HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The defense for a 35-year-old Nickerson man arrested in a March stabbing case now wants one charge dismissed.

Taylor Stuart is accused of one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault. He’s suspected of stabbing 31-year-old Daniel Rivera II at a Hutchinson residence on March 27.

Rivera suffered nine stab wounds to the head and neck and was transported to a Wichita hospital for treatment. Rivera’s ear was severed. Doctors reattached his ear with stitches.

Rivera testified he was working on a sewing machine that he had given Tyler Patterson when he felt a flash, then pain and fell to the floor. He saw Stuart standing above him with a knife.

Patterson ran out of the apartment at 8th and Adams when Stuart started to move toward her while holding the knife.

She never testified at the preliminary hearing, but Reno County District Judge Joe McCarville found probable cause to bind him over on the aggravated assault charge anyway. The defense wants that charge dismissed.

Numerous drug paraphernalia items were found in the residence including two scales, numerous pipes and bongs, as well as a used syringe.

Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers has scheduled a hearing on that motion for Wednesday morning.

The trial is scheduled to begin July 16.