A man charged in connection with a northwest Austin stabbing incident appeared in court Friday.

Another man charged with jury tampering also appeared in court Friday.

Both were there for contested omnibus hearings. Both were rescheduled.

In one of them, a district court judge may be a witness.

Assault case

Aaron Michael Hayes, 21 of Austin, waived his right to a omnibus hearing held Friday and had it rescheduled for April 15.

Hayes and his attorney, Paul Spyhalski, a public defender, appeared before District Judge Fred A. Wellmann Friday morning.

Hayes is charged with felony assault, stemming from a July 2002 incident at a northwest Austin residence.

In that incident and another one within 48 hours, a group of men attacked a gathering at a residence in northwest Austin.

Four people suffered stab wounds in the two stabbings. Hayes is only charged in connection with one of the incidents.

However, he is also charged with the sexual assault of an 81-year-old woman at Chauncey Apartments near downtown Austin.

He faces seven felony counts in connection with the November 2002 incident, six for the assault and one for burglary.

According to the criminal complaint, a man crawled into the apartment of the single woman and sexually assaulted her before leaving Chauncey Apartments through her apartment door and the exit hallways in the facility operated by the Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Despite being stopped on a nearby street by an Austin patrolman only hours after the incident allegedly occurred, Hayes remained at large and not charged with the crimes until a month ago.

Austin police used DNA testing to compile their case against Hayes.

Hayes entered pleas of not guilty to both the stabbing assault charges from July 2002 and the criminal sexual conduct charges from November 2002.

An omnibus hearing on the criminal sexual conduct charges is scheduled on March 24.

The question debated in court Friday morning concerned the $80,000 bond ($40,000 with conditions) set after being charged with the sexual assault crime and the $10,000 bail ($5,000 with conditions) set after the stabbing assault charges.

Judge Wellmann listened to arguments before ruling Hayes' $80,000 ($40,000 with conditions) bond will preclude the lesser amount bond.

Hayes has not posted bond and was returned to the Mower County Jail.

Jury tampering

Jason Michael Anderson, 30, of Austin, also appeared in court Friday with attorney Evan Larson.

Anderson has been charged with felony harassment/tampering with a juror as well as a misdemeanor contempt of court.

The charges stem from allegations that Anderson told his wife, then a juror at a methamphetamine laboratory murder trial, about the defendant on trial for his role in the death of a 42-year-old man.

Jamie Chris Lee Schammel, 22, of Austin, entered a plea of guilty to third degree murder charges in connection with a January 2001 flash fire and explosion in a southwest Austin home. James Erick Chilson, 42, of Austin, died of severe burns over 90 percent of his body. Schammel is now awaiting sentencing in the Mower County Jail.

Midway through Schammel's trial, a juror, the wife of Jason Michael Anderson, told Judge Wellmann, who was presiding, that her husband had told her incriminating information about Schammel. The woman was dismissed and her husband was arrested.

At Friday's omnibus hearing for Anderson, Judge Wellmann told the attorneys, "I may or may not be a witness at the trial."

He asked the defense attorney, Larson, if the defendant preferred the matter heard by a different judge and Larson said they did.

"I think that would be appropriate," said Patrick W. Flanagan, Mower County Attorney. The decision was unanimous.

The judge rescheduled the omnibus hearing for April 2. It will be held before District Judge Donald E. Rysavy, the only other sitting judge in Mower County Third Judicial District Court, or a visiting judge.

Wellmann also reminded Anderson of the conditions of his release.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com