Drew Andrew Gilbert, II, 40, of Belleville was bound over to circuit court for a June 8 arraignment on the information on one count of assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
On June 8, his final conference on the charges was set for July 27 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
The live preliminary exam before 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green was held May 25 and the only witness was Anthony Martin.
Martin testified that on March 8 he and his dog were walking and saw the bonfire at Gilbert’s home on Carmell Street in the City of Belleville. He stopped and hung out with a group of people for five to six hours and drank six to eight beers during that time.
He said his dog and Gilbert’s dog weren’t getting along, so he decided to leave and at the end of the driveway he said Gilbert asked if he was mad because his dog beat Martin’s dog up. Martin testified that Gilbert came charging at him and swung at him and missed. He described how the two tussled on the ground and at one point Gilbert was on top of him and started to strangle him.
Martin testified that Gilbert asked him, “Did you ever think this is how you’d go?” He said he realized Gilbert was going to kill him, so his adrenalin kicked in and he was able to roll over, get up, and run.
“I called the police,” Martin said. “I thought I was going to die.”
Defense attorney Brandy Robinson objected to the bind over, saying the first charge of murder was “a gross overstatement.” She said the two had been drinking for hours and they had a swing and a miss. They were rolling around on the ground and it was a classic brawl, she said.
Robinson said in jury directions, they could only charge manslaughter if he died.
Judge Green bound Gilbert over on counts two and three and agreed that count one was probably an overcharge, but it is an issue of fact for the higher court to decide if Gilbert said that.
He was bound over on all three charges. He had posted $50,000 surety bond through a bail bondsman and that bond was continued.
Gilbert also had been charged with three other counts in a different incident and the preliminary exam also was scheduled for May 25.
He was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (felonious assault), assault or assault and battery, and malicious destruction of personal property, less than $200, on Nov. 20 in the City of Belleville. He is free on $5,000 personal bond. He is also set for a final conference on those charges on July 27 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
Life in prison with NO parole is the only answer to this