Detroit

Sparks fly in court as prosecutors, defense, judge clash over Bashara prelim

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

For the moment, David Griem and Christina Utley are still representing Robert Bashara in court.

On July 19, 36th District Court Chief Judge Kenneth King denied an emergency motion filed by the attorneys to withdraw from the case. Bashara, 54, of Grosse Pointe Park, is being held in the Wayne County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on a felony charge of solicitation of murder for reportedly hiring someone to kill Joseph Gentz, the handyman charged with killing Bashara’s wife, Jane Bashara.

Although he wouldn’t elaborate on what happened to prompt his request to be taken off the case, Griem said the relationship between an attorney and client is like a marriage, and in this case, there had been “a breakdown in the relationship” that necessitated a parting of ways. Bashara concurred that he wanted to seek new legal counsel.

“I don’t dispute Mr. Griem’s professionalism or his handling of the case,” Bashara told the judge. But he said he felt, “given all of the circumstances over the last seven months, he has become a little less effective. … I think it’s important that I get the best possible (legal representation).”

It was a morning marked by legal fireworks worthy of a television legal drama, as Griem accused police and prosecutors of leaking lies and “half-truths” to the media, making it impossible, he said, for his client to get a fair trial in Michigan. Wayne County Prosecutors Lisa Lindsay and Robert Moran fired back, accusing Griem of using the withdrawal request as a delaying tactic after he was unsuccessful in previous requests for a delay in the prelim, and saying Griem shared a confidential document with the name of a key witness to members of the Bashara family, including Bashara’s mother, Nancy. For his part, Griem said in court he didn’t believe sharing the document in question with Bashara’s mother — who is in her 80s and distraught over her son’s case — was a violation of the order.

King said Griem would be allowed to team with Bashara’s new attorney for the preliminary exam, but he wouldn’t reschedule it. At press time, that exam was slated to take place at 9 a.m. July 24 in 36th District Court, along with a show cause hearing on Griem’s alleged violation of the court’s protective order regarding discovery. Assistant Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Maria Miller, director of communications for the prosecutor’s office, told reporters by email that there would also be a show cause hearing July 24 in regard to Griem and the Gentz case. In her email, Miller said prosecutors are accusing Griem of sending out “subpoenas on a fictitious case to obtain documents related to Joseph Gentz.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.