METROPOLITAN DIGEST

The Kansas City Star

JOHNSON COUNTY

No sentence yet

      Sentencing was postponed Tuesday for Conrad J. Braun, a California man convicted of blackmailing his ex-wife's husband.

      The hearing was rescheduled to Sept. 22 so the judge can review the transcript of Braun's June trial and rule on Braun's motion for a new trial. Defense attorney Bob Thomas said his client deserves a new trial because the judge in June stopped him from arguing that Braun lacked the intent to commit a crime.

      The case stems from a 2003 letter Braun sent his ex-wife's husband, threatening to expose him as a child abuser unless he agreed to stay away from members of the Braun family. Thomas said Braun's actions were not criminal but an attempt to settle a civil court matter.