Mistrial declared in case against ex-Washtenaw Intermediate School District teaching assistant

Michael Beasley

During that testimony, Amy Carns, the former teacher who ran the classroom in which Beasley served as a teaching assistant, mentioned on the stand the WISD had fired Beasley.

That decision is currently in arbitration.

Earlier, Swartz granted a defense motion barring any mention of Beasley’s termination on the grounds that it would prejudice the jury. Beasley faces two charges of third-degree child abuse and two charges of assault/battery. He has pleaded not guilty.

Under aggressive cross-examination from Beasley's attorney, Douglas Mullkoff, Carns mentioned at the end of an answer that Beasley had been fired.

“It was her way of getting a zinger in there,” Swartz said in his ruling. “Clearly, it prejudices the case.”

Swartz said if jurors were wavering in whether to find Beasley guilty, they could look at the decision by the district and use that in their decision-making.

“In the court’s opinion, it was gratuitous and clearly prejudicial,” Swartz said.

Before a mistrial was declared, the parents of two students testified briefly about their children’s disabilities. One mom broke down in tears as she described how raising her middle-school aged child is like raising a toddler.

Then Carns took the stand.

Carns was the teacher in a special education classroom run by the WISD, but housed in Ann Arbor’s Scarlett Middle School during the 2008-09 school year. It was her first year in that classroom, and Carns took a new job after the school year.

Carns testified she saw Beasley hit students on several occasions.

During his cross-examination, Mullkoff tried to get Carns to admit she was looking for a reason to get rid of Beasley and had a personality conflict with him. Beasley had been in the same classroom the previous year and had more than a decade of experience working as a teacher assistant, Mullkoff said.

Mullkoff also asked Carns whether she followed state law by notifying Child Protective Services of the alleged abuse. Carns testified she was told by her supervisors at the WISD not to call. One of those supervisors resigned, and the other was voluntarily reassigned.

Following the mistrial, the case was sent back to the pretrial stage. A hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 7.

David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.