Four months ago, Glen J. Peck allegedly asked a friend to help him carry out an attack on another man who had struck Peck's sister.
On Tuesday, Peck was bound over for trial on a charge of solicitation to commit aggravated battery. A more serious charge of solicitation to commit first-degree murder was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Peck will enter his plea at an arraignment hearing, which has not been scheduled yet.
Peck is accused of asking his friend Ricky Torres to participate in an attack on Dodge City resident Hugo Fernandez Jr., who uses the nickname "Mo." Fernandez had allegedly struck Peck's sister, Nicole.
Torres testified on Tuesday that Peck called him the afternoon of Aug. 11, while he was at home with his daughter. At first, Torres assumed that Peck wanted to hang out with him.
But then Peck asked Torres to do him a favor. He asked Torres to pick up Fernandez and drive him into the countryside, where Torres planned to hurt Fernandez.
"They were both my friends," Torres said. "As soon as he told me that, I didn't want nothing to do with it."
Torres said he told Peck he wasn't interested in participating in an attack on Fernandez, and they started talking about something else.
Torres told Fernandez's brother Matt about the conversation the next night, and he later repeated it to Fernandez.
Ten minutes after Torres spoke to Fernandez, a police officer showed up at Torres' house and asked about the conversation with Peck. Torres said he denied knowing anything about Peck's plans — and that was when the officer told him that he had listened in on Torres' conversation with Fernandez.
During cross examination, defense attorney Lucille Douglass asked Torres if he had reported his conversation with Peck to Fernandez so they could settle their differences with a fight.
Torres said he's accustomed to resolving disputes with a fight, then moving on.
"Man to man fight," he said. "I didn't know it was going to come to trial."
Detective's testimony
District Judge Leigh Hood also heard from Dodge City Police Detective Michael Robbins, who interviewed Torres about his conversation with Peck.
Robbins said during the interview, Torres said that Peck wanted him to pick up Fernandez and take him to Peck, who planned to cripple or otherwise injure him.
"He (Torres) said he would not because he was friends with Mo and was not inclined to hurt him," Robbins said.
Defense attorney Douglass later asked Robbins if he had interviewed Peck and if so, what he had said.
Robbins said he had interviewed Peck, who told him that he was very angry when he talked to Torres. Peck also told the detective that he might have made the comments Torres remembered — but he did not recall their conversation very clearly.
Deputy Ford County Attorney David Belling then asked Robbins if Peck had acknowledged calling Torres to discuss the dispute with Fernandez.
Robbins said that was correct.
Judge's decision
In making his ruling, Hood said he would not bind Peck over for trial for solicitation to commit murder because there was no evidence to support the charge.
However, the judge said there was probable cause to believe that Peck had asked Torres to commit aggravated battery, so he would bind Peck over on that charge.
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.
