Trial Date Set for Four Defendants in Mob Beating
Police have said that as many as 12 people participated in the mob beating of Steve Utash, early last month in Detroit, MI. Utash accidentally hit a 10-year-old boy with his car when the child stepped out in front of Utash’s moving vehicle. When he stopped to offer aid, a group of angry people attacked and beat him, which landed Utash in the hospital in critical condition. Out of the 12 assumed mob members, only five have been arrested.
Four of the five defendants appeared in Circuit Court on Monday before Wayne County Judge James Callahan for their arraignments. A fifth suspect, who is a juvenile, is being prosecuted separately in the juvenile court and is being charged with ethnic intimidation in addition to other charges.
17-year-old Bruce E. Wimbush Jr., waived his right to preliminary hearing last week. Whereas the three other defendants– 19-year-old Latrez Cummings, 24-year-old James Davis and 30-year-old Wonzey Saffold– all chose to proceed. They were bound over on felony charges of assault with intent to murder, and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Because the defendants have all made contradictory statements which assign blame to each other, Judge Callahan has decided to conduct two separate trials. The first trial, scheduled to begin on August 18th, will be for Saffold and Cummings. The second trial will be for Davis and Wimbush, and will start on August 25. The prosecuting attorney expects each trial to take about four days.
The Judge set bail at $100,000, cash or surety, for Wimbush and Davis. This would require each to pay $10,000 for release pending trial. But for Cummings the bail was only set at $25,000, cash or surety, with a GPS tether monitor. Attorneys for Wimbush and Davis requested reduced bail for their clients after hearing what Cummings had received, but the Judge denied them.
Under Michigan law, assault with intent to murder is a felony punishable by imprisonment by “any number of years up to life”. Assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder is also a felony punishable with imprisonment for up to 10 years, or a fine of up to $5,000.00, or both.
How is Utash doing?
According to his family, Steve Utash remains in the hospital, “unable to distinguish reality from his delusions”. He was recently accepted to RIM rehab center at the DMC Hospital in Detroit, which specializes in cases of neurological damage. He is now out of the ICU and will begin the long road toward recovering his memory and mental function.