Oct. 25, 2006

PROSECUTORS MOVE TO DISMISS FEDERAL CHARGES
IN DEATH OF GREENWOOD COUNTY SHERIFF

FEDERAL DISMISSAL ALLOWS STATE TO PROCEED
WITH CASE AGAINST SCOTT CHEEVER

WICHITA, KAN. – Federal prosecutors moved Wednesday to dismiss charges against the man accused of killing Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Monti Belot to dismiss charges against defendant Scott D. Cheever, 25, Virgil, Kan.

“Because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the death penalty in Kansas, federal prosecution is no longer the only way to seek the death penalty against Sheriff Samuels’ killer,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “By moving to dismiss the federal charges, we are allowing the state to proceed with its prosecution of the case.”

Melgren said Belot’s order last month continuing Cheever’s trial means the state’s prosecutors will have time to prepare before the case is tried.
Cheever was charged March 9, 2005, in an indictment accusing him of shooting Sheriff Samuels to death on Jan. 10, 2005, when Samuels attempted to arrest him at a house in Greenwood County. At the time, a 4-3 decision by the Kansas Supreme Court in December had declared the Kansas death penalty unconstitutional. Attorney General Phill Kline later successfully appealed the ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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