Orange Amir Taylor III, accused of raping and murdering an Eastern Michigan University student in December, is expected to take the stand when his case goes to trial.
After the second and last day of Taylor's preliminary exam, held Friday, District Judge Kirk Tabbey upheld all five of the charges Taylor faces involving the death of 22-year-old Laura Dickinson.
He is being held without bond on charges of open murder, criminal sexual misconduct, home invasion and larceny.
"The court finds probable cause has been established," Tabbey said. "You are bound over to face time in Judge Brown's courtroom."
Taylor's attorney, Alvin Keel, said there was not enough evidence to charge his client with many of the counts against him during the proceedings. He said the criminal sexual conduct charges and the open murder charge should be reduced or dropped, and the counts of home invasion and larceny should be dropped as well.
"There's no evidence whatsoever (of sexual misconduct)," Keel said. "No aforementioned showing of assault."
He said because Dickinson's autopsy only revealed superficial wounds, and there was no DNA evidence proving that intercourse had taken place, the criminal sexual conduct charges should have been dropped. He said the open murder charge should have been dropped because there was no proof of intent, malice or premeditation.
"There's no evidence to show Orange Taylor took anything; home invasion —nothing," Keel said.
He maintained the only count his client should have been charged with was manslaughter, if that.
"If we're going to proceed, let's proceed on the one count," Keel said.
Blaine Longsworth, assistant Washtenaw County prosecutor, combated Keel's statement in court. He said there was "very reasonable inferences" that intercourse had occurred.
Among the evidence presented in court, Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Dr. Bader Cassin testified that Dickinson had been discovered laying on her back wearing nothing but a white tank top pushed up to her chest. He said her knees were spread apart, and bedding had been pulled around and over her.
He said the scene caused "significant suspicion" of homicide.
He said the only injuries he could find on Dickinson's body were a scrape on the instep of her left foot and a small bruise on her neck. He said he could not determine what caused the scrape, but the positioning of the body and the time it had taken for the body to be discovered could have caused the mark on her neck.
"There was a lot of drainage to the left side of the face," Cassin said. "Obviously she was dead a while because she was decomposing."
Dickinson was discovered in her Hill Hall dormitory room on Dec. 15. She is presumed to have died in the early hours of Dec. 13 after logging of her computer shortly after midnight.
Cassin said she was found with her head turned sharply to the left, causing blood to flow and settled toward the left side of her face. He said, while Dickinson's right eye was perfectly clear, her left eye was purple and cloudy.
Commonly known as the date-rape drug, Gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB had been found in her system. Cassin said, however, the level was low, the sample was small and there is a small amount of GHB created by the body and decomposing bodies create more of the chemical.
"It's very difficult to interpret the levels," Cassin said. "Difficult, and in fact impossible."
He said there were no other drugs present.
During his testimony, Cassin said he deemed the manner of Dickinson's death was homicide by asphyxia. He said evidence from the autopsy and scene contributed to his finding.
His arrival at asphyxia, which he said is a cause that is difficult to find in any case, came about by a "diagnosis of exclusion."
Much like the process of elimination, Cassin said during the process, "I remain open to those that I can't exclude. Asphyxia is the method that I can't exclude."
He added, "Smothering, strangulation or both" could have caused the death."
Jennifer Dohring, a forensic scientist from the Michigan State Police Forensics Division, who had investigated the death, said Dickinson had been discovered with a pillow lying on her head, covering a portion of her face. She had inspected the room for DNA and sampled any she had found.
Part of a five-person forensics team, Dohring discovered DNA from bodily fluids left on Dickinson's inner-thigh and a fitted sheet on her bed. The DNA matched fluids from both Taylor and Dickinson herself.
The team also had discovered a large bloodstain left on the side of the pillow facing Dickinson's face. The reverse side of the pillow, facing the ceiling, was swabbed, and DNA from both Dickinson and Taylor was discovered.
Dohring, Washtenaw County Detective John Scafasci and EMU Police Officer Michael Arntz testified they all had looked for Dickinson's keys, which she was witnessed using to get in Hill Hall. The keys still have not been discovered.
Longsworth said the door was locked by a dead bolt after Dickinson had died. He said the door could only have been locked with a key from the outside.
Arntz testified that the dorm's security cameras had filmed Dickinson entering the building with a white bag late in the night on Dec. 12. He said Taylor was filmed entering the building, wearing all black, five hours later at 4:20 a.m. The tapes caught him leaving about 2 hours later with a white bag.
After Tabbey had made his ruling, Keel said, "I thought, in my opinion, (intercourse) had not been established."
A pre-trial is scheduled for May 9, in front of Circuit Judge Archie Brown.
"Orange Taylor," Keel said when asked what people could expect from the defense at trial. "We have yet to hear from him."
Contact Staff Writer Dan DuChene at dduchene@heritage.com.
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