The trial for a 37-year-old Hutchinson man charged with aggravated battery got underway Tuesday and is already proving to be a short trial. The state rested late Tuesday afternoon and the defense is now presenting their side of the case.
Joshua Seck got into a fight with David Stover of Chase, Kansas leading to Stover being stabbed as many as five times. The handle of one of the knives involved allegedly broke off during the attack. This occurring on August 26, of last year at Seck’s home in the 1600 block of East 4th.
Seck claims that it was self-defense with him getting angry calls and text from the alleged victim. But, the victim was on the stand as the states last witness and alleges the defendant came at him with the knives quickly. He says he pushed him away initially, then gave him a bear hug hoping someone would knock the knives away. Stover says no one did and that’s when the stabbings occurred.
On cross examination, it came out that Stover’s daughter had driven him and the brother-n-law of the defendant back to Hutchinson from Chase and the home of the defendants home and that the victim had been drinking prior to that. The defense brought out that the victim was legally intoxicated when the fight began and that he may have sent some text that could have been perceived as threatening. Stover denied that he was angry prior to the fight, but his daughter testified that both he and defendant’s brother-n-law were angry as they drove to Hutchinson.
The trial is expected to go to the jury Wednesday.