Case against EMU basketball player dismissed
This story has been corrected to show that the court case against Glenn Bryant has been dismissed and not bound over for trial.
Charges were dismissed Tuesday against the Eastern Michigan University basketball player accused of choking his girlfriend following an argument last month.
Glenn Bryant
Glenn Bryant, 22, appeared in court for a preliminary exam Tuesday morning, according to court records. Lee Schmidt, Bryant's attorney, said Thursday the case was dismissed after the witness in the case did not show up at the hearing.
AnnArbor.com originally reported Thursday morning Bryant's case was bound over for a pretrial hearing. Court officials confirmed that court records at the Washtenaw County Trial Court showing that a pretrial hearing had been scheduled were incorrect. Officials confirmed the case against Bryant was dismissed Tuesday.
Bryant faced a felony charge of assault by strangulation and a misdemeanor aggravated domestic violence charge. He was arrested April 22 at the Peninsular Place apartments after he was accused of choking his 19-year-old girlfriend during an argument.
The Eagles' second-leading scorer joined the team after transferring from Arkansas in 2011. The 2012-13 season was Bryant's first with EMU and he started 30 of 34 games, averaging 27.4 minutes a game and 10.6 points per game.
Police said Bryant and his girlfriend frequently argued and the argument prior to his arrest was not out of the ordinary. The two have been dating for about a year.
Bryant was free on bond and was suspended from the basketball team until his case concluded.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Solitude
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 2:06 p.m.
Also, Kyle, what are you apologizing for? Sounds like whomever is responsible for the court docket should be apologizing. You simply reported the information the court provided. If they can't get their cases straight, that's not on you.
Solitude
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:44 p.m.
1. Why are people assuming the "witness" who failed to appear was the victim in the case? 2. Even if it was the victim, Michigan law allows for prosecution of DV cases without the cooperation, or even the presence, of the victim, so why was the case dismissed? 3. Was the case dismissed with or without prejudice?
sheepyd
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 5:38 a.m.
Shame on the prosecutors office and YPD for not making sure the victim would show up for the court hearing. When a victim is served with a subpoena; they are bound to show up for court. Has a bench warrant been issued for her arrest? I have no idea if Mr. Bryant is guilty or not, but this is an unacceptable way to bring a case to a close. If the victim is contacted the case can be re-authorized as long as the case wasn't dismissed with prejudice, is there any chance of charges being re-authorized? This is all a little to convenient for EMU and their Mediocre basketball program. Shame on you Geoff Larcom for even commenting on this story. EMU should remain impartial and care more for the apparent victim and less for a kid who can bounch a ball and jump high.
sheepyd
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 2:33 p.m.
Geoff, My point is that many EMU students are arrested every year, some of those arrests make the headlines of local newspapers; you seem to only comment when its a basketball player. Perhaps EMU should care more about recruiting quality people rather than quality players. James Still, Glenn Bryant and Ray Lee have all been charged with crimes in their past. A quick google search will confirm as such. Solitude, In Michigan the complainant in a domestic violence case is the police agency and not the victim, prosecutors will only dismiss a case if the victim doesn't show. If a witness wouldn't have shown the prosecution would have moved forward with testimony of responding police and victim. Obviously this worked out for Mr Bryant and EMU, I doubt this outcome was best for the victim or broader EMU community who have been embarrased by this basketball program and their coach who recruits troubled athletes; as I said before shame on EMU, Geoff Larcom, Rob Murphy, Susan Martin, Ypsilanti Police and the Washtenaw County Prosecutors office. You have all done a disservice to the community and the victim in this case. Sleep well.
Solitude
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:52 p.m.
Who said anything about the victim not appearing? The article says a "witness" did not appear; it doesn't say anything about the witness being the victim.
Geoff Larcom
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 12:14 p.m.
My comment relates only to the fact that the original story was factually incorrect, and the reporter took pains to quickly correct the story and subsequently explain how that inaccuracy occurred.
zucker
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 12:16 a.m.
Is he going to remain on the team and play next season? thats all anyone really cares about right? We have to get victories!!! Come on people, get your priorities straight. Not that there is a victim out there or anything like that.
Danai
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 9:22 p.m.
Let me see if I can state this so that it doesn't get deleted again. Charges were dropped against Charles Bryant but for anyone who read the original article or this one because they thought it was related to the issue of domestic violence, victims of domestic violence can get help from Safehouse. Website (http://www.safehousecenter.org/) and helpline number is (734-995-5444). And SafeHouse recommends the program Alternatives to Domestic Aggression specifically for men who use violence in their relationships.
Solitude
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:50 p.m.
Of course, what you meant to say was that *female* victims of domestic violence can get help from Safehouse, right? Because *male* victims of domestic violence in this county are treated like dirt by Safehouse, as I personally witnessed on many occasions when trying to get male victims assistance. Also, I was just wondering, what program does Safehouse "recommend" specifically for females who use violence in their relationships?
Geoff Larcom
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 6:04 p.m.
Thanks for the detailed explanation of this. And for the URL change.
Ricebrnr
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 5:32 p.m.
actually, not quite. I'd like to know why the witness/victim failed to show up in court.
Solitude
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:38 p.m.
Where does it say that the witness who failed to show up was the victim? If it was actually the victim who didn't show, wouldn't the article have said "victim" and not "witness"?
nickcarraweigh
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.
Move along, excitement's over, nothing here to see.
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.
We're checking to see if there's a way we can change the URL.
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 4:40 p.m.
The URL is changed as well.
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 4:08 p.m.
I've issued a correction on this story and I offer my sincere apologies to Mr. Bryant. This case was dismissed, not bound over as it read in court records yesterday. I viewed the log of the case on the computer at the trial court, as I do for many court cases, and a pretrial hearing was clearly scheduled. I received a call from Mr. Schmidt and university officials today, informing me that was wrong. I've confirmed with the court that a pretrial hearing was scheduled by mistake and the case was in fact dismissed. I've corrected the story and noted that at the top, along with a brief explanation of what happened. Again, my apologies for this error.