The Kansas Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a petition for review on Monday from former Kansas Highway Patrol officer Darrin D. Hirsh, 42, who was convicted in Barton County in 2016. Hirsh is represented by Kansas Appellate Defender Samuel D. Schirer and the State is represented by Attorney General Derek L. Schmidt and Assistant Solicitor General Natalie A. Chalmers.
Fifteen minutes were scheduled for oral arguments.
The docket summary of State of Kansas v. Darrin D. Hirsh states:
“(In May of 2016), a jury convicted Hirsh of aggravated assault, two counts of criminal threats and domestic battery. Hirsh’s ex-wife claimed that (in March of 2013) he put a gun to her head, attempted to suffocate her with a pillow, and threatened her and their children. She told her work supervisor, who in turn told Barton County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Reed, who did not report the incident.
“Undersheriff Bruce Green eventually discovered Reed’s failure and filed a misconduct report against Reed. On the last day of trial, during Green’s cross-examination, the State asked about a stack of papers he brought with him. Green replied it was the misconduct report. This was the first time either the State or the defense knew of the report.
“(On Sept. 29, 2017), the Court of Appeals reversed and vacated Hirsh’s aggravated assault conviction, finding (District Judge Ron Svaty’s) response to a jury question allowed the jury to convict Hirsh of an uncharged crime. The Court of Appeals affirmed the other convictions.”
The question the jury asked the court was, “May the pillow be considered as a deadly weapon the same as a gun?” Candice Hirsh had testified that Darrin was smothering her face with a pillow and holding a gun to hear head. But the State specifically charged Hirsh with aggravated assault committed with a handgun.
Issues on review were also considered by the Court of Appeals but did not result in changing the case are whether: 1) the Court of Appeals erred by holding Hirsh did not establish a Brady violation; 2) Hirsh’s criminal threat convictions are multiplicitous; 3) the prosecutor erred in telling the jury a witness spoke the truth; 4) the district court erred in refusing to recall the jury after it was discovered three jurors failed to disclose previous domestic violence experiences; and 5) cumulative error denied Hirsh a fair trial.”
Darrin Hirsh was released from the Kansas Department of Correction in October of 2016 and was under post-release supervision in Pawnee County. His sentence expired on April 8, 2017. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s Registered Offender website lists him as a violent offender and shows his Larned address. Although he is required to register until 2031, Hirsh has sought removal from the registry, due to the reversal of the aggravated assault charge.
This clarification was added on March 8, 2019:
A story in the March 6 Great Bend Tribune stated that Darrin Hirsh was released from the Kansas Department of Corrections in 2016. Although he did have a conviction overturned, the status of his conviction for domestic battery that occurred on March 12, 2013, remains active. The Kansas Department of Corrections website describes the crime as a Class B misdemeanor; “domestic battery - 1st convict; intent. bodily harm from 1 family member to another family member” and his status at “Intensive Supervision Level IV” in the 24th Judicial District.
