WyCo DA must say if he will conduct a full-scale review of all Golubski’s cases that resulted in convictions
We praised Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree when he told us he would review every case brought to his attention that has former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski’s name tied to it.
We also said that wasn’t enough. We urged Dupree to launch a full-scale, no-exceptions review of every case that led to a conviction based on Golubski’s police work or involvement. That’s going to probably require new funding from the county commissioners. How much? We don’t know because Dupree hasn’t said how many cases are potentially involved. In truth, we’re not sure if Dupree knows. It remains unclear whether he’s even gathered a list of how many cases were potentially tainted by Golubski’s testimony or police work.
This basic information – how many cases, and how long it will take to review them – is the least that is owed to residents of Wyandotte.
Golubski was arrested last month by the FBI and charged in federal court with six counts stemming from his alleged abuse and kidnapping of two Black women over several years. Previously, he was accused of framing Lamonte McIntyre, a Black man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years and exonerated in 2017.
This week, Dupree has a chance to begin keeping his promise. A two-day hearing starts Wednesday in the Kansas Court of Appeals involving two men claiming they were framed by Golubski and wrongfully convicted of a murder they did not commit.
It’s a case that appears to have all the elements of the kind Dupree has promised to review. Attorneys are seeking a retrial for Celester McKinney and Brian Betts, who say Golubski played a role in their 1998 murder convictions in connection with the killing of Golubski’s nephew by marriage.
Both have maintained their innocence from Day One and over their 24-years in prison.
Attorneys for the men said there’s new evidence Golubski allegedly coerced a false testimony from a witness who has since recanted his statement that he saw the two men with guns.
One of their attorneys, Sarah Swain, said prosecutors at the time did not reveal Golubski’s relative, Greg Miller, was the victim and that one of the prosecution’s two main witnesses was Jimmy Spencer, Golubski’s brother-in-law. She also claims there is “not a single piece of physical evidence…” and that’s why they want it retried.
Whether they get one is a matter for the courts to decide, but that McKinney was granted a hearing confirms that questions about the two convictions are valid.
Swain said she will call Golubski to testify on Wednesday. She wants Dupree to do a fresh “deep dive into the case,” and review every report from police, prosecutors and judges, and talk with every witness because, “it’s the right thing to do,” she said.
“I can’t see how anyone can look at this case and believe that it is not worthy of a deeper dive,” Swain said.
However the appeal plays out in court, we believe it’s a case that Dupree should have on his list for just such a deep-dive review as Swain has suggested.
Dupree declined through a spokesman to say what his office’s plans are with regard to the case.
”The law does not allow this office to comment on ongoing litigations,” said Jonathan Carter spokesman for the DA’s office.
That’s fair enough. But what Dupree should speak to is whether this case is part of an ongoing, systematic review of all cases touched by Golbuski. Wyandotte residents deserve to know how Dupree plans to identify the cases that will be reviewed, how he plans to go about it, and what the scope and cost of the review of all 35 years’ worth of old Golubski cases will be.
The legitimate questions raised in this case, on top of McIntyre’s exoneration and Golubski’s arrest, are powerful reminders that there could be many more people wrongly incarcerated because of bad police work. They bolster our call for the county’s top prosecutor to launch a comprehensive probe.
KCK residents have complained in vain for years that the former detective, who worked for 35 years with the Kansas City Kansas Police Department, terrorized the Black community, preyed on Black women and was a bad cop. They accused him of coercing woman into sexual acts in a trade off of liency for relatives who were in trouble with the law. And of framing Black men for crimes they did not commit.
Dupree has said he now questions whether investigations done by Golubski can be trusted.
As we’ve said before, it’s critically important that law enforcement is transparent and held accountable in this process if Wyandotte County, and especially Kansas City Kansas, residents are ever going to have any faith in the prosecutors, police and judges who have meted out justice there over the past several decades.
