Topeka Man Convicted in Severe Beating Settles With Victim in Civil Lawsuit

A civil lawsuit filed against Joseph Taylor Hughes was settled the same day Hughes was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for the beating of his longtime girlfriend, Shawnee County District Court records show.

The civil lawsuit, which was tied to the victim’s injuries, was to have appeared Monday in Shawnee County District Court for a hearing to establish the monetary damages sustained by the victim.

But on June 21, District Judge Larry D. Hendricks’ office received an email from Hughes’ attorneys saying the lawsuit had been settled and Monday’s hearing could be removed from the court schedule. Hughes was sentenced that afternoon in his criminal case.

As of Tuesday, attorneys representing the victim and Hughes hadn’t responded to phone calls from The Topeka Capital-Journal seeking information about the lawsuit settlement. In the civil lawsuit, the victim sought “in excess of $75,000,” the amount often listed in Kansas suits.

The victim filed the lawsuit against Hughes on Dec. 21, 2015. In the civil lawsuit, the victim alleged Hughes committed assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and property damage.

In the lawsuit, the victim contended Hughes broke into her Topeka house three times on Jan. 18, 2015. During the third time, the victim said, he broke through the locked door of the bathroom in which she was sheltering and beat and raped her.

When the victim was found by law enforcement officers, she was unconscious and lying in a pool of blood. She was taken to a hospital to be treated for multiple injuries, the lawsuit said. Hughes later was arrested and charged with multiple criminal offenses. He was convicted March 30 following a trial.

Hughes was sentenced by District Judge Nancy Parrish to 10 years and two months in prison in the criminal case — the maximum sentence he could receive.

The victim’s injuries included 16 facial fractures, a broken jaw, permanent brain injury and problems with equilibrium. She also told the judge she suffers depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; has trouble sleeping; and can’t work at her earlier job because of short-term memory loss.

“I will suffer every single day for the rest of my life after what the defendant did to me that morning,” the victim said in court.

Source: cjonline.com cjonline.com

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