The trial of two Independence Township men charged with second-degree murder resumed this week after the holiday weekend recess.
Last week, with jury selection complete, prosecutor Greg Townsend and defense lawyers for both men, completed opening statements before two separate juries.
Lance Allen Schmidt, 21, and Joseph Wells Stapleton, 20, are charged with the second degree murder of Peter Richard.
In 2002, Schmidt and Stapleton pleaded no contest to assault with intent to inflict great bodily harm and received one year in jail and three years probation for repeatedly kicking and punching Richard, a Lapeer resident, after a verbal dispute near the drive-thru window at McDonald’s on Sashabaw.
On March 4, 2004, a medical examiner ruled that a pulmonary embolism causing Richard’s death resulted from a blood clot in his leg which formed after surgery allegedly made necessary by the assault.
Jury selection and opening statements suggested this trial will come down to medical evidence and discussion of causation.
‘We appear to have a good, well-rounded jury from all walks of life. From its onset many jurors who were excused had initial difficulty with the timeline and causation of the injuries,? Arnold Weiner, attorney for Stapleton, said.
At the request of defense lawyers, there was a severance of the jury, so that each defendant will have their own jury.
Before the jury for Schmidt and later for Stapleton, Assistant Prosecutor Greg Townsend discussed the prosecution’s theory of causation behind the pulmonary embolism. Townsend explained how a fracture to Richard’s back was identified by an x-ray but suggested that a herniated disc would not have appeared from the x-ray and was only diagnosed after an MRI conducted well after the original incident.
The herniated disc Richard was having operated on is what the prosecution claims led to the clot and his death.
‘When you’re stomping the L3(the fractured area of Richard’s back), you’re crushing the entire area. No one checked. If they had done an MRI they would have found the herniated disc with the fracture.? Townsend said.
Near the end of Townsend’s opening statement, jurors saw the surveillance tape of the two defendants beating Richard near the McDonald’s drive-thru.
As Townsend has stated before, there is little doubt in his mind that the juries will come to a guilty verdict on the second degree murder charge.
Both defense lawyers questioned the linking of the herniated disc to the beating their clients were involved in.
Michael McCarthy, Schmidt’s lawyer acknowledged his client was on the tape and addressed the medical debate in his opening statement to the jury.
‘This is not a case about who done it. It’s about why Peter Richard died in 2004.?
Weiner questioned the validity of the surveillance tape in regards to location of the blows Richard received.
‘Only four or five of the punches and kicks shown in the tape come from Joey. The tape does not show where.?
The trial will continue this week before Circuit Judge Denise Langford-Morris.