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Judge won’t hear retrial of man who punched his attorney

By Associated Press - | Feb 23, 2015

? A judge is recusing himself from hearing the sexual assault retrial of a man accused of knocking his attorney unconscious during his first trial.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Shawnee County District Court Judge Mark Braun announced the decision in a ruling he issued this past week in the case of Lance Franklin. Braun was in court in December when attorney David McDonald was punched. McDonald suffered a concussion, cuts, swollen eyes and chipped teeth.

Braun found Franklin to be in contempt of court and will continue to handle that decision. Franklin also was charged with felony aggravated battery.

Franklin’s new defense attorney is appealing “all adverse rulings” against Franklin, including the contempt sentence. The contempt sentence won’t be credited toward any of Franklin’s other sentences.