APPEALS RECEIVE OPPOSITE RULINGS IN MURDER CASE

High court upholds convictions of one man, overturns
those of another in meth-related murder case.

Two men convicted of first-degree murder and making methamphetamine
during the same Wyandotte County incident achieved opposite rulings
Friday from the state's highest court.

The Supreme Court upheld the convictions of George LaMae but
overturned those of Thomas Finley. The court ordered a new trial for
Finley in district court.

Both rulings were unanimous. In Finley's case, the justices concluded
that a prosecutor improperly "exerted such duress" on a key defense
witness that she declined to testify on his behalf. The court also
said remarks by the prosecutor during closing arguments were improper.

Both men were charged in the October 1997 death of LaDonna Jones in a
fire at Finley's home in Kansas City. The victim was LaMae's girlfriend.

On the night of Jones' death, prosecutors said, Finley and LaMae were
making methamphetamine and their chemicals caught fire. Also present
with them was Finley's girlfriend, Denise Sklar.

Sklar had been accused of murder as well, but that charge against her
was dismissed later. When the defense sought to have Sklar testify,
the prosecutor said the state was considering refiling the murder
charge against her and that anything she said in court could be used
against her.

Sklar declined to testify, and Finley's attorney argued the
prosecutor's actions intimidated her.

"We find the actions of the prosecutor troubling," Justice Robert
Davis wrote for the court. "At each opportunity, the prosecutor sought
to supply additional reasons to the witness why she should not testify."

Sklar didn't make a "free and voluntary" decision not to testify, the
court said.

The court also cited the prosecutor's closing arguments, including a
statement to the jury that, "We cannot tolerate this kind of drug use
in our community, especially when a person dies."

The court said the remarks were "clearly improper" because they
weren't confined to the evidence.

LaMae raised several issues in his appeal, but none of them dealt with
prosecutors' conduct.

He said evidence from a search of Finley's home shouldn't have been
admitted during his trial because federal Drug Enforcement Agency
agents destroyed some of the chemicals used to make meth found there.
The DEA takes samples but destroys some chemicals because they are
toxic.

The court rejected all of his claims.