Wichita-area lawmaker charged with DUI while possessing a loaded gun

Kansas Rep. Carl Maughan, a 52-year-old Colwich Republican, was charged with possessing a loaded firearm while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Maughan was arrested in Topeka in March but was not charged until Monday, after the legislative session ended.

He did not respond to The Eagle’s request for comment.

He was charged with two misdemeanors: possession of a firearm while under the influence and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol. He was also cited for two traffic infractions: failure to maintain a single lane while driving and failure to properly signal a lane change.

Maughan was elected in 2022 to represent the Colwich area, west of Wichita, in the Kansas House of Representatives. He ran unopposed. After his arrest, Maughan stepped down from his role as vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Maughan has filed to run for re-election. He faces a primary challenge from Republican Darren Pugh.

Prior to his time in the Kansas House, Maughan ran for judge in the Kansas 18th Judicial District, Division 3, but lost in the Republican primary to Gregory Keith.

Maughan is also awaiting a Kansas Supreme Court ruling on whether he can continue to practice law in Kansas. He faces a yearlong suspension after being accused of misconduct while representing 57-year-old Bret Blevins in a deadly 2016 crash in Wichita that killed two Starkey clients, Dirk MacMillan, 46, and Leonard “Dusty” Atterbery, 25.

Blevins and his girlfriend, Tammy Akers, were the only occupants of the vehicle that struck a Starkey van. Each claimed the other was driving. Akers and her husband paid Maughan $30,000 to represent Blevins. Maughan then did not appear to investigate Akers’ involvement in the crash or hire an accident reconstructionist, DNA expert or medical expert, despite Blevins’ requests that he do so, according to an unpublished Kansas Court of Appeals opinion.

Then, at trial, Maughan blamed Akers for the crash, arguing that she was the driver. Maughan also represented Akers in another matter while representing Blevins, the opinion said.

Blevins was sentenced to more than 60 years in prison for two counts of second-degree murder in 2017.

The appellant court found in 2021 that “Blevins’ attorney had several conflicts of interest which adversely affected his representation” and ordered a new trial. Blevins pleaded guilty to multiple involuntary manslaughter charges in December 2023, and he was sentenced in March to 13.5 years in prison, including the more than 7 years he has already served.

Blevins filed a civil lawsuit against Maughan in the Kansas 18th District court in December over his handling of the case. He alleged Maughan committed legal malpractice. He claimed Maughan told him to invoke the Fifth Amendment because there was evidence, including DNA evidence, that would potentially implicate Akers in the crime. Akers then testified against Blevins “as a key State’s witness.”

Blevins is seeking an award in excess of $75,000.