A Riley County double murder case that had been filed with the U-S Supreme Court last September has been denied certiorari. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced in September he had filed a 94 page petition with the national court regarding Kansas v. Luis Aguirre in the 2009 murders of Tanya and Juan Maldonado. For roughly every 100 petitions for cert received by the court, only about one petition is granted. With the court denying cert in this case, the State court’s decision stands.
The Kansas Supreme Court had been sharply divided on the matter this past May, eventually holding Aguirre had invoked his right to remain silent when he said he wanted to return his current girlfriends’ child to the child’s family, but would then come back to help officers. The top court also granted a motion of the respondent for leave to proceed.
This could mean a retrial in the case–although Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson indicates he has no comment on the matter at this time.
