MISTRIAL IN MURDER CASE DECLARED AFTER LAWYER'S DRUG TEST COMES BACK POSITIVE

WICHITA — A judge troubled by a defense lawyer's behavior in a murder case
declared a mistrial after a urine test indicated the lawyer had used
marijuana and cocaine.

Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess took the action Thursday, a day
after he sent jurors home for the day and held a hearing on the performance
of the lawyer, Michael Lehr.

Lehr was representing Joseph Sutton, charged with second-degree murder in
the shooting Dec. 5 of Tyrone Lewis.

The judge was concerned after getting three reports suggesting the lawyer
could have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs on the first two
days of the trial.

One was an inquiry that a reporter for The Wichita Eagle sent to Chief
Judge Richard Ballinger, asking whether a lawyer who is impaired could
continue with a trial. An aide to Burgess also told him that when jurors
were informed they could go home Wednesday, one of them joked, What are
they doing, taking Mr. Lehr to jail?"

Burgess had his own concerns about Lehr's courtroom behavior.

The impression I was left with was that he was very deliberate in
enunciating his words," the judge said, according to the transcript of the
hearing.

During the trial, Lehr frequently asked questions that drew objections from
the prosecution, with Burgess ruling many of them improper. At one point,
Lehr told prosecutor Kevin O'Connor, "Well, since all you've done is try to
hide everything …"

When Burgess told Lehr he was ordering a drug test, the attorney objected,
saying he would refuse until he consulted another lawyer.

Lee McMaster was then brought in to represent Lehr at the hearing. He asked
that Lehr be allowed to withdraw from the case, refrain from practicing for
two or three months, undergo a drug evaluation and get treatment.
Ultimately, he agreed that Burgess had the power to order the drug test and
that Lehr could be found in contempt.

A probation officer conducted the drug test and told the judge he got a
positive result.

On Thursday, Sutton said he wanted his trial to continue. But O'Connor said
it would be "impossible for another lawyer to step in the middle of a
murder trial."

Lehr made his own motion for a mistrial, saying the court was prejudiced
against the defense and had "become an advocate for the state of Kansas."

I would, for the record, state that at no time during my appearance in this
courtroom have I been impaired," the attorney said.