Trial for Buchheit set for this week

The trial of a Netawaka resident charged with several sex-related crimes involving a child will begin this week as scheduled after Jackson County District Court Judge Norbert Marek clarified some trial rules for participating attorneys and jurors during a pre-trial motion hearing on Friday.

Jury selection for the trial against Scott James Buchheit, 36, will begin Tuesday morning in district court, more than a year after Buchheit’s arrest on a series of sex-related charges involving alleged activities with an underage girl identified in court as his stepdaughter. 

“It’s a case that nobody looks forward to trying,” Marek told those present in court on Friday.

Buchheit has been 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. He currently remains at the Jackson County Detention Center on $200,000 bond.

The charges against Buchheit originally included six counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, six counts of rape and one count of felony theft. The sex charges involved 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.

An amended complaint detailing the new charges against Buchheit was filed last April by Miller during a preliminary hearing in district court, at which time Buchheit pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. It was determined that there was enough evidence to merit a trial, it was reported.

On Friday, Marek addressed a handwritten letter from Buchheit, in which the defendant asked for access to local health records related to the alleged victim to “prove the negative.” The judge also noted that if there had been hard evidence of sexual abuse against the alleged victim, “it would have been reported, but it wasn’t,” and he wanted to know why.

Marek also reviewed a typewritten note addressed to Buchheit’s attorney, J. Richard Lake of Holton, regarding similar records on “whether there’d been some issues with the accusing witness.” But when the judge said he did not see the admission of those records as “necessary or relevant,” Lake replied that Buchheit “has all the records he needs.”

Concerning “rules of ethics” that Marek said may require the attorneys to remain at the attorney’s podium when addressing witnesses during the trial, the judge said that Lake and Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller could present their respective cases as they saw fit.

“I will not tether you,” Marek told Lake and Miller. “Do what you feel is effective in doing your job.”

Furthermore, the judge addressed the prosecution’s instructions to the jury, stating that jurors would only decide whether Buchheit was guilty but, if that is the case, they would not be involved in determining his punishment. Instructions regarding specific charges against Buchheit were also addressed.