Wyandotte County, Kansas District Attorney Mark Dupree is huge on second chances for criminals – repeatedly touting alternatives to prosecution, hosting seven annual “expungement fairs” to erase criminal records, and offering plea deals that even shock defense attorneys.
“I started getting plea deals on cases that went from a happy surprise to making me feel like, ‘I can’t believe I’m getting these deals,’” defense attorney KiAnn Caprice told The Kansas City Star in 2020. “I was talking to attorneys who were getting the same deals.”
The lax plea deals may be great for clients, said another defense attorney, but, “You come to a realization this is not good for the community as a whole. You start realizing something’s wrong.”
Perhaps another indication something is wrong with Wyandotte County prosecutions: A Kansas City man with a 32-year, 50-plus conviction record has just been arrested again for aggravated battery – while on an unlikely probation for an earlier one.
Brian Keith Tatum was booked for aggravated battery with reckless harm or disfigurement March 29 at the Wyandotte County Jail in Kansas City, Kansas. As of Monday morning there were no charges filed in the new case, but a motion has been filed to revoke his probation in the earlier incident.
Brian Keith Tatum Sr.
Court records show Tatum’s criminal history stretches back to 1993, with approximately 50 convictions since then for repeated offenses.
How many second chances does one get in Wyandotte County, a law enforcement professional asked The Heartlander.
“If we’re not drawing the line at 54,” the professional said, “where are we drawing the line? What is the magic number?”
Court records indicate Tatum was put on probation in the previous aggravated battery case on Sept. 26. Though originally charged with the June 19 aggravated battery of a woman in that case – a Level 4 severity crime in Kansas, with Level 1 being the most severe – Tatum was allowed to plead guilty to a criminal threat causing terror, evacuation or disruption.
Interestingly, court records acknowledge he was placed on one-year probation for the Level 9 threat crime in Wyandotte County District Court despite having a Category A criminal history, the most serious of Kansas’ nine categories.
Yet, even if Tatum had been sentenced to prison in September it would’ve been for just 16 months.
Contrast that with what the law enforcement professional told The Heartlander that Tatum could have been – and arguably should have been – sentenced to:
Kansas sentencing guidelines say someone with no criminal history would presumptively get 3.5 years in prison. But because of his Category A criminal history, Tatum’s presumptive sentence last September would have been 13.5 years.
According to a pre-sentence investigation by court officials obtained by The Heartlander, Tatum’s criminal record includes:
- Forgery
- Theft
- aggravated battery
- resisting arrest
- disorderly conduct
- criminal damage to property
- criminal possession of a weapon by a felon
- destruction of city property
- aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
- domestic battery
The record indicates multiple instances of several of those crimes, including aggravated battery, domestic battery and driving on a suspended license.
