The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Testimony suggests disturbing past for suspect
Preliminary hearing to resume Dec. 4 for Ryan Grossman
By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: November 13, 2008
Saline High School senior Ryan Grossman listened to a childhood friend and a police officer testify against him in a Washtenaw County courtroom last week during the first hearing after he was charged with possession of explosives and manufacturing a bomb with intent to harm property and people.
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Judge J. Cedric Simpson heard preliminary comments last Thursday in 14-A District Court in Ann Arbor and then adjourned until Dec. 4, when results from a physical evidence examination are expected.
Student Benjamin Lucas was called to testify by assistant prosecuting attorney Amy Reiser. He provided the most testimony during the first courtroom visit, along with Detective Sgt. Dale Smith of the Michigan State Police.
Lucas said Grossman had told him he kept a mental hit list and knew how to blow up his school with fertilizer bombs, according to published news reports. Grossman thought about how he would get rid of certain students he disliked and shared the plan with friends.
Grossman's attorney, Michael Vincent, cross-examined the witnesses and asked Lucas why he didn't tell a teacher, an administrator, a counselor, a parent or police about his friend's claims. Vincent said he heard an audible gasp from the courtroom gallery when Lucas answered. Lucas said he didn't take Grossman seriously, so he kept the conversations to himself.
Vincent calls the case one of school-yard gossip and said that more surprising than Lucas' admission was the fact that the lab report defining the "bombs" was not available yet. A back-up with the Michigan State Police crime lab is causing the delay, officials say.
The court will wait to hear from experts whether the collection of material found in Grossman's bedroom support the three felony charges.
Simpson heard preliminary comments from witnesses, Vincent and Reiser on Thursday afternoon and evening.
At 3 p.m. Dec. 4, the judge is scheduled to decide whether the physical evidence and testimony are compelling enough to send the case to trial.
Stemming from an e-mail report by a fellow student to a Saline High School teacher in October, the charges were made when police found incendiary devices in the Grossman home in Saline Township. Grossman has been on house arrest and remains suspended from school.
An expulsion hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17 with Saline Area Schools administrators and lawyers to consider the student's future. The material discovered by school officials so far in the case is compelling enough to warrant expulsion consideration, said district spokeswoman Betty Rosen-Leacher.
According to Saline High School Principal Ben Williams, the family asked for Grossman's homework soon after the suspension began.
Simpson lightened the teen's penalty last week, allowing him to leave his home with a tether, provided he is with his parents and back by 8 p.m.
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