Court Watching: Judge Green binds Zachary Hilton over on four felony charges

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Thirty-fourth District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green bound Zachary Allen Hilton, 19, over to circuit court on four charges having to do with an alleged attack on the mother of his child around midnight Aug. 19 at her home in the 47000 block of Hull Road in Van Buren Township.
Hilton is charged with assault by strangulation, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, interfering with a crime report (committing crime/threatening to kill or injure) and domestic violence.
Following his preliminary exam held Sept. 3, Judge Green was moved by Hilton’s brother, Richard Hilton, Jr., who asked Judge Green to lower Zachary’s bond so he could pay it and take his brother home until the next time he had to be in court.
Zachary Hilton had been held in the Wayne County Jail since his arrest Aug. 20. His bond had been set at $15,000 or 10% and he had been unable to raise the $1,500.
Richard said he was able to raise only $750, but he would pay that to free his brother if the judge would cut his bond in half, to $7,500, or free him on personal recognizance bond.
“I don’t do personal recognizance bond on felonies,” Judge Green responded.
Richard said, “We may not be the best citizens,” but the two brothers are all they have in their family.
Judge Green reduced the bond to $7,500 or 10% and warned Zachary that he was to have no contact with the victim.
Zachary was ordered to appear for his arraignment on the information at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit at 9 a.m., Sept. 10.
Court-appointed attorney David Lankford noted that charges one and two were the same and Judge Green agreed that one assault was an alternative for the other and probably both won’t go forward at circuit court.
In the preliminary exam, the victim was the only witness to testify. She said on Aug. 19 she picked Zachary up from his friend’s house and brought him to her home. She said Zachary is the father of her eight-month-old daughter and he does not live with them.
She said after an argument, Zachary pushed her, choked her, and covered her mouth and nose with one hand until she started to pass out and “saw dots.” She testified she started screaming and he put her in a choke hold. She said she thought he was going to kill her.
She said she needed to call 911, but he took her phone after she tried to call. She said she told him she wanted her phone and followed him outside instead of locking herself inside the house.
“I was thinking about my child and him coming back,” she testified.
She said his friend came to pick him up.
She testified although police offered to get her medical care she declined and then went to urgent care the next day for injuries to her eye, jaw, and throat. She said she was prescribed narcotics for a cracked jaw.
When asked by the defense attorney what their argument was about, she said they had sex and then he got dressed and put on his shoes, saying he was going to the hotel with his friend.
She said Zachary said, “Sex is the only thing girls are good for” and she was hurt. That’s when she said she told him to leave and he said he wasn’t leaving and started assaulting her.
VBT Police Detective Donovan McCarthy is the officer in charge of the case. Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor is Danielle Christine Strace.
Patrick Christopher Ingram
Patrick Christopher Ingram, 22, waived his preliminary exam on a charge of possession of narcotics or cocaine less than 25 grams on Aug. 21 in Van Buren Township. He was being held in the Wayne County Jail on bond of $10,000 or 10%.
Judge Green bound him over to circuit court for an arraignment on the information at 9 a.m., Sept. 10 and his bond was continued. He was referred to drug court and to pre-trial services.
VBT Police Det. Jeff Gueli is in charge of the case, along with Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Mary DuFour Morrow.
James David Pawlos
James David Pawlos, 54, waived his preliminary exam on charges of breaking and entering a building with intent, larceny in a building, and buying/selling stolen non-ferrous metals – first offense, all on Nov. 11, 2013. The warrant was signed on April 9, when he was labeled an habitual offender.
Judge Green bound him over to circuit court for an arraignment on the information at 9 a.m. Sept. 10. Since he is incarcerated and serving 43 months to 15 years, Judge Green put him on personal bond. He pled guilty to a charge of home invasion, 2nd degree, for a March 7, 2014 incident and is serving time in Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater.
Hassan Sutherland
Hassan Shaker Sutherland, 36, was present for his preliminary exam for breaking and entering of a building with intent in Van Buren Township on Aug. 14. He was out after posting bond of $5,000 or 10%.
This is the second time Sutherland has been present for his preliminary exam and the witness has not shown up, so Judge Green dismissed the charges. VBT Officer Toney was in charge of the case.
Antonio Dewayne Hollingsworth
Although she said the evidence against Antonio DeWayne Hollingsworth, 36, was weak, Judge Green bound him over to circuit court for trial on charges of armed robbery, larceny of a person, and larceny in a building. His arraignment on the information at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit was set for 9 a.m. Sept. 10.
Hollingsworth currently is serving 1-4 years in the Cooper Street Facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections. He pled guilty in May to narcotics charges and malicious destruction of fire or police property.
After his DNA was put into the system, he was charged by Romulus Police for the April 12, 2009 midnight armed robbery of a 7-Eleven store at the corner of Ecorse and Hannan roads.
The only evidence against him is his DNA on some clothing found by a K-9 tracker in a field next to the Red Gate mobile home park across Ecorse from the store. Hollingsworth could have been playing basketball or some other sport in that field, as others do, and left clothes with his DNA, said his court-appointed defense attorney Lankford.
None of the clothing items identified with his DNA was what the clerk had testified her assailant wore that night, Lankford pointed out.
The store clerk testified that the gunman had worn a mask, sunglasses, a Tangle hat, and gloves, and said no words so she could not identify him. He gestured to the cash register with his handgun, so she knew what he wanted and pulled out the cash drawer for him.
Hollingsworth was charged with this robbery May 9, but Judge Oakley dismissed the charges June 25 when the clerk could not be present to testify for the preliminary exam.
The charges were re-filed Aug. 7 and he was bound over Sept. 3 after the preliminary exam that included testimony from the clerk and Romulus Police Officer Rice concerning the robbery and the search for evidence thereafter.