by Alan McArthur
Landmark reporter

The scheduled hearing to expunge the arrest record of local attorney Roland Michael Gunn has been continued until June 2.

Gunn’s hearing was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, but his attorney, John Shank, with the firm Gunn, Shank & Stover, on Tuesday filed a notice to reschedule the hearing.

The new hearing will be held on June 2 at 3 p.m. in the Platte County Courthouse in the court of Judge Daniel Czamanske.

Gunn was arrested by Kansas City police in 2005 and charged with resisting arrest and inflicting bodily damage upon another, after he allegedly assaulted a process server and struggled with an arresting police officer in an incident that began in Gunn’s office and spilled outside.

According to a petition filed by Shank in November 2008, “said arrest may be expunged because the arrest was based on false information and there was and is no probable cause to believe that plaintiff committed the offense.”

The petition, filed in Platte County courts, lists the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners as defendants including Karl Zobrist, Terry Brady, Mark Thompson, Mark Funkhouser, and James Wilson. Also listed are the Kansas City Municipal Court, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Beth Murano, Kansas City prosecuting attorney.

The petition was originally assigned to Judge Abe Shafer, but on January 15, 2009, Shafer disqualified himself from the case, according to court records. The petition was then assigned to Judge Lee Hull.

An order was then filed by Shank on January 22 to change judges to Judge Czamanske.

In December 2005, Gunn, age 60 at the time, was arrested and charged with assault and resisting arrest for an incident involving a process server at his law office at 6800 NW Polo, Kansas City, Mo.

Gunn allegedly grabbed the female process server by the shoulder and then pushed past an officer attempting to arrest him.

During the incident, Gunn was eventually taken into custody after being sprayed three times with mace, according to a police report on the incident that was obtained by The Landmark.
When the case went to trial in Kansas City Municipal Court on December 28, 2006 the arresting officer was out of town and the case was dismissed with prejudice by the judge. The judge retired a few days later.

Gunn was previously an assistant counselor to the Platte County Commission and specialized in planning and zoning work for the county. Gunn had also considered running for county auditor in 2006.

According to his profile on the Gunn, Shank, & Stover website, Gunn is a graduate of Kansas State University. Gunn has served on the executive board of the Parkville Community Development Company, the Platte County Master Planning Committee and the Highway 45 Committee. He is also a naval captain in the Missouri Militia.