Jeremy G. Ives, accused of firing a shotgun and injuring two people on Elm Street last August, maintains his innocence, said his attorney, Joseph Lobosco, after a hearing where Ives rejected a plea offer from the District Attorney's Office.
ADA Will Zickl said under the terms of the offer, the counts against Ives would be reduced to a single count of attempted assault in the first degree, a Class C violent felony. Ives, who has a prior DWI conviction, would admit to the charge as a second-felony offender.
He would have been facing a possible sentence of five to 15 years.
In September, a grand jury indicted Ives on counts of attempted assault in the first degree, a Class C violent felony, kidnapping in the second degree, a Class B violent felony, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree, a Class B violent felony, two counts of criminal use of a firearm in the second degree, a Class C violent felony, and menacing in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
If convicted at trial, Ives faces a sentence of nine to 25 years in prison.
Today was the plea cutoff date, the date a defendant can accept a negotiated plea offer. In Genesee County, when a defendant rejects a plea offer on the cutoff day, the case is scheduled to go to trial, and the defendant is unlikely to get a second chance to accept the offer.
Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini scheduled jury selection to start March 20, with a week-long trial expected.
She will hear pre-trial motions on Feb. 15.
The trial was originally scheduled to start two weeks earlier, but the DA requested a DNA sample from Ives, which he provided.
Citing the likely delay while the attorneys await lab results and the subsequent investigation of those results, Lobosco petitioned the court to reduce his client's bail. It's currently $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially secured bond.
He said that the trial is likely to be delayed further because once the DA's office receives the DNA results, the defense has 30 days to have a DNA expert review the report, and if that expert disagrees with the findings of the people's expert, the DA has 30 days to review those findings, meaning the trial could be pushed back, up to 60 days more.
Zickl opposed modifying the securing order since a two-week delay is minimal.
Cianfrini denied the motion, but "without prejudice," meaning if it looks like the DNA results report could lead to further delays in the trial, Lobosco can make a new petition to the court for a bail reduction.
