WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Wichita man has been released from the Sedgwick County Jail after spending 4½ years waiting for a trial in a sexual predator case.
Todd Ellison, 45, was scheduled to go to trial next week to determine whether he should be held for life as a sexual predator. He completed a sentence for sexual crimes involving children from cases in 1996 and 1997 but when he was about to be released in 2009, prosecutors filed a petition to argue that he might be determined to be a sexually violent predator, The Wichita Eagle reported (https://bit.ly/1dH9jNe ).
District Judge Ben Burgess released Ellison Friday, ruling that his right to a speedy trial had been violated. The move surprised Ellison and his attorney, Mike Whalen.
“At first I had to check with my lawyer to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing,” Ellison said Monday. “I’ve got to be honest with you. I was completely taken by surprise.”
Whalen had argued that keeping a suspected predator in jail for more than 4½ years while awaiting trial was unconstitutional.
“Mr. Ellison is not serving a sentence; his sentence and parole are over,” Whalen argued in a recent court document. “At best Mr. Ellison is a person with a mental illness problem. At worst he is a man wronged by the government and the slow passage of time. Justice, here, has not been served.”
Ellison said he spent much of his time in prison taking college courses, studying the Bible and teaching English as a second language to other inmates. He’s confident he won’t be a repeat offender.
“I would just hope that people would realize this is something that happened many, many years ago, and I’m not that person anymore,” he said.
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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, https://www.kansas.com
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