A Riley County judge has granted probation for a 43-year-old man with a lengthy criminal history, despite a local prosecutor’s continued request for him to be sent to prison.
Desie Chatfield appeared from his jail cell Wednesday morning, following a June 27 arrest on a bench warrant for failure to appear. After prosecutors requested he be remanded to prison, Judge Kendra Lewison denied the request, granting Chatfield probation.
The decision comes a month and a half after Chatfield failed to appear in person for a probation violation hearing on a past conviction for drug possession. He failed to appear in-person, appearing instead via Zoom, which had not been previously approved.
Deputy Riley County Attorney Trinity Muth says Chatfield is a frequent no-show at court hearings and has racked up a lengthy criminal history, indicating last month that it wasn’t the first time Chatfield has made the court “play on his terms.”
Online court records show 53 criminal cases on Chatfield’s record, spanning nine Kansas counties, dating back to 1998.
Chatfield was convicted by a Riley County jury last year for a misdemeanor charge of battery after being found not guilty of more serious charges of aggravated kidnapping, rape, aggravated intimidation of a witness and criminal threat.
