HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 30-year-old inmate who at one time was at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility and was found “guilty” on a charge of battery of a law enforcement officer was sentenced to 10 years and two months in prison Friday.
That was the sentence handed down by Judge Trish Rose, who two weeks ago heard two motions from Douglas Anthony Kling, one for a new trial and the other for judgment of acquittal. Both were denied then by the judge.
The case centers on Kling being upset over a prison officer not responding to his demand to file a grievance. He started making noise and began 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. That’s when the confrontation started with Kling trying to leave the cell. Garcia says he was struck a number of times by Kling, including in the nose.
At trial, Kling chose to represent himself with the assistance of a public defender.
Kling is serving time for convictions out of Marshall County for attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat. He also has a conviction for burglary out of Nemaha County. Before sentencing, Kling was looking at his first chance for parole in November 2040, but now it will be over 10 years before that because the sentence handed down Friday was ordered consecutive to the sentence he’s currently serving time on.