Steven Wayne Shewry’s attorney, Robert Conrad, filed at least six motions Friday morning during a 30 minute pre-trial conference at the Mahaska County Courthouse.

Mahaska County Attorney Rose Anne Mefford said several of the motions dealt with cleaving some charges, which could create additional trial dates for the 30-year-old Oskaloosa man.

“A couple of his motions are motions to sever charges in a particular trial information,” Mefford said. “Like the case that’s set now to go to trial on Sept. 23, I believe has seven charges against him in it. And his motion is, he would like to sever two of those out.”

Mefford said she resisted the motion for severance of charges in that case. Motions filed by Conrad are set for a hearing on Sept. 11.

“If he wins his motions to sever, we would have four trials,” she said. “If his motions to sever get granted and he gets four trials, he may have to waive his one year speedy trial because we probably can’t have four trials before the one year is up.”

The case scheduled for trial on Nov. 18 contains two felonies and one serious misdemeanor, driving with license denied or revoked. Mefford said she agreed to the motion to sever the lesser charge in that case.

“And I agreed to that one. Because the sex abuse and kidnapping charge stem from one incident and the driving charge stems from when he got arrested on those charges, like two months later,” Mefford said. “So I agreed to that severance.”

So, Shewry’s Aug. 26 trial was continued and now he is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 23 and on Nov. 18.

Shewry is also facing a drunken driving charge, which is a serious misdemeanor.

“Nothing is really happening on it because these are the bigger cases,” Mefford said.

Shewry has been accused of multiple felonies and misdemeanors, including attempted murder, kidnapping, second-degree sexual abuse and failure to register as a sex offender and failure to comply with the state’s 2,000-foot sex offender residence restriction.

According to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry Web site, Shewry was convicted of third degree sexual abuse in Mahaska County on Jan. 21, 2000.

Herald City Editor Michael Schaffer can be reached by email at mschaffer@oskyherald.com