Prosecutor seeks probation for man convicted in shooting outside Baby Dolls near Topeka

The Shawnee County District Attorney's office has agreed to recommend a sentence of probation for Scott Allen Warner, convicted in a December 2022 shooting at a nightclub just south of Topeka.

Deputy District Attorney Will Manly and Jason A. Zavadil, an attorney representing Warner, signed the plea agreement involved. It was filed Friday.

The agreement calls for Warner — who had been charged with a version of aggravated battery that is listed as being on level five of Kansas Sentencing Guidelines — to agree to instead plead guilty to a less serious version of aggravated battery listed in those guidelines as being on level eight.

Sentencing guidelines pinpoint a defendant's presumptive sentence using state sentencing grids, which take into account the defendant's "criminal history score" and the severity of his or her new conviction or convictions. The most serious crimes have the lowest severity rankings.

What happens next?

Warner is set to be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. April 4 by Shawnee County District Court Judge James Crowl.

The plea agreement for Warner allows for the prosecution and defense to argue in favor of any legal sentence they wish at his sentencing hearing.

But it adds that "the parties will recommend that the Defendant be placed on probation."

The plea agreement is conditioned upon Warner's remaining law abiding prior to his sentencing; obeying all conditions of bond; appearing in court as ordered at any time; fully cooperating with the state; and agreeing to not seek to withdraw the plea.

If Warner violates any of those requirements, prosecutors are not bound by the agreement and may recommend any sentence they consider appropriate, the agreement says.

What does the DA say?

Katie Garceran, public information officer for District Attorney Mike Kagay's office, said that office always refrains from offering specific comments on a plea until after sentencing.in order to comply with rules 3.6 and 3.8 of the American Bar Association's Rules of Professional Conduct.

However, Garceran indicated she was willing to talk about factors upon which Kagay's office relies "to determine an appropriate outcome" when negotiating plea agreements.

Those include the wishes of the victim, the availability of witnesses, the strength of the evidence, the likelihood of obtaining a conviction at trial, the harm caused by the offense, the impact on the public welfare and the cooperation of the offender in the conviction of others, she said.

What happened?

Court records show that Warner, 37, was initially charged with level five aggravated battery linked to the shooting of Rashaun Antonio Oche Thornton.

Thornton was shot just before 2 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2022, outside Baby Dolls, a nightclub just south of Topeka, according to the criminal complaint in the case. He survived.

The altercation involved began near the entrance of the business and continued into the parking lot, said the Facebook page for the office of Shawnee County Sheriff Brian Hill.

"During the fight, multiple gunshots were fired, and one person was struck," it said. "That person was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries."

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Probation sought for man convicted in Baby Dolls shooting near Topeka