Lawrence prosecutor drops DUI charge against Kansas City Councilman Quinton Lucas
A driving under the influence charge against Kansas City Councilman Quinton Lucas was dropped because of insufficient evidence, authorities announced Thursday.
Lucas, who is running against Councilwoman Jolie Justus for mayor in the June general election, was slated to go to trial Thursday afternoon on the charge, which stems from an October 18th arrest in downtown Lawrence, Kansas.
According to an order from Lawrence Municipal Court, the case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could bring it up again.
Lucas was arrested and charged with the DUI after police found him sleeping in his parked car on 8th Street near Massaschusetts Street around 11:30 p.m. He is a lecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law and was attending a fundraiser for Kansas Legal Services.
Throughout the court proceedings, Lucas maintained that he recognized he could not drive home to Kansas City and chose instead to wait in his car until he could safely operate it. Then, he says, he fell asleep.
In a statement, Lucas called the dismissal a fair and expected result.
“I am proud that I made the responsible choice not to drive that night,” Lucas said. “More importantly, this process has continued to make clear that access to justice is often out of reach for many in our society. I’ve been blessed with the time and resources to have the legal system function as it is intended. Too few in our society have that opportunity.”
According to the statement, Lucas made a $1,000 donation to Legal Aid “to help broaden access to the basic rights citizens are entitled to under law.”
Lucas’ attorney, Tim Riling, filed a motion to dismiss the case in February, arguing that officers were dispatched to check on Lucas because someone called 9-1-1 to report a medical emergency after seeing him unconscious. When officers learned Lucas was not having a medical emergency, they should have ended the encounter, Riling said.
The motion also asserted that sitting in a parked car — even if it’s running as Riling said Lucas’ was — is not a crime and therefore did constitute the reasonable suspicion police needed to investigate.
Riling said the prosecutor’s office did not file any written response to his motion to dismiss before tossing the case Thursday.
In a statement, Elizabeth Hafoka, supervising city prosecutor, agreed the city did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute Lucas.
“In Mr. Lucas’ case, there is no evidence that he moved or attempted to move the car,” Hafoka said.
Lucas’ case was continued multiple times over the course of the winter to give his attorneys time to prepare. After Riling’s motion to dismiss, the prosecutor’s office also delayed the case, leaving it unresolved as voters went to the polls last week.
This story was originally published April 11, 2019 at 11:20 AM.
