The refusal of a co-defendant to testify in the Anthony Waller murder trial meant he was charged with three counts of direct contempt of court, but now, Jose Delacruz will face only one count. The trial for this case was supposed to be on Tuesday. That has now been pushed back to Thursday, where he’ll waive a jury trial and the case will be heard on stipulated facts.

Delacruz was was acquitted of the murder charge against him in association with the death of Joshua Haines which occurred back in April of 2010, but he 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. The defense tried to get Judge Tim Chambers to quash the subpoena citing the fact that it would violate his 5th amendment rights. District Attorney Keith Schroeder agreed to give him immunity from any further prosecution in this case, but Defense Attorney Alice Osburn worried about possible federal charges in association with this case, so she said her client would refuse to testify. Judge Tim Chambers took her request under advisement, then on February 22, Judge Chambers ruled that he should be compelled to testify.

Delacruz was brought before the court outside the presence of the Waller jury on February 28 and was asked if he would agree to testify in the trial as a states witness. He refused, and was then brought to the court a second time during the trial on March 2, and again refused. The final time was by a video hookup with the county jail, on March 4, and he again indicated he would not testify.

Its unclear at this point what the stipulated facts will be, but we will find out on Thursday.