On March 8, a witness was testifying about how the defendant had smashed her head into the wall, punched her in the face, and kicked her repeatedly around the body, until her four-year-old child asked him to stop hurting Mommy and he stopped.
When Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Hillary Zizu mentioned the address of the trailer in which it happened, 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley stopped the testimony in the preliminary exam..
“We don’t do Flat Rock,” Judge Oakley told Assistant Prosecutor Zizu. “I have no jurisdiction in Flat Rock.”
The prosecutor said a portion of the City of Flat Rock is covered by Huron Township Police.
Judge Oakley said that may be, but 34th District Court doesn’t cover Flat Rock. He said he traveled the 34th court district when he was running for reelection and talking to voters and and he knows exactly where the boundaries are.
Suspect Fedal Lamont Beasley’s defense attorney Adam Devlin promptly made a motion to dismiss the case for proper venue and Judge Oakley granted the motion.
Beasley had been in the Wayne County Jail on charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and domestic violence.
The charges could be refiled by the Monroe County Prosecutor.
Thomas Gottschalk
Thomas Gottschalk got a plea deal on his charge of assault on Dec. 17 in Van Buren Township and pled guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of aggravated domestic violence. His attorney Brian Prain had worked out a deal for a 769.4a (conditional) sentence and if that turns out not to be possible by them finding some charge in his client’s background, he would like to withdraw the plea and Judge Oakley agreed.
Gottschalk told Judge Oakley he touched Helen Gottschalk in an offensive manner that caused injury requiring medical attention. Judge Oakley sentenced him to 18 months of probation, with no contact with the victim, and a 52-week domestic violence course. He was sent to the probation department to work out the details of his sentence.
VBT Det. Ken Toney was the officer in charge of the case.
John Michael Nichols
John Michael Nichols waived his preliminary exam on a charge of operating while intoxicated-3rd in VBT and was bound over to circuit court for a March 22 arraignment on the information.
Retained defense attorney is Brian Stacey and officer in charge of the case is VBT Officer Mike Long.
Joshua Lee Morris
The preliminary exam date for Joshua Lee Morris, 24, was adjourned until March 29. He is facing a felony charge of reckless driving causing death in VBT. His attorney is Murray Duncan and officer in charge of the case is Det. Mark Buxton.
Morris is free on $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
Stephen Peter Kovach
Stephen Peter Kovach, 63, was present for his probable cause conference on charges of operating while intoxicated-3rd, driving while license suspended, driving with open intoxicant in the vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle without security (no fault insurance).
His retained attorney Murray Duncan asked for an adjournment of the probable cause conference until March 29 and that was granted.
Officer in charge of the case is Belleville Officer Jeff Wickham. Kovach is free after posting $15,000/10% bond.
Samuel Parvu
Samuel Parvu took a plea deal, pleading guilty to a new charge of impaired driving and having his operating while intoxicated (with a controlled substance) charge dismissed. This happened on Rawsonville Road at I-94 on Sept. 15, 2015. Judge Parrott put him on $1,000 personal recognizance bond.
Parvu told the judge he used to live on Henry Street and now lives in Garden City. Judge Oakley directed him to the probation department for pre-sentence interviews.
Charles Martin III
Charles Martin III took a plea deal to plead guilty to use of cocaine, a misdemeanor, and the possession of cocaine felony charge was dismissed. This incident was Dec. 30, 2015 on Huron River Drive in VBT.
He told Judge Oakley his father hired defense attorney Stephen Moss, who is very good. Jason Moss was standing in for Stephen and Martin said Jason was very good, too.
Martin said he had a heart attack and he just left Sacred Heart after the 14 days of treatment his insurance would cover and after court he will be entering another facility. He was in jail for one night in the VBT lockup on Tyler Road. Since February he has been out on bond from a similar charge in Washtenaw County.
Judge Oakley put him on 12 months of non-reporting probation and 50 hours of community service by June 1. Court cost is $500.