No trial in Detroit motorist beating, 3 more plead guilty
Suspects in the beating of Steven Utash in court CBS Detroit
DETROIT - There will be no trial in the case of a suburban man beaten by a mob in Detroit after struck a 10-year-old boy with his pickup truck.
The final three men charged in the April 2 attack on 54-year-old Steven Utash pleaded guilty, reports CBS Detroit.
Nineteen-year-old Latrez Cummings, 24-year-old James Davis and Wonzey Saffold, 30, each pleaded guilty to a charge of assault to do great bodily harm less than murder in Wayne County Circuit Court on Thursday, according to the station.
The men all admitted to participating in the brutal attack on Utash, who was ambushed while trying to help the boy he struck. CBS Detroit reports prosecutors dropped attempted murder charges against the three men as part of a plea deal.
On Wednesday, the 17-year-old who threw the first punches entered a plea deal in juvenile court in exchange for a dropped ethnic intimidation charge. He had agreed to testify against his co-defendants if the case went to trial. Utash is white, and the mob who attacked him was described as all black.
Eighteen-year-old Bruce Wimbush, who was 17 at the time of attack, had been charged as an adult. He pleaded guilty on Monday to assault in another agreement with prosecutors, according to CBS Detroit. He had also agreed to testify in the case in exchange for a reduction from the original charge of assault with intent to murder.
Utash was in a coma for days following the beating, the station reports. He was sent home in May after six weeks of hospitalization, and continues to recover from a brain injury. Witnesses said a dozen people took part in the attack.
The boy Utash struck with his pickup was treated for a broken leg, according to the station.
Ray Paige, Saffold's attorney, said that the incident was not racially charged. "I never saw nowhere, in all the discovery that we had, that they'd targeted Mr. Utash because he's white," he said. "A kid was hit by a car... and they were outraged by the fact - wrongfully - about his ordeal, and they attacked the man.... If he had been a black male, the same thing probably would have happened to him."
The son of Steven Utash says his father is "crushed" by the decision to make plea deals with five attackers. Joe Utash tells WDIV-TV that family members are "pretty upset about it."
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, says her office talked to Steven Utash's brothers about the plea deals and that there was no resistance from the two men. Miller says the guilty pleas were an appropriate way to close the case and allow Utash to avoid testifying at trial.
The final three men charged in the April 2 attack on 54-year-old Steven Utash pleaded guilty, reports CBS Detroit.
Nineteen-year-old Latrez Cummings, 24-year-old James Davis and Wonzey Saffold, 30, each pleaded guilty to a charge of assault to do great bodily harm less than murder in Wayne County Circuit Court on Thursday, according to the station.
The men all admitted to participating in the brutal attack on Utash, who was ambushed while trying to help the boy he struck. CBS Detroit reports prosecutors dropped attempted murder charges against the three men as part of a plea deal.
On Wednesday, the 17-year-old who threw the first punches entered a plea deal in juvenile court in exchange for a dropped ethnic intimidation charge. He had agreed to testify against his co-defendants if the case went to trial. Utash is white, and the mob who attacked him was described as all black.
Eighteen-year-old Bruce Wimbush, who was 17 at the time of attack, had been charged as an adult. He pleaded guilty on Monday to assault in another agreement with prosecutors, according to CBS Detroit. He had also agreed to testify in the case in exchange for a reduction from the original charge of assault with intent to murder.
Utash was in a coma for days following the beating, the station reports. He was sent home in May after six weeks of hospitalization, and continues to recover from a brain injury. Witnesses said a dozen people took part in the attack.
The boy Utash struck with his pickup was treated for a broken leg, according to the station.
Ray Paige, Saffold's attorney, said that the incident was not racially charged. "I never saw nowhere, in all the discovery that we had, that they'd targeted Mr. Utash because he's white," he said. "A kid was hit by a car... and they were outraged by the fact - wrongfully - about his ordeal, and they attacked the man.... If he had been a black male, the same thing probably would have happened to him."
The son of Steven Utash says his father is "crushed" by the decision to make plea deals with five attackers. Joe Utash tells WDIV-TV that family members are "pretty upset about it."
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, says her office talked to Steven Utash's brothers about the plea deals and that there was no resistance from the two men. Miller says the guilty pleas were an appropriate way to close the case and allow Utash to avoid testifying at trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment