Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith said he is likely to take a “much more active role” in the prosecution of Justin Thurber, now that Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison has announced his resignation. Morrison will leave office at the end of January, a few months before Thurber’s capital murder trial is to begin.
“While we regret the decision the attorney general has made, this will in no way affect the prosecution of Justin Thurber,” Smith said Friday. “In our mind we’ll just be changing prosecutors in the case.”
Still, Smith acknowledged that the family of Jodi Sanderholm, the 19-year-old woman Thurber is accused of killing last January ? appeared concerned by Morrison’s announcement Friday. Smith met with the family at their business ? Ark City Glass ? to watch Morrison’s press conference on television.
“I know they (the Sanderholms) are probably concerned and that’s to be understood,” Smith said. “But the good thing is we have about seven more months until trial, there is plenty of time.”
The family deferred all questions to Smith, when contacted by phone by a NewsCow reporter.
Smith already was active in the prosecution of Thurber and had been working with the assistance of the attorney general and his office. The attorney general’s office will continue to assist in the case and Morrison’s replacement will likely prosecute the case, Smith said.
The facts of the case and the evidence to be presented remain the same, he said.
While observers outside the legal system may view Morrison’s stepping down as significant, Smith said changing prosecutors is not all that uncommon.
“It’s not all that different from someone in my office preparing a case and handling the pretrial proceedings,” he said. “And then someone else stepping in and trying the actual jury trial.”
Smith said he had been in contact with the attorney general’s office but had no indication Morrison was soon to be announcing his resignation.
Sanderholm disappeared Jan. 5. Her car was found four days later in the Cowley County State Fishing Lake east of Ark City on U.S. 166 highway. Her body was found about 11 miles away in a wooded area near the Walnut River.
Morrison made the announcement Friday, less than a week after publicly admitting to an extramarital affair with a former staffer in the Johnson County District Attorney’s office. Morrison served as district attorney in Johnson County until last year.
The staffer, Linda Carter, filed a federal civil rights claim alleging she was sexually harassed by Morrison and pressured to use her position to influence cases involving Phill Kline, Johnson County’s current district attorney.
Morrison said earlier this week he’d remain in office and continue to prosecute cases.
“After careful thought and deliberation, I have concluded that my
resignation is in the best long-term interests of the people of Kansas,” he said.
“Not because I have ever done anything contrary to the laws of this state or
the ethical standards of my profession, but because law enforcement should
be the focus of this office, not my personal life.”
