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Kyle Flack was convicted of capital murder and first-degree murder last week.

These area headlines are curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Kaye McIntyre and Tom Parkinson. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. This news summary is made possible by KPR listener-members. Become one today!

The Kansas Judicial Center, home of the state Supreme Court. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)The Kansas Supreme Court heard death penalty appeals today (TUE) from two brothers convicted in a quadruple murder. Reginald and Jonathan Carr were convicted for the murders that took place in Wichita in 2000. Reginald Carr’s attorney, Debra Wilson, says her client's trial wasn’t fair because the brothers were tried together. She says that Reginald had to effectively defend himself against the state and his brother. Wilson also says her client wasn’t able to take the stand to defend himself.00000184-7fa7-d6f8-a1cf-7fa7c7c00000An attorney for the state says some of the testimony Reginald Carr wanted to introduce wasn’t admissible in court, but he could still have taken the stand to defend himself against the allegations. ====================(VERSION TWO)The Kansas Supreme Court is considering death penalty appeals from two brothers convicted for a quadruple murder that took place in Wichita in 2000. The court heard appeals from attorneys representing Jonathan and Reginald Carr during hearings Tuesday. KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports.00000184-7fa7-d6f8-a1cf-7fa7c7c00001(SCRIPT)Attorneys for the brothers argued that that they should have been tried separately, and that trying them together made it harder to mount a defense. Reginald Carr’s attorney, Debra Wilson, also says that he wasn’t allowed to testify in his own defense.“Reginald wasn’t even allowed to tell the jury what his defense was. There’s certainly room for reasonable doubt if Reginald had been allowed to defend himself,” says Wilson.An attorney for the state, Kim Parker, says some of the testimony Reginald wanted to provide wasn’t admissible in court, but he still could have testified to defend himself against the allegations.“But he made the choice not –he made the strategic choice– not to testify in this matter,” says Parker.The brothers were convicted of sexually assaulting and then shooting to death three men and a woman while they knelt in a field in December 2000. A fifth person, a woman, was shot but survived.

These area headlines are curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Kaye McIntyre and Tom Parkinson. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. This news summary is made possible by KPR listener-members. Become one today!

President-elect Donald Trump received an unconditional discharge for his criminal conviction, meaning he will get a criminal record but no other penalties.

Some Republicans are arguing that former President Donald Trump should not face a Senate impeachment trial because he's a private citizen. That was argued before — and rejected narrowly — in 1876.

A majority of justices appeared skeptical of granting a president blanket immunity from prosecution for criminal acts, but it is unclear whether the court would act swiftly to resolve the case.

This week Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pardoned 175,000 people with marijuana convictions. But some advocates say pardons might not be enough to remove the barriers faced by people with a criminal record.

Many Turks are confused by the early release of the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981. Mehmet Ali Agca was also convicted of the 1979 murder of a liberal newspaper editor in Turkey.

Convicted Doctor Found Guilty of Firearm, Drug ChargesWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former south-central Kansas doctor already serving time on supervised release for a drug conviction has been found guilty of federal firearm and drug charges. A Sedgwick County jury on Thursday found 57-year-old Lawrence Simons of Wichita guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of controlled substances.==========School Bus Driver Charged in CrashDOUGLASS, Kan. (AP) — A southern Kansas school bus driver has been charged with endangering a child and reckless driving after his bus carrying 10 children slid off a road and into a rain-swollen creek. KAKE-TV reports 64-year-old Morris Peterson was charged yesterday (FRI) in Butler County for the October 31st incident in which he and the students had to be rescued by emergency responders. Three children suffered minor injuries.==========Fort Scott Man Sentenced in Murder, Arson CaseFORT SCOTT, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old southeast Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife, injuring his son and burning the family's home down near Fort Scott. Brent Bollinger of Fort Scott was convicted in September of first-degree murder, aggravated arson and aggravated child endangerment.==========Kansas Lottery Director Steps DownTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A longtime figure in state government who was appointed as executive director of the Kansas Lottery less than a year ago says he is stepping down from the job in January. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Dennis Taylor is leaving to join a U.S. consulting firm providing technical assistance and training to local governments in Eastern Europe. Taylor also will teach part time at Washburn University in Topeka.