TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court will decide if Ralph Corey will get a third trial. The high court recently heard arguments on his appeal seeking another retrial. After a mistrial involving a juror who used a smart phone to look up details on the case during deliberations in the first trial, Corey was retried in Franklin County District court on charges he kidnapped and tried to rape a Williamsburg teenager 16 years ago. He was convicted by a jury of aggravated kidnapping, attempted rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and criminal threat three-and-a-half years ago. Corey was linked by DNA to a February 2000 kidnapping and sexual assault of the teenager, who was leaving from the Ottawa Wal-Mart. He was serving time in Arizona when a special KBI cold case computer program matched his DNA to the case. However, during the Kansas Supreme Court hearing on his appeal, Corey’s attorney Peter Maharry told the justices that a mistrial should have also been declared in the second trial because during deliberations, a juror told other jurors that it was the second trial. Other jurors didn’t know that, prejudicing his case, he said. In his final instructions, the judge ignored the incident and made a point of telling the jurors that a third trial would be expensive and cost additional taxpayer money he said. That created overwhelming pressure to convict Corey, Maharry said. However, Kansas assistant solicitor general Natalie Chalmers says any mistakes that occurred – if any occurred — weren’t serious enough to warrant a third trial. The supreme court hasn’t scheduled a time when it would issue a ruling in the case.
Monday, May 2, 4 p.m.
