HCF inmate bound over in charge of battery of correctional officer
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 30-year-old inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility serving time for some very serious convictions was in court Monday for a preliminary hearing where he was bound over on a charge of battery of a law enforcement officer for an incident last year at the prison.
Apparently Douglas Anthony Kling was upset over the prison officer not responding to his demand to filed a grievance and starting making noise and kicking the door of his isolation cell. The officer, Jason Garcia says he tried to get Kling to calm down, but he didn’t so the officer opened the cell door and that’s when the confrontation started when Kling started to leave the cell. Garcia says he was struck a number of times by Kling, including in the nose.
Kling who has chosen to represent himself in this case was clearly not prepared for the hearing. He told Judge Joe McCarville that he thought they were only going to discuss whether he would be allowed to represent himself or not and was not prepared for the hearing. He repeatedly asked for a recess, partly because of not being prepared and also because of not receiving evidence the state had to be able to handle the hearing.
He also at one point requested that Judge McCarville recuse himself from the case because he also handles a discipline review at the prison over the same incident. The judge denied the request.
The charge is a level five person felony with a maximum sentence of over 11 years in prison and that would run consecutive to the sentence he’s currently serving. Kling is serving time for convictions in Marshall County for attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat. He also has convictions for burglary out of Nemaha County. As it stands now, he’s not even eligible for parole until November 2040.
With him bound over for trial, the case now moves to arraignment in front of Judge Trish Rose next month.
Local man enters pleas in assault and drug case
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 33-year-old Hutchinson man who was arrested back in November after an altercation where he allegedly pointed and discharged a gun was in court Monday where he entered pleas in the case
Nicholas Espinoza entered pleas to aggravated assault, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal discharge of a firearm.
Espinoza was arrested after Jennifer Rutan told police that a Hispanic male pointed a gun in her direction as she and her husband drove west on a south side Hutchinson street. He was also accused of firing a gun in the air at some point. A volunteer officer heard a gunshot while in the area. They reportedly found a spent 40-caliber shell outside the home of Espinoza in the 100 block of East Campbell.
With the pleas entered in the case, Judge Trish Rose set sentencing for February 27.
Espinoza has previous felony convictions for drugs going back to May of 2011 that makes it illegal for him to have any type of weapon and could effect how much time he gets in prison.
Hutch woman pleads guilty to false tax claim, firearms charge in federal court
WICHITA, Kan. — A 40-year-old Hutchinson woman pleaded guilty Monday to filing a false tax return and violating a federal law prohibiting her from having a gun.
Rhonda J. Simmons pleaded guilty to one count of presenting a false tax claim and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. In her plea, she admitted that on April 15, 2012, she prepared a false income tax return seeking a refund of $3,014.
On Aug. 14, 2012, the Hutchinson Police Department executed a search warrant on the residence where she was living. They seized a 20 gauge shotgun belonging to Simmons. She was prohibited from possessing a firearm because she had been convicted of a felony in 2007 in Georgia.
Sentencing is set for March 30. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearm charge, and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the tax charge.