HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A Hutchinson man sentenced to 40-years in prison for his involvement in the murder of Joshua Haines may take the stand when a hearing on his civil case comes before the court later this month.
Anthony Waller was given the sentence by Judge Tim Chambers back in April of 2011 and Waller filed a Habeas Corpus motion seeking relief from his conviction and sentence.
He alleges in his petition that he didn’t have effective counsel at trial at also at the appellate level. He also claims that the state used perjured testimony and that the judge denied exculpatory evidence at trial.
During a hearing Friday afternoon, his attorney for the civil filing, Shannon Crane told the court she would possibly call two witnesses, one being his trial attorney, Carl Maughn and the other the petitioner himself.
Waller will also bring up issues he found fault with, that being the trial strategy, whether some witnesses in the case were on drugs at the time they testified and why his attorney didn’t call an expert in the case. He also claims misconduct on the part of the prosecutor.
The murder case centers on the victim being beaten and strangled in an apartment at 12th & Severance. Waller then bound Haines with duct tape and video game cords before dragging his body out of the apartment. The victim was stuffed into the passenger side of his car and the vehicle was abandoned a few blocks away. All this occurring on April 10, 2010. Waller was upset because he believed Haines had burglarized his apartment weeks earlier. An autopsy revealed that Haines had been struck approximately 70-times and strangled.
Two other suspects in the case are also serving time, that being 33-year-old Jose Delacruz and 37-year-old Vasie Coons. Coons is serving a 12-year sentence, while Delacruz was found not guilty of murder, but was convicted of aggravated robbery and is serving seven years in prison.
The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 25, in front of Judge Tim Chambers. Ironically, Waller has not asked for a new judge even though many of the issues he raises were already ruled upon by the judge.