By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR — Court hearings were rescheduled Monday for a 23-year-old Taylor man, accused of torturing and beating his six-month-old son, to allow court-appointed defense counsel time to prepare.
Nicholas Alan Spirdione remained in custody on $1.5 million cash bond. According to court reports, a preliminary examination of the evidence against him will be held at 1 p.m. May 19 before 23rd District Court Judge Geno Salomone.
Additional time was reportedly requested by Ray Paige, who’d been appointed to represent Spirdione and hadn’t had time to review the case.
Spirdione has been in custody since shortly after police and prosecutors said he assaulted his son April 26.
Police responded to reports from the 6600 block of Pine Street of a baby struggling to breathe. Officers found a child who apparently had been beaten, and were told that the baby’s mother
— Spirdione’s girlfriend, Corrie Stahl — had left the room to get a bottle and noticed the injuries when she returned. It was revealed during Spirdione’s arraignment on April 29, that Stahl is hearing impaired.
Spirdione was charged last month with four felony charges: torture and two counts of first-degree child abuse, both punishable by up to life in prison; and assault with intent to do great bodily harm.
The baby was treated at Detroit Children’s Hospital for injuries to the head. When first admitted he’d been given only a 20 percent chance of survival, but last week the baby — still in critical condition — was reportedly breathing on his own and responding to treatment.
(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)