• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Sam Mellinger has found a new home, but The Star doesn’t have one
“Devout Catholics” and Arrowhead Stadium as heaven and hell »

David Jungerman’s trial is postponed to next September

December 16, 2021 by jimmycsays

The family of Kansas City lawyer Thomas Pickert, who was shot and killed in his front yard on Oct. 25, 2017, got some very bad news today: The first-degree murder trial of defendant David Jungerman has been continued until Sept. 12, 2022.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence made that ruling this morning after a 45-minute, in-chambers hearing at which Jungerman was not present.

…This is lousy, deflating news for almost everyone. After four years of motions and delays, partly due to Covid-19, the case was supposed to go to trial this week. Now, Pickert’s family, the KC Police Department, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and area residents who were outraged by the slaying will have to wait at least another nine months for resolution.

Thomas Pickert

I don’t know all the reasons behind the long delay, but I believe there are two main factors:

First, the court system is very backed up after it was shut down for many months due to Covid-19. Even though this is a high-profile case, it may have had to go to “the back of the line,” behind other cases that have been scheduled. A related problem is that, because of the pandemic, trials are now being scheduled for just three courtrooms at the downtown courthouse.

Second, Torrence this week sustained a defense motion demanding that the police department produce emails, some of which pertain to preparation of a slide show of a 1997, white Chevy van that police and prosecutors believe Jungerman drove from Raytown to Brookside the day Pickert was killed in his front yard. Two police civilian employees have testified in depositions that efforts to retrieve emails the defense has demanded have been unsuccessful.

Lead defense attorney Daniel Ross has filed a blizzard of motions asserting police and prosecutorial misconduct. The motion regarding the emails stuck.

As recently as last Tuesday, Torrence rejected a defense motion for a continuance. The next day, however, he granted the request.

In that Wednesday, Dec. 8, order he said he was “regrettably” acquiescing to a delay “after discussion of new issues related to discovery that just emerged this morning.” (“Discovery” pertains to evidence the prosecution is required to turn over to the defense before trial.)

The order did not say what the “new issues” were, and it is entirely possible that the missing emails are not the only matters causing the delay.

Jungerman, in July 2019

After leaving Torrence’s fifth-floor courtroom this morning, I went down to the Circuit Clerk’s office on the third floor and reviewed numerous filings in the case. One in particular caught my attention.

At some point, the prosecution apparently informed the defense that the lead detective on the case, Bonita Cannon, and two other front-line detectives, Richard Sharp and Heather Leslie, will not be called to testify at trial.

The defense has alleged misconduct by Cannon in other cases, but it appears from the case file that Judge Torrence dismissed those concerns. He said in one filing that he reviewed the personnel files of Cannon and several other detectives and concluded that “there is absolutely nothing contained in these records that should be disclosed to the defendant for any reason or purpose whatsoever.”

Nevertheless, it is extremely unusual for the lead detectives not to take the stand in big murder trials. I would think it would be difficult to make a strong case without them. The defense, seemingly, could point out to a jury that the lead investigators are “nowhere to be found.”

On that point, though, as on others, time will tell.

**

While this delay is frustrating and confounding, it is now more likely than ever that Jungerman, who would turn 84 in March, will die while in confinement.

He has been held in the Jackson County jail since 2018, and, as you would suspect, life behind bars is not agreeing with this one-time multi-millionaire. (He might still be a multi-millionaire, but he now claims to be homeless…other than his jail cell, of course.)

In one filing with the court, he said he suffers from prostate cancer and skin cancer, has a pacemaker and endured a serious case of Covid, apparently either late last year or early this year.

“Defendant,” he wrote, “…suffered 14 days in the hospital with 104 degree tempetatures (sic), double pneumonia and being close to death while shackled to the bed.”

In a July motion to dismiss the case against him, Jungerman said the prosecutor’s office had denied him his Constitutional rights “in hopes this case will just disappear through my death creating a win, win situation for everyone but me.”

…David Jungerman is probably on to something there. His attorney, Ross, is happy to continue submitting invoices while his client is drawing air and pumping blood, and his prosecutors, while they probably don’t like the new continuance, are undoubtedly content to see him continue deteriorating behind bars.

Like almost everyone else in town, I want to see this old man dragged into court, convicted and committed to Missouri DOC (Department of Corrections).

But if he dies first — and as long as he’s miserable in jail — it’s okay.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

4 Responses

  1. on December 16, 2021 at 5:26 pm John Altevogt

    Two things, I again remind you that Torrence was the judge in the infamous Mertensmeyer case where the son of a local bigwig Mission Hills lawyer was given a 120 day sentence after killing a pedestrian in a drunken hit-and-run accident.

    Secondly, while county jail may not be paradise, I’m betting it is a far safer environment for the old man than gen pop in a penitentiary. So I’m betting that he too is hoping to spend his remaining days close to home here in the Jackson County lockup.


  2. on December 17, 2021 at 10:14 am Bill Barnhart

    Thanks for the update.
    I know this is off topic but it seems like something that would interest you. Today at 6 PM my friend Michael Mahoney makes his final broadcast for Channel 9 as a regular employee. He has had an over 40 year that began almost from the get go with the Hyatt skywalk collapse which he was covering as event and ended up covering it as a national broadcast even being on ABC news and Nightline. I know that dealing with that nightmare has been tough for Mike over the years.
    Go to youtube and you can see him interviewing all kinds of presidents and elected officials including one I saw with Hillary.
    He’s really been a rock in the community and I am proud to call him friend.


    • on December 17, 2021 at 10:25 am jimmycsays

      I told him to retire about eight years ago, Bill…I guess he just couldn’t pull himself away. He’s been great.


    • on December 18, 2021 at 3:42 pm gayle

      I’m sorry that that horrific event affected him so much. I hope he can find peace in retirement.



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • April 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 567 other subscribers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Join 567 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: