The bench trial for a Hutchinson man charged with contempt of court for refusing to testify in a murder trial ended with him being found guilty by Judge Joe McCarville. Jose Delacruz was then sentenced to 9-years in prison. The sentence will run consecutive to the nearly 7-years he received for his convictions in association with the murder of Joshua Haines.

He had refused to testify in the Anthony Waller murder trial over the death of Haines. And Thursday afternoon, he waived his right for a jury trial and the two sides simply made arguments on stipulated facts.

Delacruz was was acquitted of the murder of Haines back in February, but was convicted of aggravated robbery and given 83-months in prison.

He allegedly admitted his involvement in the case to Hutchinson Police, but the video of that interview was suppressed in both his, and Waller trial’s. So, the state decided they would call him as a witness in the Waller case. After the defense failed to convince Judge Tim Chambers that he should squash the subpoena, he refused to testify on three occasions. His Attorney Alice Osburn argued that it would violate his 5th amendment rights.

District Attorney Keith Schroeder at the time agreed to give him immunity from any further prosecution in this case, but Osburn worried about possible federal charges, but Thursday, Schroeder indicated they had received a letter from the U-S Attorney’s Office that they had no plans to file any federal charges against Delacruz.

Now the cases are over on District Court at least for now. There is always some possibility they could be sent back for further action by the appellate courts.

Prior the the conviction, Osburn argued three motions to try to get the contempt citation dismissed. She first stated that having him testify would violate his right to remain silent, but again he was granted immunity by District Attorney Keith Schroeder, and the feds also planned to stay out of the case, so there was no danger there.

Another argument was that it would be double jeopardy because Judge Chambers had already cited him for contempt, but Judge McCarville ruled that Judge Chambers had not arraigned him on the charge and never advised him of his rights. He did give him a contempt citation, but didn’t convict him of the felony contempt.

She also then argued that because Schroeder had prosecuted the murder cases, he shouldn’t be allowed to prosecute this case, saying it should be a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office. But, there is a catch there too. Schroeder was recently added as a prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office. That was also denied by the judge.

The 27-year-old Anthony Waller was sentenced to 40-years in prison for his involvement in the murder which occurred on April 10 of last year.

A third suspect, Vassie Coons was sentenced to nearly 12-years in prison for his role in the murder of Joshua Haines back on April 10, of last year.

The case center on Haines being savagely beaten and strangled in Coons apartment and then placed in his own car and driven to a nearby street where it was found later that day.

The convictions of all three men convicted in this case have their cases on appeal.