‘Anti-police’: Widow of Kansas City cop killed in wreck wants prosecutor to step aside
The widow of a Kansas City police officer killed in a February wreck wants the criminal case of an accused reckless driver to be handled by someone other than Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, saying she believes her office is “anti-police.”
At issue is the criminal case against Jerron Lightfoot, of Tonganoxie, Kansas, who faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Lightfoot is accused of causing the deaths of Officer James Muhlbauer and Jesse Eckes, 52, a pedestrian who was also killed in the car wreck.
Cassie Muhlbauer, widow of James Muhlbauer, signed a letter addressed to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday calling for another prosecutor to step in. She and her supporters contend the bond set for Lightfoot was too low to begin with and want assurances that he will ultimately spend time in prison.
The letter further accuses Baker of “many conflicts of interest” in cases involving members of law enforcement generally.
“It is clear that this is only a concern if it has political benefit to Jean Peters Baker and her office,” the letter says. “We are officially asking for the Jackson County Prosecutors office to be removed from this case due to a strong conflict of interest with numerous cases against KCPD and its personnel.”
The letter was submitted to Bailey’s office electronically on Wednesday afternoon. It was drafted and sent by Justin Huttie, a former KCPD officer and partner of Muhlbauer’s who is assisting the family.
Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, shared a statement with The Star on Wednesday saying there is “no apparent conflict in this case.”
“We will prosecute this case vigorously and ethically on behalf of all victims involved, as we do in all cases,” the statement says, adding that the office prosecutes teachers, nurses and priests without being “anti-education,” “anti-nursing” or “anti-Catholic.”
On Feb. 15, around 10:15 p.m., Muhlbauer was driving his patrol car on Truman Road near Benton Boulevard. Lightfoot, traveling at nearly 90 miles per hour two seconds before impact, blew a red light and struck the patrol car on its driver’s side, according to court documents.
Muhlbauer and his K-9 partner “Champ” were killed. Eckes, the pedestrian, was a bystander fatally struck in a resulting second collision.
Lightfoot was charged in Jackson County with two felonies the following day. He was released from the Jackson County jail after posting $3,000 in bond.
As Cassie Muhlbauer and supporters seek intervention in the criminal case, the attorney general apparently lacks the authority to do anything independently.
Madeline Sieren, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, said state law only allows for two instances where the attorney general’s office can move in to prosecute.
One would require a ruling by a judge that disqualifies a local prosecutor from the case. The other would be if a prosecutor requests the assistance of the attorney general’s office.
“The Attorney General’s Office has the resources on hand ready to deploy to assist in a local prosecution in either of those two instances,” Sieren said in a statement to The Star.
Under Missouri law, Lightfoot faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter if convicted.
