Misplaced Prisoner Forces Postponement of Macomb Murder Case

The absence of the man charged in the of a Macomb Township woman forced Judge Douglas P. Shepherd to postpone the case yet again today in 41A District Court.

Joseph T. Reiner, 28, was scheduled to make his final appearance in district court today to hear the and see his case bound over to circuit court.

But Reiner never arrived.

As a result of miscommunication within the Michigan Department of Corrections, Reiner was transferred from the Macomb Correctional Facility to two other locations, neither of which received the transportation paperwork needed to ensure Reiner's on-time arrival to court today.

"It's 45 minutes past the appointed date and time ... I think it's safe to say the DOC did not receive the paperwork, and he is not en route," said prosecuting attorney William Cataldo.

It was only minutes before the case's scheduled start time that Cataldo learned Reiner had been sent from the Macomb Correctional Facility to the Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility and then to the Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Livingston County.

"I would very much like to have this matter resolved, but it is a factual and legal impossibility without my client present," said defense atttorney Timothy Barkovic.

Given the circumstances, Shepherd postponed the final district court date to Feb. 15.

Arrested on Feb. 26 and charged March 31, 2011 for his alleged involvement in the home invasion and stabbing of a Macomb Township resident Joann Eisenhardt, 69, Reiner's preliminary examination will have lasted just under a year by his next court date.

At the next court date, Spitz is expected to testify that Eisenhardt's September 2011 death was in fact a direct result of Reiner's actions on Feb. 23, 2011 and the present murder charge against him should remain.