Some charges dropped in Huff case, sentencing set

Attempted second-degree murder charges have been dropped against the Topeka man who reportedly fired on motorists from his car on New Year’s Eve 2014 in southern Jackson County, but he may still face some prison time on criminal firearms charges, Jackson County District Court Judge Norbert Marek said Tuesday.

Cory D. Huff, 52, who was slated to go to trial next week in district court on four attempted second-degree murder charges and two charges of criminal discharge of a firearm in connection with the incident, pleaded no contest Tuesday to the firearms charges in exchange for dismissal of the remaining charges, including a reckless driving charge. Huff, who remains free on bond, will face sentencing on July 15 on those two charges.

Huff faces a possible prison sentence of 11 to 34 months on each of the firearms charges, Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller said after the plea hearing, but noted that “the court can do what the court wants” regarding whether Huff will spend more time behind bars or receive probation. He had previously spent several months at the Jackson County Detention Center before bonding out, it was reported.

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 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.

Miller said the firearms charges could mandate presumptive prison sentences because, since both of the vehicles Huff fired upon were in motion, he “would have to know that there were human beings inside the car.” The firearms charge is a Level 7 person felony, according to Kansas law.

A four-day trial was slated to begin on Tuesday, May 31, but late last week, Huff’s attorney, William Rork of Topeka, filed a motion noting that Huff was ready to enter a plea rather than go to trial.