Judge
upholds lower court ruling; case against officer charged with assault will
proceed
By Danielle Salisbury
OFFICER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
• Circuit judge reviewing lower court ruling in case of
public safety officer charged with felonious assault
• Blackman-Leoni officer accused of felonious assault
pointed gun at floor while giving fellow officer 'eerie stare', testimony
reveals
• Blackman-Leoni public safety officer charged with
felonious assault against co-worker
JACKSON, MI – Officer Brent
Doxtader's behavior the day he allegedly assaulted a co-worker was
"unusual, even manic," Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson
wrote in a decision issued Friday, Jan. 16.
Wilson found District Judge R.
Darryl Mazur did not abuse his discretion by ruling there was probable cause to
believe Doxtader, a Blackman-Leoni Township public safety officer, committed
felonious assault when, behaving strangely, he unholstered his duty weapon Jan.
19, 2014, and stared at Detective David Lubahn.
The lower court's ruling,
spoken at a September preliminary examination, was "not violative of fact
or logic," states Wilson's opinion, written in response to a motion by
Doxtader's attorney, Michael Vincent, to overrule Mazur's finding.
Had Wilson granted the motion,
the charge, absent a successful appeal, would have been dismissed.
A special prosecutor, assigned
at Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka's request, charged Doxtader in July
with felonious assault, punishable by a maximum prison term of four years.
About 1:50 a.m., Doxtader
entered the living quarters at the Leoni Township fire station on Fifth Street,
approached Detective Robert Shrock, shook his hand and patted Shrock on the
shoulder, according to the opinion. He then "bear-hugged" Lubahn,
knocking off Lubahn's glasses.
Doxtader stepped back about 6
feet, unholstered his gun and pointed it at the ground. After staring at Lubahn
for several silent moments, Doxtader announced he was there to "f---
something up."
At Lubahn's nervous suggestion,
the men walked to the department fire truck, and when they returned to the
living quarters, Doxtader "continued to act rambunctiously," punching
one of the walls and reiterating his desire to "f--- something up,"
the opinion states.
Wilson acknowledged a video of
the incident shows Doxtader in an "excited, happy mood," but his
actions taken as a whole are sufficient to demonstrate he attempted to
"commit a battery" or caused a reasonable person to "fear or
apprehend an immediate battery."
"His behavior was unusual,
even manic, and all of it took place while (Doxtader) had his own gun out and
was standing next to Detective Lubahn's unholstered gun," the decision
states.
During a December hearing, Vincent
contended Doxtader was acting "weird," but was neither homicidal nor
suicidal. His actions were, at most, a violation of department rules, the
attorney said.
Washtenaw County Assistant
Prosecutor Brenda Taylor said Lubahn made the only reasonable conclusion, that
his life was in danger.
A jury should be allowed to
decide his guilt or innocence, she said, and Wilson's decision assures it
could.
In the meantime, Doxtader
remains a department employee. He is suspended without pay pending the outcome
of the criminal case, Deputy Director Jon Johnston earlier
