9/8/14 - A long-delayed murder case will head to trial early next year, more than three years since a grisly discovery in a Livingston County field. 30-year-old George Tanner will go to trial on February 2nd for his part in the murder of Christopher Townsend on October 15th of 2011. Authorities say he and a co-defendant, Brian Stafford, dismembered and then burned the body of the 40-year-old Oakland County man on a wooded property owned by Tannerâs uncle in Green Oak Township. Police say Tanner confessed to the crime while in custody, but the defense argued the confession was inadmissible because while a lawyer previously requested by Tanner was waiting to see him, police did not inform him of that fact. Circuit Court Judge David Reader agreed with that claim, which was backed up by a previous Michigan Supreme Court ruling in the case of the People v. Bender, which said a suspect must be told promptly when an attorney attempts to contact them. Prosecutors appealed that decision to the stateâs highest court which by a 5-2 vote in June overturned People v. Bender, saying Tanner knowingly waived his Miranda rights when he reinitiated contact with police to make his confession. The February 2nd trial date was set after a hearing Friday in front of Judge Reader. Stafford, meanwhile, was previously sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 2nd degree murder. (JK)
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