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***Below is News From Schulman and Associates, P.C.***
Attorney Sanford Schulman Successfully Defends William Ballentine
Not Guilty
Stabbing doesn’t bring murder conviction
By Rosalie Currier
Sturgis Journal
Published: Thursday, December 6, 2007 9:32 PM CST
http://www.sturgisjournal.com/articles/2007/12/06/news/doc...txt
William Ballentine appeared stunned Thursday when a not-guilty verdict was read.
After less than two hours of deliberation Thursday, the jury in the murder trial of Ballentine came back with a not-guilty verdict.
Ballentine was being tried for the June 23 stabbing death of Angelo Williams in Three Rivers.The charge was open murder, which encompasses first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Ballentine, who found it difficult to control his emotions throughout the trail, appeared stunned when the verdict was read.
"This was a difficult case," said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Doug Fisher. "It's not hard to understand where the jury was coming from."The jury of four men and eight women were a concern for defense attorney Sanford Schulman, but the worries for the defense proved to be unfounded.
In a private interview Thursday, Schulman, an active criminal defense attorney from Detroit, said in some Michigan counties this case would never have come to trail.
"If a guy like Angelo Williams would have come pounding on the door of any one of those jurors, they would have blown him away and it would have been ruled self-defense," Schulman said.That was Schulman's basis for his closing arguments on Thursday. Ballentine was at home sleeping at 4:30 a.m. June 23, when a 215-pound man came pounding at his door, Schulman said. Ballentine wasn't out looking for trouble. He wasn't looking for a fight, Schulman told the jury.
Fisher's closing statements differed. Williams, he said, was "rude, obnoxious and nasty, but did he deserve to die?"
Why did Ballentine flee the scene in the car of Whitney Lewis, the woman with whom he was temporarily staying? Those were the actions of a guilty person, Fisher said.And since Williams had come to the apartment complex looking for drugs that night, Fisher included a scenario that perhaps Ballentine left to get rid of the drugs as well as the murder weapon, which was found under the drivers seat of Lewis' car.
Schulman didn't deny that Ballentine killed Williams. That wasn't the question, he said.
"The defendant doesn't have to prove he acted in self-defense," Schulman told the jury in his closing statement. "The prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it wasn't self-defense."The three witnesses called by the defense were Donald Jolly, Vernis Mims and Ballentine.
Schulman said Jolly heard Williams say, "I'm going to stick-up someone," meaning he was looking to commit a robbery.
Mims had been a friend of Williams, and worked with another witness, Tim Thomas.Schulman said Mims confirmed much of Thomas' testimony, saying that Williams had knocked on Ballentine's door for about 20 minutes.
Once Ballentine was on the stand, he found it difficult to testify without breaking down emotionally. The court recessed several times while he fought for control of his emotions.
Ballentine testified that the third time he opened the apartment door in response to the knocks, Williams tried to push his way into the apartment.Thomas, the only eyewitness, never saw that incident, and Schulman told the jury that those few seconds were enough to make Ballentine's actions self-defense.
Earlier, Thomas had testified that when he started to leave, Williams was leaning on a railing. When he turned around, Williams was against the wall next to the apartment door, with Ballentine leaning into him. Williams then raced down the stairs and the two men fled to the parking lot, where Williams collapsed.
Acting out the scenario, Schulman said to Thomas, the final witness, "You don't know what happened from here (leaning on the railing) to here (up against the wall) do you?"Thomas agreed he did not.
Although Thomas was the prosecutor's key witness, it wasn't enough. His stories conflicted and his language was colorful.
Fisher said the makeup of the jury, which contained 11 white jurors and one black juror, may have questioned Thomas' credibility.
"Timothy Thomas was a difficult witness for a white, middle-class jury to accept," Fisher said. "But he's all we had."
Despite the verdict, Fisher said the investigation and testimony by police was strong.
"All the officers conducted a high-quality investigation and testified objectively," Fisher said. "I'm proud of the way they conducted themselves, both in the investigation and the trial."
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Attorney Sanford Schulman is hired to represent Ralph Stegall
Accused Serial Rapist Jailed in Detroit
Santiago Esparza/ The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080119/METRO/801190410
DETROIT -- A 52-year-old man remained jailed Saturday on charges he raped four women dating back to November 2004.
Ralph Stegall faces a preliminary exam on Jan. 29 on five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and armed robbery.
He was arraigned Wednesday.
Police allege Stegall's most recent assault involved a 49-year-old woman and occurred over a five-hour period on Dec. 19, 2007 on the 1600 block of Burt. Police said if Stegall is convicted he faces an additional sentence for being a habitual offender.