A Hutchinson man who has been in prison now since he was sentenced in April of 2004 for attempted first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm is still seeking relief from his 24-plus year sentence.
The conviction for Tony Ballard was upheld, but he has since sought relief from his conviction and sentence through a civil filing of Habeas Corpus motion. Ballard believes he had ineffective assistance of council at trial, even though his attorney at the time, Tim O’Keefe came back for a hearing on the matter and testified as to what his defense was. The court ruled against Ballard.
The case dragged on through the civil process because of changing his attorney a number of times.
So, it now comes before the Kansas Court Of Appeals Tuesday with District Attorney Keith Schroeder arguing for the state that he was granted a fair hearing on his claims of ineffective council.
Ballard who is now 36, was convicted of shooting at Phil Simpson at his home in the 900 block of East 8th, back on September 23, 2003.
The Court of Appeals is meeting in Wichita on Tuesday.