KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge denied an attempt by attorneys for Wyandotte County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Fatherley to have Judge Aaron T. Rogers and all judges of Wyandotte County disqualified from Fatherley's case.
Fatherley is accused of second-degree murder, or in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter, in the July 5, 2025, death of Wyandotte County jail inmate Charles Adair.
The autopsy report states Adair "went unresponsive" during the struggle, and an EMS crew ordered to the scene pronounced Adair dead.
Information from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation stated Adair received medical care at about 8:30 p.m. for a preexisting leg wound.
Adair began yelling, refusing efforts to calm him down, and did not obey orders from jail employees, according to the KBI.
The internal examination during the autopsy revealed "multiple rib fractures and a sternal fracture, bilateral pleural effusions, cardiomegaly with biventricular hypertrophy, a pacemaker with two wires, marked pulmonary congestion and edema, micronodular cirrhosis of the liver, and benign nephrosclerosis, scars and cysts of the kidneys."
In the court filing, Fatherley's attorneys claim that, "Judges in Wyandotte County depend upon the services of the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Deputies to provide safety, security, and to efficiently house and transport inmates to and from court hearings. This matter accuses a Wyandotte County Sheriff's Deputy with Murder in the Second Degree and alternatively, Involuntary Manslaughter following the death of an inmate detained at the Wyandotte County Jail. These facts raise two general questions concerning preventing all Wyandotte County District Judges from conducting a fair and impartial trial."
Wyandotte County District Judge Joan Lowdon found those arguments not sufficient to approve a change of judges.
"It is unclear, then, how under Affiant’s logic, the entire judiciary of Wyandotte County would be unable to conduct a fair and impartial trial, but he and his office are capable of professionally and ethically prosecuting the same case, with the exact same reliance on the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department. And if Affiant was successful in his motion, a change of judge does not result in a change of venue. Any out of county judge assigned to cover this case would travel to Wyandotte County and enter the very building where security and inmate transport was provided by the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department.
"Affiant provides no facts supporting his request for disqualification. He speculates that every single Wyandotte County judge possesses “psychological interest” or “inexorable pressure” in this case without providing a single example of that occurring. He fails to establish any basis or expertise for how he even assessed the “psychological interest” of every single Wyandotte County judge. An affidavit in support of a motion to disqualify a judge must contain facts and reasons that give fair support for the belief that, because of the bias or prejudice of the judge, the affiant cannot obtain a fair trial; where the allegations in the affidavit are speculation only, they do not reach the threshold necessary to sustain the motion.”
Fatherley is scheduled to be back in Wyandotte County District Court for a hearing on Nov. 18.
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