A Carroll man convicted last month for stabbing a Carroll bar owner multiple times in the head and neck has filed a motion requesting a new trial. Forty-two-year-old John Michael Hanson was found guilty of willful injury causing serious injury, a class C felony, on Dec. 18 following a bench trial held in November. The judge found Hanson guilty of stabbing Ben Badding four times during the early morning hours of Aug. 27 outside Kerps Tavern in the 200 block of E. 5th Street. Badding was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital with life-threatening injuries after the assault. He has since made a near-full recovery but was left with permanent scarring from the attack. According to Hanson’s motion, he is seeking a new trial on the grounds the court did not adequately consider his testimony due to its apparent “self-serving” nature, alleged inconsistencies in witness testimony, and a failure by the court to satisfy elements of specific intent due to intoxication as required by law. The motion was filed today (Monday), and the court has yet to rule on it. Hanson’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29. He faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
