ANDERSON — A man faces 20 to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty recently to kidnapping an Anderson attorney at knifepoint in July.
Richard L. Hudson, 52, Anderson, pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Dec. 23 to kidnapping and armed robbery for abducting attorney Thomas E. Hamer in July. Hudson faces 20 to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced in February, Deputy Prosecutor Rudolph Pyle III said Monday.
However, Pyle declined to say how long of a sentence he’ll ask Madison Superior Court 1 Judge Dennis Carroll to impose.
“I’m looking forward to the sentencing,” the deputy prosecutor said Monday. “It’ll be a sentence that is just punishment for what he did.”
Hudson’s public defender, Thomas G. Godfrey, also declined to say what kind of sentence he’ll ask the judge to give. But, the attorney said, he will argue that Hudson’s mental illness is a mitigating factor.
“I think he was certainly (mentally) ill at the time,” Godfrey said, “and that’s something we’ll bring up.”
In the plea agreement, a felony charge of resisting police and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving will be dismissed at sentencing. Hudson’s guilty but mentally ill plea means he’ll receive mental health treatment while behind bars. His exact mental illness wasn’t immediately known. He was scheduled to stand trial in January.
According to court documents:
Hudson kidnapped Hamer, Anderson, on July 7, while the two were returning to Madison County after a civil court hearing in Indianapolis.
Hudson was previously being held at the jail on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge; police allege he beat his live-in girlfriend in June. His attorney received permission from Anderson City Court officials to transport Hudson to Indianapolis for a Social Security disability hearing on July 7.
When the two returned to Anderson and neared the jail, Hudson quickly got out of Hamer’s SUV, climbed into the rear and held a knife to the lawyer’s throat. They drove to an Anderson cemetery, where Hudson tied up Hamer. Hudson then drove to Rangeline Nature Preserve and released the lawyer. Hamer was able to free himself and get help. He suffered only minor injuries in the attack.
Prosecutors also charged Hudson with resisting and reckless driving for leading police on a high-speed chase through Anderson after stealing a pickup in Chesterfield on July 12, shortly after midnight.
He was apprehended not long afterward. However, before Anderson officers could take Hudson into custody near the intersection of Scatterfield Road and East 32nd Street, he slashed his throat several times with a box cutter.
Reached Monday, Hamer declined comment.
“Not until the sentencing,” Hamer said, also declining to say whether he will testify at sentencing. “I don’t want to say anything that might influence the judge unless it’s in the courtroom.”
What’s next?
Madison Superior Court 1 Judge Dennis Carroll will sentence Richard Hudson at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2. Hudson faces 20 to 50 years for kidnapping.
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