Despite a clear afternoon at a courtroom in the 14A-1 District Court, the two men accused in the death of Brandon Charles will have to wait three more weeks for a preliminary exam.
Avantis Parker and Willie Wimberly
Testimony was expected Tuesday afternoon after a special time was scheduled for Avantis Parker, 21, and Willie Wimberly, 30, to face a preliminary exam. However, a number of complications came to light shortly after 14A District Court Chief Judge Kirk Tabbey called court to session.
Raymond Burkett, one of Wimberly’s attorneys, said he met with the Washtenaw County Public Defender’s Office — who originally represented Wimberly — last Wednesday and received discovery, or evidence. A day later, Burkett said the public defender’s office turned over more evidence to him.
He said he had not been given the chance to go over all this evidence with Wimberly. The evidence included witness statements on CDs that required a court order to be brought into the Washteanw County Jail.
“I’m not comfortable going ahead with this exam until my client can hear those tapes,” he said.
Tabbey eventually granted the motion to postpone the hearing. The preliminary exam will be held at 8:30 a.m. April 11 at the 14A-1 District Court in Pittsfield Township.
Wimberly and Parker are both facing life sentences if convicted on murder charges stemming from Charles’ Jan. 29 death. Charles was shot and killed in a vehicle parked in front of a house in the 600 block of Calder Avenue in Ypsilanti Township’s West Willow neighborhood, just hours before he was scheduled to testify against Wimberly.
According to police, Wimberly shot Charles and his girlfriend in a road rage incident on Jan. 1.
Another one of Wimberly’s attorneys was involved in the Kwame Kilpatrick case in federal court in Detroit and was not able to get involved in the case until last week.
Further complicating matters, there are two material witnesses in custody. Washteanw County Assistant Proseuctor Dianna Collins said Terrence Parker and Sophie Peak are both being held in custody and are expected to testify at the preliminary exam.
Sgt. Geoffrey Fox, of the Washteanw County Sheriff’s Office, said Peak is in custody as a part of her sentence for an armed robbery case involving Avantis Parker last year. According to police, Peak ordered a pizza in Ypsilanti Township and Parker attempted to hold up the driver before walking away. Parker pleaded guilty to one charge and no contest to two others in that case four days before Charles’ death.
Peak pleaded to one charge of unarmed robbery on Jan. 25 and will be sentenced on April 3, court records show. Both Peak and Avantis Parker were scheduled to start serving their sentences before their sentencing hearings would take place, according to court records.
Terrence Parker, who Fox said is Avantis Parker’s half-brother, is also being held in custody as a material witness. Collins said Terrence Parker was calling other people from the Washtenaw County Jail and warning them investigators were looking to talk to them.
“He was directing people not to talk to police,” Collins said.
Terrence Parker’s attorney indicated his client plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and wouldn’t testify. Collins countered by saying she didn’t see any way Terrence Parker could potentially implicate himself in a crime.
“It is not something that is incriminating,” Collins said.
Collins said in court Peak has been granted immunity in the case. It wasn’t exactly clear how Peak is involved in Charles’ death or what she would be granted immunity from. Fox declined to talk about Peak’s involvement after the hearing Tuesday.
Peak and Terrence Parker are both set to be held in custody at least until April 11, when the next exam is scheduled. Douglas Mullkoff, Peak’s attorney, said he had no objection to this because Peak would be in custody anyway. A hearing could be scheduled in the future to determine if Terrence Parker must stay in custody until that time.
It appears both Avantis Parker and Wimberly will face added charges of intimidating witnesses when the preliminary exam is eventually held.
Tabbey said he was confident the case was moving forward, despite the delay until April 11. He said the layers of the case warranted a few more weeks to get things sorted out before much of the case is laid bare in a preliminary exam.
“We want to do it the right way, and not the hurried way,” Tabbey said.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.