Burdick: Graham trials should be consolidated further
Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick will present a motion Tuesday requesting two consolidated second-degree murder trials in the DeMarcus Graham case instead of the three scheduled.
Former CMU football players Michael Thomas, Demond Petty and Saginaw resident Jimmy A. Donald are currently scheduled for one consolidated trial. Former players Jerry Seymour and Spencer Lewis will be tried together but former player James King is set for his own trial.
Burdick said he will plead with Isabella County Trial Judge William T. Ervin to revise the schedule at the 3 p.m. hearing.
"I am asking the court to consolidate King with (Lewis and Seymour)," he said.
Lewis' attorney, Marvin Barnett, first suggested Burdick's proposed arrangement at a consolidation hearing on Dec. 22, 2005. Barnett said he wanted the opportunity to question King face-to-face in court.
"King is the key to the case," Barnett said at the hearing. "This is about justice. I want King here so I can convince the jury that King killed (Graham). Period."
Graham, a Flint native, was beaten unconscious in the early morning hours of June 25, 2004 outside Shaboom Pub Club, 106 Court St. Graham died three weeks later on July 14, 2004 in a Saginaw hospital.
Another motion involving King will be presented on Tuesday as well.
Burdick said King's attorney, Ernest Jarrett, has requested the court cover Jarrett's costs associated with representing King.
"(Jarrett) was initially retained but (King) does not have the financial resources to retain him," Burdick said. "Mr. King is essentially coming before the court and claiming indigence."
The court must then decide whether to appoint Jarrett or remove him from the case.
"My position is I leave it to the court's discretion," Burdick said. "Defendants have the right to representation."
Jarrett could not be reached for comment on either motion and his Detroit office would not confirm the representation motion was filed.
More information and Tuesday's coverage will be in the Wednesday edition of Central Michigan Life.
