Opening arguments to begin this morning in Sean Stennett homicide trial

stennett.JPGSean Stennett

SAGINAW — Opening arguments in the trial for the two men charged in the Dec. 2 homicide of Sean Stennett are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.

Steven J. Rembish, 36, and Jonathon L. Jones, 22, both are charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the shooting death of the 25-year-old Stennett.

Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Fehrman will have the first opportunity to address the jury. Rembish’s Saginaw Township-based attorney, Kirk C. Ellsworth, and Jones’ Toledo-based attorney, Stevin Groth, will have the opportunity to follow. Both Ellsworth and Groth have the choice to reserve their opening arguments until after Fehrman is done presenting witnesses.

County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard is presiding over the trial.

The Saginaw News was to cover the trial live on Twitter, but Borchard decided against allowing the coverage after the attorneys objected because it would allow sequestered witnesses to read about the testimony before testifying themselves. The News will provide an update during the lunch hour as well as after the day’s proceedings.

Stennett, who worked at the Red Eye Caffe House on North Hamilton in Old Saginaw City, was shot multiple times from outside a door at 1501 Hancock at North Bates in Saginaw, where he visiting a friend, Katie Allen.

Prosecutors believe Stennett’s killing was a case of mistaken identity and that Rembish and Jones were searching for a man alleged to have sexually assaulted Rembish’s girlfriend when she was 4 years old.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Rembish and Jones would face mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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