Court Watching: Gonzalez gets another pre-trial conference before trial on Feb. 21

By Diane Madigan
Independent Court Reporter
Kara Lynn Gonzalez, 42, of Sumpter Township returned to Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Friday, Jan. 18.
Gonzalez stood with her attorney Murray Duncan before Judge Ulysses W. Boykin to request an additional final conference since her lawyer had been unable to make contact with the prosecutor.
Judge Boykin ordered a final pre-trial conference for Feb. 1, and ordered all motions be filed by Feb. 13. Trial date is set for Feb. 21.
Boykin asked, “Is there an offer from the People?”
An alternate Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor, Rolland Davis, presented a plea offer for Gonzalez in which aggravated assault and habitual offender would be dismissed in exchange for guilty pleas to unarmed robbery and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
According to Sumpter Township Police, charges against Gonzalez stem from an alleged assault and robbery on Oct. 5, 2012 that sent her friend to the hospital for five days. From kicks and punches to the face, her friend suffered a fractured nose, broken orbital bone and had minor brain trauma.
Gonzalez is out on personal bond, on a tether and must submit to random testing
She is charged with unarmed robbery, with a possible sentence of 15 years; assault with intent to inflict great bodily harm less than murder, which could bring 10 years; aggravated assault, which could bring one year behind bars; and habitual 3. The prior convictions were all drug offenses.
Sumpter Township Detective John Toth said a 911 call was received from a witness at 5 p.m., Sept. 1, when a female stumbling and falling was reported on Creekside in Rawsonville Woods. The caller thought the woman might have died because she was a bloody mess when she fell, Det. Toth said.
Officer John Ashby responded to the call and gave aid to the woman until she was transported to University of Michigan Hospital. Det. Toth said the victim had existing medical conditions at the time of the fight.
He said the victim and Gonzalez were on-again, off-again friends who lived in the same mobile home park. Their relationship was estranged for a while, but then rekindled, Toth said.
The two were believed to have been drinking and using drugs the day before and into the night. They were together during the next day and there is no reason to believe they were under the influence when the fight occurred, Toth said.
One attacked the other and allegedly Gonzalez took the woman’s purse and wallet. The woman recovered her purse, but the wallet and the money was stolen.