Judge Trish Rose this week made a ruling in the civil case for a 25-year-old Hutchinson man convicted of attempted manufacture of methamphetamine and attempted 2nd degree murder. Paul Stotts argued ineffective counsel before and during trial and at the appellate level, while the state argued there is no basis for either.
His main argument was never being told by his attorney of a plea offer from the state that would have reduced his sentence to 162-months. Judge Trish Rose agreed with the defendant and ordered the state again offer a plea agreement to Stotts.
She says in her ruling that Attorney David Holmes provided effective counsel during Stotts trial, but adds that the law requires that he also be provided effective counsel, not only during trial but during the critical process of considering plea bargains. She says Holmes’ conduct during the plea bargain process suggests he was motivated by factors other then what was in the best interest of Stotts. She adds that his suspiciously prompt response to the plea offer in which he admitted not talking to his client and his personal accusations against Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton show that he didn’t effectively advise Stotts during the bargaining process.
Stotts had testified during the civil hearing that he was never told of a plea offer from the state. He says he wanted to be sentenced to around 10-years and wanted Holmes to get rid of the attempted murder count against him. That never happened, in fact he says Holmes told him that he and Stanton didn’t get along, so no reasonable plea offer would be made. He says he was never told of an offer from the state and during the hearing over the plea agreement, Holmes claimed he had told his client of the offer, but Stotts says that was a lie.
Stotts is serving roughly 25-years after being convicted of attempted 2nd degree murder for crashing his vehicle into another, badly injuring the other driver. The state says it was intentional, while Stotts maintains it was an accident. He was also found guilty of having items consistent with a meth lab inside his vehicle, two counts of aggravated battery, and several counts of flee and elude.
The case has to do with the 24-minute high speed chase through both South Hutchinson and Hutchinson which ultimately ended with the crash on K-61 back on March 26th of 2007.
The state will appeal the judges decision meaning this civil filing by Stotts will remain open for the time being.