TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A panel of attorneys has recommended Assistant Allen County Attorney Jacqie Spradling face ethics charges for her actions while prosecuting a rape trial in Jackson County in 2017.
Spradling, a former Jackson County special prosecutor, is accused of allegedly misleading jurors who found a man guilty of sex crimes that were later thrown out on appeal.
The lawyers reviewed the Kansas Disciplinary Administrators Office’s investigation of Spradling and concluded there was sufficient evidence to believe she violated the state’s code of conduct in the 2017 convictions against Jacob Ewing for rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, battery, and other charges, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
When the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed the Holton man’s convictions in 2019, it said Spradling’s misstatement of evidence in closing argument of that trial inflamed “passions and prejudices of the jury” and denied Ewing his right to a fair trial.
The misstatements centered on how Spradling described for jurors violent pornographic videos reportedly found on Ewing’s cell phone.
“That’s not something that people watch unless they enjoy violence against women,” Spradling reportedly said in her closing argument.
However, the Appeals Court ruled that while there were videos on his phone depicting violence against women, there was no evidence Ewing had watched them, as Spradling claimed.
The Appeals Court also said Spradling misstated how much DNA linked Ewing to the crimes. There was no DNA evidence, aside from touch DNA found on the waistband of one of the victim’s pairs of underwear
A public hearing before a separate committee will follow to develop a recommendation for the Kansas Supreme Court about whether or how Spradling would be sanctioned. Potential penalties include public censure, license suspension or disbarment.
She did not immediately return a phone message left Monday at the Bourbon County attorney’s office. She was elected Bourbon County attorney in 2018.
Spradling also remains under scrutiny by the state disciplinary administrator’s office for her role in the Shawnee County murder trial of Dana Chandler, whose conviction was overturned in 2018.
