Middleton’s untainted assets were illegally frozen prior to trial.

Based on evidence presented in Middleton’s request for a new hearing, there is little to dispute — then assistant prosecutor Patrick W. Peters erred in restricting Middleton’s access to his assets, Gipson argued in legal filings. In doing so, the state violated constitutional law.

But the family won’t break out the bubbly yet.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Middleton’s son, Cliff Middleton, told me recently.

Almost 20 years have passed since Middleton’s first-degree murder conviction was set aside. Why it has taken almost two decades for the 79-year-old to have his day in court is an indictment of flaws in the legal system that must be noted. Based on the merits of Middleton’s appeal, a procedural error or legal technicality should not have been the impetus to deny Middleton a new trial.

Back then, the Missouri Attorney General’s office successfully argued Messina — Middleton’s trial judge and current senior advisor to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker — did not have jurisdiction to overturn the conviction. The Missouri Court of Appeals agreed and Middleton has sat in prison since without another chance at freedom.

Last summer, Gipson filed the latest legal motion in DeKalb County. Earlier this month, Horsman granted the hearing. Gipson wants a new trial for his client or to have Middleton’s life sentence vacated.

In legal filings, Gipson makes a compelling argument as to why Middleston’s life sentence should be vacated. He cites Luis v. United States, a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled a criminal defendant has the right to counsel of choice. By freezing Middleton’s legitimate untainted assets prosecutors violated his 6th Amendment right, Gipson argues.

Cliff Middleton was 20 when his father was arrested. He has fought for Ken’s freedom since. There may be light at the end of the tunnel but Cliff remains understandably cautious about his father getting out of prison. After all, the Middleton family has been down this road before.

When dealing with post-conviction relief in Missouri’s criminal justice system, there is no such thing as a slam dunk.

For 33 years, Ken has been incarcerated. One appeal after another filed on his behalf has been rejected in state and federal court. Until now.

Of course, attorneys with the Missouri Attorney General’s office will vigorously oppose Middleton’s claims. In court documents, they question if Luis v U.S. applies retroactively to this case.

“Middleton’s failure to raise the claim in the appropriate first instance renders the claim procedurally defaulted,” the AG’s office contends.

This summer, I plan to travel to DeKalb County to attend the one-day hearing scheduled for July 24. I want to see with my own eyes the American criminal justice system at work.

But there is no sure way to guarantee Ken Middleton will receive the justice he deserves. And it is un-American that it has taken almost 20 years for him to challenge his conviction in court.