Trial for Huff delayed until May
It’s been a year since a Topeka man’s arrest for allegedly shooting at motorists along U.S. Highway 75 in southern Jackson County, and it will be almost another half a year before he stands trial on the shooting charges in Jackson County District Court.
A four-day jury trial for Cory D. Huff had been set to begin Tuesday, Jan. 19, but the trial’s start date has been moved back to Tuesday, May 31, due to the illness of Huff’s attorney, William Rork of Topeka. Topeka attorney Joseph Laski, a representative of Rork’s office, stood in for Rork during a status hearing held Tuesday morning in district court.
Huff has been charged with four counts of attempted second-degree murder and two charges of criminal discharge of a firearm in connection with a Dec. 31, 2014, incident in southern Jackson County. He is currently free on bond.
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 at their vehicles in the early evening hours of Dec. 31, 2014. It was reported that the alleged road rage incident began in northern Shawnee County and continued north into Jackson County, where Huff was, according to witnesses, driving erratically and firing a black automatic pistol at another vehicle.
It was originally reported that no bullets struck the other vehicles, no injuries occurred, and Huff reportedly turned around and went back to Topeka, where sheriff’s officers interviewed Huff and arrested him on two attempted murder counts. It was reported that officers also seized a firearm, ammunition and other items while apprehending Huff.
On Tuesday, Jackson County District Court Judge Norbert Marek — in his first day on the bench after being appointed to replace the late Micheal Ireland — approved the trial dates of May 31 through June 3. Marek also set a pre-trial motion hearing date of Friday, May 13 and requested that jury instructions be submitted by then.
Furthermore, Marek asked Laski to keep the court updated on Rork’s medical condition and reminded Huff that “you need to plan to be here” on May 31.
