photo by: Mike Yoder

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St.

A Douglas County jury on Wednesday found a Lawrence man not guilty of attempted first-degree murder in a stabbing case that occurred last spring. He was, however, convicted of two other charges in the case.

Brian Samuel Stubbs, 25, was arrested March 19, 2021, in the 1700 block of West 24th Street after Lawrence police responded to Cedar Apartments and found a 38-year-old man suffering from stab wounds.

At a preliminary hearing in April 2021, the man who was stabbed testified that Stubbs had come to his apartment around midnight on March 19. He said Stubbs banged on his door while he was trying to go to sleep. After opening the door, the man said, Stubbs stabbed him in the abdomen and then entered the apartment and began hitting him.

The man said he believed the incident stemmed from an altercation he had with Stubbs during a prior meeting.

After the preliminary hearing, Judge Kay Huff ordered Stubbs to stand trial on four charges, including attempted first-degree murder and aggravated burglary, criminal use of a weapon and interference with a law enforcement officer.

On Wednesday, the jury, after a three-day trial, found Stubbs guilty only of misdemeanor criminal use of a weapon and felony interference with a law enforcement officer.

At trial, during which Stubbs testified in his own defense, his attorney, Joshua Luttrell, argued that Stubbs had acted in self-defense.

Sentencing has been set for 1:30 p.m. on March 11.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has declined to release a booking photo of Stubbs to the Journal-World.

Editor’s note: This article have been corrected to show that the charge of interference with a law enforcement officer was a felony.