TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on a man convicted of fatally shooting a sheriff during a 2005 drug raid.
Kansas hasn’t executed anyone in more than 50 years, and Friday’s decision in Scott Cheever’s case is only the second time the court has upheld a death sentence under the state’s 1994 capital punishment law.
The decision came four years after the court ordered a new trial for Cheever over questions about an expert’s testimony. The U.S. Supreme Court directed the Kansas court to reconsider.
Cheever acknowledged shooting Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels as he tried to serve a warrant at a rural home about 75 miles northeast of Wichita. But Cheever’s attorney argued he was too high on methamphetamine for the crime to be premeditated
