Two Independence Township men who have already served time in jail for assault will face trial for second degree murder in connection with the same incident.
Lance Allen Schmidt, 20, and Joseph Wells Stapleton, 19, were ordered to return to Oakland County Jail with no bond after a Jan. 27 preliminary examination before Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris. A jury trial is scheduled to begin May 23.
Schmidt and Stapleton have been in the Oakland County Jail since June 2003, and defense attorneys Michael J. McCarthy (representing Stapleton) and Arnold L. Weiner (representing Schmidt) have filed a bond appeal.
‘We’re going to vigorously fight any reduction in bond,? said Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Townsend after last week’s session.
Schmidt and Stapleton pleaded no contest to assault with intent to inflict great bodily harm after a November 2002 incident at the McDonald’s restaurant on Sashabaw Road.
In that case, Schmidt and Stapleton received a conviction of one year in jail and three years on probation for repeately punching and kicking Lapeer resident Peter Richard, 44, after a verbal dispute near the restaurant’s drive-through window.
Richard died on March 4, 2004. A medical examiner ruled that the pulmonary embolism which caused Richard’s death came as a result of a blood clot in the leg which formed after surgery made necessary by the assault. The ruling led the prosecutor’s office to file murder charges.
At district court proceedings in June 2004, prosecutors showed a surveillance video which showed the assault in graphic detail.
Although defense attorneys have contested the connection between the assault and Richard’s death, Townsend said the video, testimony from witnesses and additional medical evidence will help a jury ‘see the brutality of this assault? and lead to a second-degree murder conviction.
‘I don’t think there will be any doubt,? Townsend said.