Court Watching: Patrick, Mixon take plea bargains; Coskie, Jackson trials set

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
The jury trial set for Sept. 8 for Billy Ray Patrick, II, 22, of Belleville on four felony charges has been cancelled.
Charges were filed after Patrick allegedly shot his friend in the face May 12 in a dispute over marijuana in the victim’s driveway on West Columbia Avenue in Belleville.
A plea bargain was worked out by Patrick’s retained attorney Michael Vincent and Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Francesco Simone.
In May Patrick was charged with:
1. Assault with intent to murder,
2. Assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder,
3. Assault with a dangerous weapon (felonious assault), and
4. Weapons, felony firearm.
His bond was set at $500,000 or 10% and he has been held in the Wayne County Jail since his arrest.
When he was arraigned Patrick stood mute and pleas of not guilty were entered by the court.
On Sept. 4, Patrick accepted a plea deal that dismissed charges 1 and 3. He pled no contest to charges 2 and 4.
Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cameron will sentence Patrick at 9 a.m. Oct. 2.
Vena Mixon
The Sept. 9 jury trial for Vena Ezette Mixon, 47, of Sumpter Township was cancelled after she accepted a plea bargain. She will be sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Stuart Talon at 9 a.m. Oct. 16.
When she was arraigned she stood mute and the court entered not-guilty pleas.
The deal was worked out by her retained attorney Keith G. Clark and Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Ryan Michael Lukiewski.
Mixon was charged with three felonies after pulling a gun on a woman on a bicycle who was picking up rocks along Judd Road in Sumpter and then knocking the woman down with her car, all on May 11.
Her charges were two counts of felonious assault and one weapons, felony firearm. She agreed to plead no contest to one of the felonious assault charges and the two other charges were dismissed.
She had been free after posting bond of $5,000 or 10%.
Kenneth William Coskie
Accused murderer Kenneth William Coskie, 74, of Van Buren Township had a final conference Sept. 12 before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Vera Massey Jones.
She set his jury trial for 9 a.m., Oct. 27.
Coskie is accused of using his 12-gauge shotgun to kill Eric Williams, 44, of VBT, just before 8 p.m. April 9 near his home in the Michigan Avenue-Denton Road area.
Coskie has been charged with one first-degree murder charge and one felony firearm charge.
He has been held in the Wayne County Jail on $1 million bond since the shooting.
Richard Elmer Jackson
The murder trial for Richard Elmer Jackson, 49, has been moved from Sept. 17 to Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny.
The trial had originally been set for Aug. 7, but his judge was replaced and his court-appointed attorney replaced by retained attorney William Otis Culpepper.
Jackson, 49, has been held in the Wayne County Jail since he was charged with the Dec. 17 first-degree murder of his wife Travisteen in their VBT home.