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Date: 05-09-2022
Case Style:
Case Number:
Judge: Suzanne Kreeger
Court: Circuit Court, Montcalm County, Michigan
Plaintiff's Attorney: Montcalm County Prosecuting Attorney's Office
Defendant's Attorney: Damian Nunzio and Kristyna Nunzio
Description: Stanton, Michigan criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with first-degree murder charge and three counts of assault.
Nicholas Bauer, age 19, was charged murder for in the January 2021 shooting death of Destini Cunliffe, age of Greenville and the shooting of a 15-year-old Greenville girl.
Defendant sought a directed verdict on the first-degree murder charge and the assault charge saying:
“We do not believe that the prosecution has shown willful, premeditated or deliberate (intentions),” Kristyna said. “Additionally, all this happened during a robbery. He (Bauer) pulls a gun as the robbery is ongoing. That destroys any willful, premeditated or deliberate actions because he’s under that excitement and nervousness and possibly anger of being in a robbery. He did not, as the prosecution wishes the jury to believe, that this was merely a weed (marijuana) detail gone bad and he opened fire on people. That is not the case here.”
“He is shooting a gun,” Krause said. “Anybody in that vehicle is a potential victim. He wanted basically vigilante justice. As soon as they start to run, they are no longer a threat to him. All of the witnesses that have testified so far said those boys were at least halfway to the end of that (porch) ramp or beyond before shots started firing. He’s never afraid, he is pissed that he was just robbed. He is spraying bullets up that road, into a house across a street, into a car that is parked there.”
“Are they (the prosecution) conceding that he had self-defense against those three individuals and that’s why they didn’t charge?”
The case was prosecuted y Andrea Krause
Outcome: Judge Keeger granted the defense’s motion and dismissed first-degree murder and assault with intent to commit murder charges against Bauer. Defendant was found guilty on all remaining charges.
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Defendant's Experts:
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