'No connection here': Detroit judge again dismisses case against man accused of shooting teen with autism
DETROIT (FOX 2) - For a second time, a Detroit judge has dismissed charges against a man accused of shooting a teen with autism, citing a lack of evidence.
After hearing from one witness Monday, 36th District Judge Ronald Giles dismissed all charges against Robert Pugh.
Pugh was charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, and three counts of felony firearm. Those charges were dismissed during a preliminary examination in May, but the case was reheard months later after prosecutors re-filed charges.
"We're in the same spot that we were when we were here last time," Giles said before dismissing the case.
The backstory:
Pugh was first charged in April for allegedly shooting Claude Woosck.
Prosecutors alleged that Woosck was lost and was confronted by Pugh in the area of Lenox Street and E. Warren Avenue on April 9 after taking a photo of an address to send his sister. However, Woosck's testimony included conflicting details.
Claude Woosk (left). Robert Pugh (right)
After the shooting, his sister, Violet Woosck, said her brother had called her because an Uber had dropped him off in the wrong neighborhood, and he was lost and confused. She said she told her brother to take a photo of a nearby address. This is what she said allegedly led to Pugh allegedly coming outside, frisking her brother, and shooting him in the back as he ran away.
While on the stand during Pugh's preliminary examination in May, Woosck told a different story. He testified that he was walking toward Warren when an unknown person shot him in the back twice. Video from a nearby liquor store showed a person running.
Before dismissing the case, the judge noted that no one saw the shooter, and pointed out that the victim said no one touched him or talked to him.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, allowing for the charges to be re-filed at a later date.
Woosck's autism diagnosis was not part of the court hearing. When the prosecution questioned Woosck about any disabilities, the judge shut down the question, saying that it was not relevant, and he was not informed about any health conditions prior to court.
The prosecution argued that the autism diagnosis was important because it could impact the victim's ability to recall what happened.
"I should've been asked to make an assessment on that before he started talking," Giles said at the time.
After charges were re-filed in September, Pugh appeared in court for a prelim, but the hearing was adjourned until Giles could obtain and review transcripts from the first preliminary exam.
Dig deeper:
Prosecutor Rhonda Haidar called one witness Monday, and intended to call more, but the judge declined to hear from those witnesses because he said they would not link Pugh to the crime. According to the prosecution, a person who maintains jail call records at the Wayne County Jail and first responders who tended to Woosck were on the witness list.
At times, Monday's hearing became heated when the first witness on the stand, a neighbor who said her husband questioned Woosck alongside Pugh, denied part of a statement she previously made to authorities. While on the stand, she affirmed some of her statement, but said she did not see a gun.
"It was something black. I don’t know about guns, but it was something black," she testified.
She also claimed that she felt pressured while being questioned by police, and noted that she is on strong medication that impacts her memory. Additionally, it was revealed that the witness was not put under oath until after she was questioned. Giles chastised Haidar for this, saying that putting a witness under oath after questioning is not standard practice.
Before making his decision, Giles said that evidence from the previous preliminary examination and the latest court hearing did not link the suspect to the shooting of Woosck.
"You’ve got to give me some evidence that shows that this man fired this weapon that he allegedly had," Giles said. "There is no connection here."
What's next:
The charges were again dismissed without prejudice, allowing for charges to be filed against Pugh again if prosecutors are able to produce more evidence.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office will be reviewing the case.
The Source: Previous FOX 2 stories, which included an interview with Claude Woosck's sister and information from a court hearing, were used to report this story.