A new trial has been scheduled for a former Delaware County man charged with rape after a judge denied his request to have the case dismissed.
Wesley Paul Hadsell, 39, had been scheduled to stand trial on May 16 to face two counts of rape, which are first-degree felonies; a charge of kidnapping, a first-degree felony; and a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger has rescheduled the trial for July 11.
Prosecutors said last year that this case is a re-indictment of a case from 2005. Court documents from the 2005 case allege on Aug. 21, 2005, Hadsell restrained, raped, and physically harmed a woman.
Hadsell’s trial was delayed after his attorney, William Leber, filed a motion asking Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger to dismiss the case, arguing that the only evidence presented to the grand jury was the same evidence presented in August 2005 and said that the evidence biases the case against his client because a number of potential defense witnesses have died and other physical evidence has been lost.
Leber also stated that because the case occurred so long ago, many of the witnesses would be relying on their written statements made at that time and not on their actual memory.
Leber also argued that Hadsell’s right to a speedy trial was violated because it took so long for him to be re-indicted.
A hearing was held on May 8 to discuss the motion to dismiss and Krueger issued a ruling on May 31 denying Leber’s motion.
“The prosecution was clearly negligent in not pursuing another, more timely re-indictment and in the destruction of evidence,” Krueger wrote in the ruling. “The court determines from the evidence and arguments of counsel that the defendant is not prejudiced by the loss of physical evidence and witnesses. Some evidence was recovered from computers and from photographs. The witnesses are determined to not have significant testimony to contribute.”
Krueger said because the matter is a rape case, the only two witnesses that matter are Hadsell and the victim.
After denying the motion, Krueger scheduled a new trial.
Hadsell is being held in the Delaware County Jail awaiting his trial. He has also been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Virginia on federal ammunition charges.
According to Hampton Roads-based newspaper The Virginian-Pilot, Hadsell pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal purchase of ammunition in November 2015. The Virginian-Pilot reports that despite being a convicted felon, Hadsell purchased Winchester .40-caliber and Luger 9mm ammunition in December 2013.
The Virginian-Pilot also reports Hadsell confessed to going to a gun range in Chesapeake, Virginia and firing some of the ammo.
News outlets in Virginia report that Hadsell had been a suspect in the disappearance of his stepdaughter, Anjelica “AJ” Hadsell.
The Virginian-Pilot reports “AJ” Hadsell, was found dead in April 2015 near an abandoned home in Southampton County, Virginia. The cause was acute heroin poisoning, but the manner – whether it was accidental, suicide or homicide — is unknown, the newspaper reported.
