34th District jury finds Garaba not guilty of domestic violence

Gerlad Kudakwashe Garaba of Van Buren Township was found not guilty of domestic violence by a 34th District Court jury on Friday and the case against him was closed. Judge Lisa Martin presided.
He was charged with domestic violence the night of July 26-27 in Van Buren Township and was video-arraigned in custody on July 29. Personal bond was $1,000. A remote pretrial was set for Aug. 6 and then adjourned to Aug. 20 at the request of the defense attorney’s wish to seek discovery.
On Sept. 19, the defendant’s wife Elizabeth Garaba was called by Wayne County Prosecutor Jacob Lekki as a witness. She testified her husband threw a lighted candle at her and there was dry wax on the clothes over the right side of her hip. She said he also threw a wooden box holding a deck of cards at her and an apple.
Van Buren Township patrol officer Dan Svabik testified he was dispatched to the home on Basswood Circle to investigate a “domestic” and sometimes domestic calls turn out to be just arguments. He said there was dry wax on the wife’s hip and wax on the floor of the deck. He testified the wife smelled of alcohol and the defendant didn’t. He said he saw no burns on her. He said in the state of Michigan you have to arrest the aggressor, so he did.
Retained attorney Daniel T. Geherin cross-examined Elizabeth and she said she didn’t seek treatment for a burn and had no pictures to prove injury.
Gerherin called witness Emyleye Garaba, who has been married to the defendant’s brother for 15 years, and she testified to the defendant’s good character and being a reliable person. She said Elizabeth had become non-reliable and so she stopped leaving her children with her for care.
Gerherin then called the defendant to explain his background and testify about what happened that night. Garaba said he was a tax-preparer with two offices and a graduate of Wayne State University. He said he went to a concert in Detroit that night and came home by Uber. He said his wife had been drinking and she changes when she drinks. He said he had obtained the candle a year or so earlier and it was on a table with empty beer cans where his wife was on the deck and he brushed them off onto the floor with his arm. He testified that he didn’t throw any box or cards or apple at his wife.
The jury of four women and two men came back with the not-guilty verdict in less than an hour.