Excerpts from UNOFFICIAL transcript from the oral arguments

before the Kansas Supreme Court on January 27, 2016.

(State v. Chandler, Case No. 12-108625-S)
Source: http://www.kscourts.org/kansas-courts/supreme-court/archive/archived-argumentsJanuary-2016.asp

Justice Dan Biles: Let me jump on the point that I started with,
with defense counsel. Youll agree that there was no Protection
from Abuse Order.
Spradling: Ill agree that there was no Protection from Abuse
Order. There was a...
Justice Biles: Even though you said there was.
Spradling: Yes, sir.
Justice Dan Biles: And, in the I was reading the closing
argument again last night, and when that comes up it seems like
you hit it hard, fast. No. 1, you said something that wasnt true,
that there was a Protection from Abuse Order. No. 2, you said
that that means that the judge agreed that the defendant was,
um, a danger, because that would be the foundation for entering
an order for protection from abuse. And No. 3, you said that the
defendant ignored the order.
Spradling: Yes, sir.
Justice Dan Biles: And, none of thats true.
Spradling: It is true.
Justice Dan Biles: How is it true if there was no Protection From
Abuse Order?
Spradling: Because what I should have said, your Honor, was
that there was a Protective Order. A Protective Order as this court
knows is an umbrella...

Justice Dan Biles: Entered at the beginning of the divorce

proceeding against both parties, and concerning, I think in her
case, the residence. Thats a whole lot different than a Protection
From Abuse Order, isnt it?
Spradling: Yes, but there were two orders in this case, your
Honor.
Justice Dan Biles: Okay, what do I need to look at?
Spradling: There was a Protective Order in October of 1998 that
is different from the Protective Order that was originally given in
1997 which fits the definition that you described. However, after
the divorce was over in September of 1998, the defendant had
still not signed the divorce journal entry, and she had filed the day
after the last hearing multiple motions to reopen the entire case.
It was after this, in October of 1998 that Mike Sisco requested a
Protective Order and a case manager.
Justice Dan Biles: And the court didnt the District Court
didnt give that Protective Order that was requested in 1998.
Spradling: I can tell you if Im limited to the Record on Appeal,
I cannot point to it.
Justice Dan Biles: You entered into evidence the entire divorce
file.
Spradling: No, sir. I did not.
Justice Dan Biles: Or, a ton of it anyway, I mean, weve got a
huge exhibit.
Spradling: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Justice Dan Biles: Thats the divorce file, and theres no order
in it.

Spradling: There is no order in it; youre exactly right. Theres

no 19...
Justice Dan Biles: So, I mean, you cant say that there was an
order entered because there is nowhere in evidence that an order
was entered.
Spradling: I believe that testimony that an order was entered, is
also direct evidence that allows the...
Justice Dan Biles: So thatd be the detectives statement.
Spradling: Yes, sir.
Justice Dan Biles: But the detective took it back in cross
examination and said, Oh, I really dont recall whether there was
an order. Youll have to look in the file thats in evidence.
Spradling: Yes, your Honor.
Justice Dan Biles: And theres no order in evidence. So how
do you stand up in front of a jury and tell them that a Protective
Protection from Abuse Order was entered? And then say that that
means that the judge validated the claim, and that the defendant
ignored it?
Spradling: Because a Protective Order, Protection from Abuse
and also a Protective Order is signed off by a judge who must
agree...
Justice Dan Biles: But there was no Protective I mean, all I
can do is go by what you said.
Spradling: Sure.
Justice Dan Biles: So what you said was there was a Protection
from Abuse Order, and thats not true.

Spradling: That is not true. It was a Protective Order, not a

Protection from Abuse. And the difference is the Protective Order
was issued in the divorce proceeding. A Protection from Abuse
Order is an order that a person applies for, and is grated outside
of a divorce proceeding. However, they are all protective of one
person against the other. They both require, by judicial order, one
person to stay away from the other. And, uh, having been
involved in pretrial meetings and preparation of this case, I can
tell you there was a Protective Order. I said, Protection from
Abuse, when I should have said Protective.
Justice Dan Biles:

And this is an...

Justice Dan Biles: So youre claiming but just is it your

claim that in that statement you are within the wide latitude given
to prosecutors? Because thats really our step.
Spradling: Yes, sir. I can tell you without certain that there is no
ill will in saying Protection from Abuse rather than Protective
Order.
Justice Dan Biles: Thats the second but that gets us into the
second Im sorry. Go ahead.
Justice Johnson: No, are we talking about the October 98, uh,
request?
Spradling: Yes, sir.
Justice Johnson: Well, Im Im confused. A month before trial
the state filed a [60-455] motion asking to enter this this
evidence, um, and it only referred to a request for an immediate
restraining order in October 98. Im curious why the state
wouldnt have asked that the court consider the Order if there
was one in fact in place.
Spradling: I dont want to mislead this court. There is no
document that I found in states Exhibit 969 which was the
divorce file. Theres no document in that file that is either a

Protection from Abuse or a Protective Order. So if I indicated that

there was a document, I dont want to mislead you. I do know,
speaking with the victims family members, that the order
existed. Um, and, that that was discovered by Detective Volle as
the lead detective in this case.