Kansas Supreme Court allows DNA testing in 2000 robbery case – Hutchinson News

TOPEKA - Post-conviction DNA testing usually reserved for murder and rape cases in Kansas will be allowed in a Johnson County robbery case after the Kansas Supreme Court declined to stop it Friday.

Jack LaPointe, 47, was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for the Oct. 30, 2000, robbery of a Payless Shoe Source in a Roeland Park strip mall. The robbery, committed with a sawed-off shotgun, yielded $1,000.

LaPointe was sentenced to 245 months in prison for the crime. In 2007, about seven years later, his attorney, Richard Ney, requested DNA testing be completed. Ten years later, the legal dispute continues.

Though a Kansas statute allows for post-conviction DNA testing only in cases of murder and rape, Ney argued his clients long sentence warranted testing. Johnson County District Court Judge Kevin Moriarty agreed and granted DNA testing. Prosecutors appealed to the Kansas Court of Appeals, which upheld the order, and the Kansas Supreme Court, which also upheld the order in an opinion Friday.

The question before the high court was whether the state could challenge Moriartys order, which was not a final order, and stop the DNA testing. The court ruled unanimously that the state fails to persuade us that a final order has been entered and dismissed the prosecutions appeal.

We conclude the state had no statutory right to appeal the (DNA testing) order and the Court of Appeals correctly determined it lacked jurisdiction to hear the merits of the case, wrote Justice Marla Luckert.

The opinion says nothing about LaPointes guilt or innocence but allows for DNA testing that LaPointes defenders believe could exonerate him. A website FreeJackLaPointe.com has been established for that purpose.

Court documents show the states case against LaPointe lacked physical evidence. Some forensic evidence collected at the scene was inconclusive. Hairs found at the scene likely did not come from LaPointe, an expert testified.

A career criminal in FBI custody who testified against LaPointe, claiming they committed the crime together, had 10 prior convictions for dishonesty or false statements. Two witnesses failed to conclusively recognize LaPointe in a photo lineup. Eyewitness reports indicated the robber was slender but LaPointe weighed 240 pounds.

LaPointes girlfriend, who he later married, said he was at home eating Halloween candy with her daughter at the time of the robbery.

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Kansas Supreme Court allows DNA testing in 2000 robbery case - Hutchinson News