LARNED — The murder trial of a Larned man accused of shooting a Larned State Hospital physician more than a year ago has been delayed yet again.
Michael E.G. Reynolds, 68, is accused in the March 30, 2024 shooting death of Dr. Tomas Garza, employed as a supervisor of primary medical care at LSH, following an argument at a rural warehouse owned by Reynolds south of Larned. Reynolds was taken into custody at the scene and charged with intentional second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal possession of a firearm.
The case, which has experienced several delays due to multiple defense counsel, was scheduled for jury trial on Monday, May 5, but was continued following a Zoom status hearing conducted Friday, April 11 at the Pawnee County Courthouse, noted Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett. That week, McNett was engaged in the process of notifying by mail a pool of some 40 prospective jurors for voir dire ahead of the scheduled Monday trial, which was expected to last three days in Pawnee County District Court. The notification letter also included a questionnaire to aid in the screening process, similar to the one the Pawnee County Attorney’s Office prepared for a 2023 five-day trial expected to be high-profile in nature leading to the conviction and 96-month sentence of Justin Hammond, Larned, for indecent liberties with a child. The questionnaire format for the Reynolds proceeding was approved by Senior Judge Nancy Parrish, Topeka, during a March 14 pretrial hearing in mitigation of defense council Louis Podrebarac’s motion for change of venue. Judge Parrish also denied the defense’s motion, as the May 5 trial date was set in Pawnee County.
At the status hearing April 11, after the jury notifications were mailed out, McNett learned that the trial had been continued until the week of Sept. 15. “We had everybody subpoenaed, we were all ready to go,” McNett said. “We’re still going to have the trial here, but the defense counsel said they weren’t going to be ready, that the defendant had given them a number of witnesses that they were going to have to track down, so they wanted at least a 60-day continuance. That would have put us into July, but they said that their calendars in July and August were full.”
Defense ‘not ready’
Podrebarac, a Dodge City attorney, is the third court-appointed counsel for defense in the Reynolds case since proceedings began in April, 2024. Podrebarac was second chair for Dodge City defense counsel Natalie Morlock, who served as defense counsel during Reynolds’ November preliminary hearing. Morlock, a Dodge City attorney, was appointed after defense attorney Joe Shepack, Ellsworth, asked to be removed as Reynolds’ counsel in September 2024 on the day the preliminary hearing was originally scheduled. Podrebarac’s son Samuel, also a member of the Dodge City law firm, sat second chair for the defense during the March hearing.
A series of delays
Reynolds had his first appearance before Pawnee County Magistrate Judge Julie Cowell on April 3, 2024. At that time, Shepack was appointed as defense council and preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for April 17. However, defense counsel requested a competency hearing which was performed by the Great Bend Center for Counseling and Consultation on April 20.
In May, 24th District Judge Bruce Gatterman announced his recusal from the case and Senior Judge Parrish was appointed to preside. On May 28, Judge Parrish found Reynolds competent to stand trial and preliminary hearing was rescheduled for September. On the day of the preliminary hearing, minutes before the hearing was to commence, Hodgeman County Magistrate Judge Kenton Gleason granted Shepack’s request to withdraw from the case. A search for a qualified defense counsel then ensued, resulting in the appointment of Dodge City defense counsel Morlock. A contested preliminary hearing was successfully completed on Nov. 7, with Morlock as defense counsel and Podrebarac second chair due to Morlock’s consideration of appointment to a judgeship position in the state’s 25th Judicial district. Podrebarac ascended to lead counsel following Morlock’s judgeship appointment by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Feb. 11, 2025.
If convicted of the murder charge, under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Reynolds faces between 147 months and 653 months in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections depending on his criminal history.
“People are probably going to be saying that I’m dragging my feet, but I did file an objection to the continuance because we’re ready to go,” McNett said. “The argument was that he was already on his third defense attorney, Podrebarac had been appointed as co-counsel back in October. But he had only come to Pawnee County one time to meet with Reynolds.”
