By Roger Cornish (WICHITA, Kan.)
Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell has ruled that the use of force by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper in the March 20, 2010 shooting of Charles R. "Chuck" Dinneen, in Salina, was lawful.
Mitchell's office reviewed reports from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Salina Police Department, and the Saline County Sheriff's Office.
The Patrol requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation into the matter.
As a standard practice, the Patrol is also conducting an internal administrative review of the matter.
The trooper was on paid administrative leave during the investigation.
Upon receipt of Mitchell's letter, Maple said the trooper was returned to full duty.
A preliminary hearing on the matter was held in Saline County District Court yesterday.
Dinneen was bound over for trial on charges of robbery, two counts of kidnapping, criminal threat, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, domestic battery, two counts of fleeing and eluding, and multiple traffic infractions.
