Buchheit trial may be delayed

The trial of a Netawaka resident charged with several sex-related crimes involving a child may be delayed because of the dismissal of his attorney.

During a motion hearing for Scott James Buchheit, 35, on Tuesday in Jackson County District Court, Judge Micheal Ireland granted a motion from Onaga defense attorney Russell Roe to withdraw as attorney for Buchheit. Roe had filed a motion to withdraw on Friday, following a letter Buchheit had sent to Ireland on July 23 asking for Roe to be dismissed.

However, Ireland reminded Buchheit and Roe that a three-day jury trial for Buchheit — 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 — had been set to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 27. As a result of Roe’s withdrawal, Ireland said, Buchheit’s defense options for a speedy trial were now severely limited.

According to Ireland, there was only one attorney apart from Roe that the judge said could handle in defense of the level of felony charges against Buchheit, and that was Holton attorney J. Richard Lake. But Ireland said he could not give Buchheit’s case to Lake, because Lake is already facing “a number of difficult cases” at the present time.

As a result of Roe’s withdrawal, Ireland gave Buchheit two options — hire his own attorney, or contact Atchison attorney John Kurth to see if he would be available to pick up Buchheit’s case. That, the judge noted, would also be contingent upon whether Kurth is available to defend Buchheit.

“You only get one shot,” Ireland warned Buchheit. “But don’t expect (Kurth) to jump every time you need to see him.”

According to Buchheit’s July 23 letter to Ireland, the defendant sought Roe’s dismissal and asked Ireland to appoint him new counsel asserting that Roe was not doing a good job as his attorney and was not available for counsel when needed. Roe’s motion to withdraw stated that he was aware of Buchheit’s dissatisfaction with him but contended he had done his best to defend Buchheit.

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 October trial date set at that time. He remains at the Jackson County Detention Center on $200,000 bond.