Jury trial scheduled in October for Buchheit
A jury trial for a Netawaka resident charged with several sex-related crimes involving a child has been scheduled for late October by Jackson County District Court Judge Micheal Ireland.
Ireland set a three-day trial starting Tuesday, Oct. 27 for Scott James Buchheit, 35, during a motion hearing for Buchheit on Friday in district court. Buchheit is charged with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, five counts of rape, two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy and one count each of indecent solicitation of a child and theft.
At the request of Onaga defense attorney Russell Roe, Buchheit’s bond was reduced from $300,000 to $200,000 cash or commercial surety, with Ireland saying he could go no lower than that “for the safety of the community.” Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller questioned the request for lowered bond, saying Buchheit was a flight risk.
Buchheit was arrested in February on charges that originally included six counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, six counts of rape and one count of felony theft. The sex charges involve alleged incidents between August of 2008 and January of 2015 involving a girl who is now 17 years old and had formerly lived in the same residence as Buchheit, it was reported.
He was taken into custody Feb. 10 by Jackson County authorities at the Plaza Inn Motel on south Topeka Boulevard, after it was reported that he surrendered to Topeka police after seeing himself as the subject of a community-wide alert on a TV news program. The theft charge stemmed from a report that Buchheit may have been seen driving a stolen Polaris Ranger side-by-side UTV, later recovered in Topeka.
Buchheit pleaded not guilty to an amended list of charges in April and was bound over for trial, with the trial date set during Friday’s motions hearing. Roe had filed motions for sequestration of witnesses in the case, as well as an “in limine” motion that requested Ireland not consider Buchheit’s previous criminal arrest record and require Miller to get copies of all exhibits in the case to Roe; Ireland granted the motions on Friday.
Not all pieces of evidence related to the case had been turned in, it was noted, as Miller said she was still waiting on “DNA reports” to come back from the Kansas Bureau of Investigaiton. She added that apart from those reportes, Roe “has everything that I have.”
Roe’s request for reduced bond was accompanied by information that Buchheit had “a place to live” and a possible job, the attorney said. Miller countered that even if Buchheit were to post bond, he is still “looking at 25 to life” on the criminal charges against him.