Once again, Devawn Mitchell is officially appealing both his conviction and sentence in the traffic death of fellow Emporian Steve Henry from March 2021.
Mitchell had originally appealed his convictions following sentencing in May 2023, but the Kansas Supreme Court found no errors and affirmed both his convictions for first-degree felony murder, aggravated assault on law enforcement and felony flee and elude, as well as his nearly 50-year sentence, as part of its ruling in December 2023 — saying Mitchell failed to prove his incompetency to stand trial while Lyon County District Court did not abuse its discretion and also properly applied Mitchell’s criminal history while determining his sentence.
Mitchell now has filed a 700-page appeal, including nearly 30 exhibits, saying defense attorney Rick Meier failed to require a pre-trial competency hearing and take other steps to determine whether Mitchell was competent, as well as an alleged failure to request a presentencing evaluation to possibly have Mitchell committed to a mental institution rather than prison and Mitchell’s acts were allegedly involuntary due to his mental state. Mitchell also faults appellate defender Kurt Kerns for ineffective counsel
In March of 2021, Mitchell led two pursuits across parts of Emporia and was driving at a high rate of speed when his car hit Henry’s truck on Sixth Avenue near Chestnut, killing him almost instantly. Officers had called off a pursuit because of unsafe driving conditions shortly before the crash.
A scheduling conference is set for 3:30 pm Wednesday in the Lyon County Courthouse.
