Hearing adjourned for Pioneer student charged in brawl
The disposition hearing for the juvenile found responsible for a misdemeanor count of assault and battery in the Pioneer-Huron high school football fight was adjourned Tuesday.
One of the teenagers charged in the Pioneer-Huron football fight will return to court in two weeks.
The 17-year-old Pioneer High School student was in court for the hearing Tuesday morning and will return at 9 a.m. April 2, court referee Julia Owdziej ruled following a bench conference. Owdziej did not give a reason for the adjournment in open court Tuesday.
The courtroom was full with members of Ann Arbor Concerned Citizens for Justice, many of whom were sporting Pioneer purple and purple ribbons pinned to their shirts. A march was scheduled from the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown on Fifth Avenue branch to the Washtenaw County Trial Court at Huron and Main streets before the hearing.
The 17-year-old student was found responsible on one count of misdemeanor assault and battery on Feb. 6. He was originally charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, aggravated assault and assault and battery.
A disposition hearing is the civil case equivalent of a sentencing hearing.
The charges stem from the Oct. 12 brawl at Riverbank Stadium where the two teams fought each other following a blowout Pioneer win. The fight started when coaches from the two teams came together at midfield and a scuffle ensued.
More recently, controversy has swirled around the cases due to the fact that the three students charged in the fight are black. One other 17-year-old Pioneer student will be in court April 5. He is facing the same charges as the juvenile who was in court Tuesday morning.
The Ann Arbor Board of Education passed a resolution last week asking Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie to "reevaluate the degree of criminalization" of the three students' actions during the melee.
AnnArbor.com is not releasing the names of the students because they are juveniles. They are both charged with kicking Huron student Will Harris in the face during the brawl.
Bashir Garain, 18, is the other student charged in the melee. Police said Garain swung his crutch at a group of players during the brawl. He was expected to be in court for a final pretrial hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday and will head to trial at 8 a.m. April 1, records show.
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
FormerMichRes
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 12:08 p.m.
Ann Arbor is weak on crime...and the stats show it. These guys may get off this time...but they'll be back in the system.
snapshot
Wed, Mar 20, 2013 : 1:15 a.m.
Ann Arbor protects its own. I guess that "no tolerence" for violence or bullying doesn't apply when it's "their boys". If this happened in Detroit or Ypsilanti these same folks would likely support prosecution to set an example.
Jim Osborn
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 5:11 p.m.
While the two who are charged with kicking should be facing charges, should it be in juvi court? They are under 18 and it was a high school event. It does seem that the prosecutor is over reaching when wh charged them with assault with a dangerous weapon, their foot. Let us be fair about this. If the original charges were to stand, a jury could find them innocent where lessor, more fair charges could stick.
Usual Suspect
Tue, Mar 19, 2013 : 7:44 p.m.
I'm guessing the "weapon" refers the cleats they were wearing, not their actual feet (assuming it was stomping on somebody else that he was found to be responsible of doing).