Buchheit backtracks on plea; Noriega's arraignment scheduled
A Netawaka resident is seeking to withdraw a plea entered last week in Jackson County District Court on a child sex charge due to “ineffective counsel,” according to a letter filed in court that also requested his attorney’s withdrawal.
Scott J. Buchheit, 36, who entered a no contest plea to a charge of rape shortly before a three-day trial on several sex-related charges was to begin Tuesday morning in district court, wrote a letter to his attorney, J. Richard Lake of Holton, asserting that he was “under psychological pressure” to enter the plea.
In the letter, dated Wednesday, Buchheit also alleged “prosecutorial misconduct and judicial misconduct that had transpired in this case.” The letter also asked Lake to file a motion to withdraw the plea entered on Tuesday morning, then to file a motion withdrawing as counsel for Buchheit.
No action on the filing had been taken at press time Monday. Sentencing for Buchheit has been scheduled for Friday, March 11.
In other Jackson County District Court news:
• A preliminary hearing has been set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday for Pedro Juarez-Alonzo, 30, of Holton, who has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, rape and five other charges in connection with an alleged Feb. 8 incident in Holton.
Juarez-Alonzo, who is currently being held on $200,000 bond at the Jackson County Detention Center, was arrested shortly after the alleged Feb. 8 incident, which reportedly involved an attempted strangulation. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries, it was reported.
Juarez-Alonzo has also been charged with aggravated battery, two counts of criminal threat, aggravated endangering a child and domestic battery in connection with the incident.
• A preliminary hearing for Wilson R. Noriega, 49, Mayetta, who is facing first-degree murder and drug charges in connection with a November 2015 stabbing incident, was held Monday morning in district court, where he was bound over for arraignment on March 11 by District Court Judge Norbert Marek.
The hearing covered three different criminal cases against Noriega, it was reported. The top case involved the Nov. 21 stabbing death of 49-year-old Leann M. Sanchez of Mayetta at a residence reportedly owned by Noriega’s parents on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation. Noriega was charged with murder in the first degree, possession of methamphetamines and possession of drug paraphernalia in this case.
In a second case, Noriega was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with an incident that reportedly occurred last July. The third and most recently-filed case involves charges of trafficking in contraband in a correctional facility, criminal use of weapons and criminal damage to property related to an incident that allegedly occurred in December at the detention center.
Noriega remains at the detention center on $1 million bond, it was reported.
