5/28/13 - A local judge has issued an order authorizing a forensic pathologist in the case against a couple charged in the death of a homeless man whose body was found in 2010 along a rural Livingston County road. 51-year-old Antoinette Bea Hix of Gaines and 45-year-old Mitchell Judd Hall of Byron are each charged with 1st degree felony murder and abuse of a vulnerable adult in the death of 71-year old Clarence Elijah Hines. Hix is also charged with pre-meditated murder in the first degree. Court records show that a miscellaneous order was issued by Livingston County Circuit Court Judge David Reader on May 7th, authorizing the defense in Hallâs case to expend $3,000 for a forensic pathologist. Records also show that the trial dates for both have been pushed out to July, marking the 7th adjournment in the case. Despite objections from prosecutors, Judge Reader earlier ruled the defense will be able to present two arguments during the trial of Hix. She claims that she was under âduressâ when the crime occurred and her defense attorney successfully argued that point and that Hix was a victim of battered womenâs syndrome. Police say the suspects left Hines at the side of Sober Road in Conway Township on April 11th, 2010. He was found dead there the following morning. Authorities say Hines died due to a combination of hypothermia and multiple blunt trauma injuries. Authorities say the couple wanted to rid themselves of caring for Hines due to his failing health and discussed various options to do so, eventually deciding to drop him off on a rural dirt road. (JK)
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