It’s a short week for hearings in Lyon County District Court.
Hearings will conclude Thursday before the Christmas break.
Among the hearings of note this week: a preliminary hearing in a kidnapping case involving Emporian Larry Vaughn, who’s accused of aggravated domestic battery, aggravated burglary, robbery and other counts in late October and early November. Vaughn is accused of trying to stop the alleged victim’s breathing in both incidents and robbing the alleged victim of her cell phone in the second incident as well as gaining control of her vehicle without the alleged victim’s consent. The hearing is at 2:30 pm Monday.
On Tuesday, Wyatt Bennett has a pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case. Bennett is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old and illegally touching the teenager between November 2019 and November 2020. He’s formally charged with four counts of aggravated indecent liberties, two of indecent liberties and two of criminal sodomy. His hearing is at 2 pm.
On Wednesday, Rhonda Staggs faces sentencing for animal cruelty after 17 dogs were taken from her property in Hartford back in May. Staggs will be sentenced to three misdemeanor counts after reaching a plea agreement in October. Her hearing is at 11 am. Her husband, Thomas, has already been sentenced to 12 months probation with an underlying 12-month prison term, including 30 days of house arrest with the only exception being work-related travel.
District Court will have a similar schedule next week, with hearings Dec. 27-30 before taking New Year’s Eve off.
