State of Kansas, Appellee v. Dana L. Chandler, Appellant.

Summary

The court reversed Chandler's two premeditated first-degree murder convictions because the prosecutor repeatedly presented unsupported and false assertions, most significantly that a judge had issued a protection-from-abuse order against Chandler and that she violated it. Applying the constitutional harmless-error standard, the court held the State failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the false judicial-endorsement narrative did not contribute to the verdict. The court concluded the evidence was sufficient to permit retrial, so reversal did not bar a second trial under double jeopardy.