Shooting trial postponed

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A plea agreement in Delaware County Common Pleas Court may be near for a Columbus man accused of shooting a Delaware man in March.

William Devan Lassiter, 34, of Columbus, was previously scheduled to stand trial on July 5 and face a charge of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and a charge of theft, a fifth-degree felony.

However, his attorney, Jermaine Colquitt, filed a motion Monday asking Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley to postpone the trial because prosecutors and Colquitt were in plea negotiations.

With no objection from prosecutors, the trial was postponed. A new trial date or change-of-plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The charges in the case stem from an incident on March 4. Delaware police report Lassiter was meeting with William Sims, 39, a local dog breeder, and had made arrangements to purchase a puppy. However, police said that when Lassiter arrived at Sims’ home for the meeting, the transaction went awry and Lassiter pulled out a gun and shot Sims in the leg.

After the shooting, police said Lassiter took Sims’ phone, some money and paperwork related to owning dogs, and left in a car, heading south.

Lassiter was later pulled over by police and arrested.

Prosecutors said Sims suffered a femur fracture as the result of the shooting. He has since been released from the hospital.

Lassiter was in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Center in Orient Wednesday, serving time on six previous felony charges from 2007. He had been released from prison and was on parole when the March incident occurred.

The aggravated robbery and felonious assault charges both carry firearm specifications, indicating that a handgun was used to commit the offenses. Gormley said these specifications would add three years in prison to any sentence Lassiter would receive if he is convicted in the March 4 shooting.

Lassiter was indicted on March 11 and arraigned on March 15. His original May 24 trial was postponed because Colquitt said prosecutors had not sent over all the evidence in the case.

Lassiter
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2016/06/web1_Lassiter-vertical.jpgLassiter Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
Accused, prosecutors negotiating plea deal

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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