Kris Miller
Hiawatha World

The Kansas Court of Appeals denied the criminal appeal of a man who was arrested in Hiawatha over two decades ago for multiple felony counts, according to a press release from Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill.

The court denied the criminal appeal of Joseph Esher in an appellate decision on Friday, Nov. 15.

The Court of Appeals made the unanimous decision to uphold the decision of the District Court of Brown County to deny Esher’s habeas corpus motion requesting relief from his 2001 convictions for multiple felony counts. In 2001, Esher was convicted following a four-day jury trial in Brown County of two counts of rape and one count each of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated criminal sodomy and kidnapping.

These charges were followed after Esher barricaded himself in a Hiawatha residence and held two 14-year-old girls hostage, who were later rescued by officers from the Hiawatha Police Department and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

Esher was sentenced to 74 years in prison. Hill prosecuted the 2001 trial and handled the recent habeas corpus motion on behalf of the State.