Attorneys are engaged in «some meaningful plea negotiations.»
ANN ARBOR, MI — A Saginaw man accused of fatally stabbing his brother-in-law had his trial postponed Wednesday as attorneys discuss a possible plea deal.
Gerald Kariem, 40, faces one count of open murder in the stabbing death of Marcus C. Coney, 40, of Ypsilanti Township.
Judge Archie Brown agreed to postpone Kariem’s jury trial when Kariem appeared briefly in Washtenaw County Trial Court on Wednesday, Feb. 21 for a final pretrial hearing.
Kariem’s Lansing-based attorney, Mike Maddaloni, said the postponement was requested so that he could «have some meaningful plea negotiations» with Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Nimesh Ganatra.
A Feb. 26 trial was cancelled. Judge Brown set a new final pretrial hearing for March 28 and trial for April 16.
Police believe Kariem stabbed Coney during an argument over a vehicle on Saturday, April 29,2017 in the basement of Coney’s Ypsilanti Township home in the 1400 block of Jeff Avenue.
Coney was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. Kariem was arrested May 2 in Oak Park, Illinois.
Kariem was previously convicted of manslaughter in 2002 in Saginaw County.
He was released on parole in 2009 and discharged from state supervision in 2011, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
He is being held at the Washtenaw County Jail with no bond.
Records show his trial has been postponed before.
