Junction City man’s first-degree murder sentence stands, Kansas Supreme Court rules

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (KSNT) – A Junction City man’s guilty verdict for first-degree murder will be upheld, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.

While the Kansas Supreme Court held 28-year-old Joseph Craig’s first-degree murder sentence for the 2016 shooting death of David Phillips, it removed a second-degree intentional murder conviction. The Geary County District Court originally sentenced Craig in 2018 for:

• First-degree murder
• Second-degree intentional murder
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
• Aggravated robbery
• Conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery
• Criminal possession of a firearm

Craig was convicted of killing Phillips during a premeditated robbery with Gabrielle Williams, court documents show.

Craig appealed the district court’s decision on grounds that the jury convicted him of two murder charges for the same killing, and that the court failed to give a voluntary intoxication instruction. Craig testified he drank alcohol and smoked marijuana before he shot Phillips.

The Kansas Supreme Court rejected Philips claim the district court made mistakes in its handling of the jury’s verdicts, and on the voluntary intoxication instruction. The Supreme Court determined “the evidence could not show intoxication to the extent of impairing Craig’s ability to form the criminal mind required for the crimes.”