Wyandotte County DA refuses to appear before Judge Anthony Martinez, files judicial complaint

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Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree formally notified Wyandotte County District Court Chief Judge Robert Burns last week that his office will no longer appear before Judge Anthony Martinez in Division 12, citing what he describes as eight years of misconduct, due process violations, and inappropriate comments toward prosecutors and interns.

Dupree filed a judicial complaint against Martinez and sent a letter to Burns on July 10, who presides over Division 1 of the District Court, outlining the reasons for the decision.

LINK | Read Dupree's letter

"As a result of a repeated pattern of disrespect, hostility, and unprofessionalism exhibited from Judge Anthony Martinez, the District Attorney's Office of Wyandotte County will no longer be appearing in front of Judge Martinez," Dupree said.

Dupree said the Public Defender's office and a number of private practice attorneys have taken similar steps.

Allegations of interference with prosecutorial discretion

According to the letter, Martinez has repeatedly told prosecutors to "quit being nice and prosecute the case" while they attempt to negotiate resolutions with defendants representing themselves.

Dupree said Martinez has also instructed assistant district attorneys that he will not allow them to dismiss misdemeanor counts so that he can put defendants in jail.

Dupree cited State v. Turner, 223 Kan. 707 (1978), which states that "when the prosecutor exercises his discretion as to the charges to be filed or as to amendments of the information seeking to reduce the charges to lesser offenses, the trial judge has no right to substitute his judgment for that of the prosecutor absent some compelling reason to protect the rights of the defendant."

The letter alleges that at a traffic docket, Martinez called an assistant district attorney over, handed her a docket sheet, and told her exactly what she was allowed to plead the defendant to, what to dismiss, and what costs to assess.

On June 18, 2026, Dupree said Martinez called an assistant district attorney to his office to discuss "his rules" of traffic court, which included a policy that defendants speeding more than 30 mph go to jail as long as a misdemeanor charge is available.

Dupree said Martinez told the ADA he has encouraged Highway Patrol troopers to write more tickets with misdemeanors so that he may have a basis to jail defendants.

Due process violations alleged

The letter outlines several specific incidents Dupree characterizes as due process violations:

• On February 1, 2023, Martinez allegedly denied a defendant the right to a trial on a speeding ticket, found him guilty by default, and fined him, stating he did not believe a speeding ticket was entitled to a trial.
• On October 31, 2024, Martinez allegedly arrested a defendant at a plea hearing for a pretrial conditions violation and told both defense counsel and the prosecutor they were not allowed to speak, saying doing so "would only make it worse."
• On April 14, 2026, Martinez allegedly conducted a hearing without the defendant's attorney present due to a medical appointment, granting the state's motion to amend charges and denying the defendant's motion in the attorney's absence.

Inappropriate comments alleged

Dupree's letter also alleges Martinez made inappropriate comments to assistant district attorneys and interns.

Martinez allegedly told a Hispanic assistant district attorney that his tie was crooked and that he needed to "look important, not imported."

Dupree called the comment "exceptionally disrespectful and unprofessional."

In another incident, Martinez allegedly pulled a Black female intern aside after a traffic docket and told her to stop being nice and instead prosecute crimes.

This came after the intern had dismissed charges against a Black defendant.

According to the letter, Martinez told the intern she should not let the fact that a defendant is Black cloud her judgment and should not consider race when prosecuting cases.

Dupree said Martinez also told the intern not to tell her bosses or supervisors that they had spoken.

July 9 hearing prompts final action

Dupree said the decision to formally withdraw from Martinez's courtroom came after a July 9, 2026, contempt hearing involving an assistant district attorney and the DA's office.

Dupree said he appeared personally to advocate for his office and his employee, but was met with hostility.

"He asked opposing counsel if it was OK with them that I be the one arguing for the State and then interrupted and spoke over me when I began to argue the State's case," Dupree said.

Dupree said Martinez at one point effectively told him to sit down and be quiet so he could question the assistant district attorney directly.

Later in the hearing, Dupree said Martinez threatened to remove him from counsel's table and have him sit in the back of the room.

"We have reached a point where the District Attorney's Office is now compelled to file a disciplinary complaint and is now conflicted off of Judge Martinez's cases," Dupree said. "We cannot and will not be appearing in front of him moving forward."

Judge Martinez responds

Martinez told KSHB 41 Wyandotte County reporter Rachel Henderson he could not comment on internal court matters he believes were improperly made public.

"As a sitting Judge, I cannot comment on any internal court issues that may have been improperly disclosed to the public," Martinez wrote in an email. "There are court processes and procedures that must be followed. We must let those take course without outside interference."

Tuesday morning, Martinez said he was aware a complaint had been filed but had not yet seen it.

"My understanding is the District Attorney's office has submitted some type of complaint. I have not seen that complaint yet," Martinez said. "It is very important the district attorney's office and the judiciary work together within their roles to have a fair and just criminal justice system. In the past, there was not a problem, and there should not be one now."

Martinez said the July 9 hearing involved allegations that the DA's office had violated a court order agreed upon between the DA's office and a defendant's attorney.

"A full hearing was held, and I will be issuing my ruling shortly," Martinez said.

Martinez said he welcomes accountability and hopes to resolve the matter through dialogue.

"I am not afraid of accountability, but the system only works when we are all held accountable," Martinez said. "I look forward to the resolution of this matter. I welcome a conversation with the district attorney about how we can all do better."

Once we received the letter through a public records request, we sent the judge a summary of the letter's contents. We will update this story when he responds.

The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the matter.

KSHB 41 also reached out to Judge Burns about the letter.

Martinez is on the Aug. 4 primary election ballot in Wyandotte County for District Court Division 5.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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