TOPEKA, Kan. – After Judge Trish Rose took under advisement a civil motion for a Hutchinson man convicted of attempted manufacture of methamphetamine and attempted 2nd degree murder, there is another hearing scheduled for Thursday where the judge may issue her ruling.
Paul Stotts had argued is his civil filing that he had ineffective counsel prior to his trial when his attorney David Holmes failed to inform him of a plea offer from the state. Stotts continues to argue that if he had known about the offer which would have reduced his time in prison to around 13 and a half years, he would have taken it.
This issue went to the Kansas Court of Appeals and they ruled that he failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would have accepted the plea offer at the time if was offered. But in court last month, his attorney says what they failed to do at the appellate level was whether he was prejudiced by not hearing about the offer. They argued that in court after Stotts took the stand.
He told the judge that he was barely 18 at the time of his arrest and knew nothing of how the legal system worked. He says the plea offer was mentioned in court, but didn’t feel he could oppose his attorney who he thought was working for his best interest. He says it wasn’t until he went to prison that he learned what he could or couldn’t do even during his trial.
Judge Trish Rose took the issue under advisement and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
As it stands now, Stotts is serving roughly 25-years after being convicted of attempted 2nd degree murder for crashing his vehicle into another, badly injuring the other driver. The state says it was intentional, while Stotts maintains it was an accident. He was also found guilty of having items consistent with a meth lab inside his vehicle, two counts of aggravated battery, and several counts of flee and elude. The case has to do with the 24-minute high speed chase through both South Hutchinson and Hutchinson which ultimately ended with the crash on K-61 back on March 26, 2007.