Huff pleads not guilty in road rage incident

A Topeka resident charged with shooting at motorists along U.S. Highway 75 on New Year’s Eve in southern Jackson County pleaded not guilty to a new set of charges stemming from the same incident.

Cory D. Huff, 51, stood silent on Tuesday morning in Jackson County District Court when asked for his pleas on two charges of attempted second-degree murder and one charge of criminal discharge of a firearm in connection with the Dec. 31 incident. District Court Judge Mike Ireland then entered not guilty pleas on the three charges in Huff’s stead.

Huff had already been bound over for trial on three additional charges stemming from the incident — two more attempted second-degree murder charges and another criminal discharge of a firearm charge — earlier this year. He also has been charged with reckless driving in the incident.

According to previous reports, Huff was arrested after motorists along U.S. 75 near the Jackson-Shawnee county line reported a man firing a pistol in the early evening hours of Dec. 31. It was reported that the alleged road rage incident began near 46th Street in Topeka and continued north into Jackson County, where Huff was, according to witnesses, driving erratically and firing a black automatic pistol at another vehicle.

No trial date has yet been set for Huff on the charges, and his next scheduled court date was set for Friday, July 24, at which time Ireland said he will hear motions on the case as filed by Huff’s attorney, William Rork of Topeka. Ireland also gave Rork until Wednesday, July 1 to file those motions.

During Tuesday’s hearing, which served as a preliminary hearing on the three new charges filed in March, Topeka residents Scott and Cheryl Gales, who told police that Huff had fired on them in the New Year’s Eve incident as they were driving north into Jackson County, testified against Huff.

Rork attempted to discredit the Gales’ testimony, saying neither of them could prove that Huff was firing at them and that their vehicle was not struck by any bullets. However, Ireland stated that the Gales “indicated that shots were being fired at other cars” and that they “felt clear shots were being fired at them.”

Huff currently remains at the Jackson County Detention Center on $250,000 bond, although Rork asked Ireland during Tuesday’s hearing whether Huff could put some real estate property up for the bond. Ireland told Rork to put the request into writing, noting that Huff could not use any residences in that manner.

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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