Man accused of beating girlfriend jailed again
Judge rules he violated bond order by being in Florida with victim
A 38-year-old man accused of beating and trying to kill his girlfriend in Washington Township was jailed last week after a judge determined he had contact with her during a February trip to Florida.
Paul Bashi allegedly met up with the alleged victim in the case, Christina Perry, the weekend of Feb. 5-7 that Judge Joseph Toia allowed him to take for work purposes despite being on a $1 million bond.
Toia revoked his bond March 26 after Macomb prosecutors presented evidence of contact with Perry in Florida, at a hearing in Macomb County Circuit Court.
Bashi, who appeared by video from the county jail on Friday for an evidentiary hearing that was adjourned, insisted multiple times to Toia he did not have contact with Perry.
But Toia noted there was evidence Perry had an airplane ticket to Florida at that time and was in Florida with him.
Toia made the ruling based on a “preponderance of evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt,” as required for a bond revocation.
“I believe the prosecution met their burden of proof,” Toia said.
Perry, who has asked the judge to drop the charges against Bashi, failed to show up for the bond hearing and was held in contempt of court. No penalty was issued.
Bashi declined to testify at the bond hearing, and Toia said Bashi’s attorneys could file a motion for a new hearing at which he could testify.
When he jailed Bashi, Toia restricted his telephone access because during a prior jail stay, Bashi manipulated the system with the help of other people to talk on the phone with Perry.
But Bashi convinced Toia to partially restore his telephone privileges so he can talk to his parents and brother on Easter weekend, and particularly his 84-year-old father whom he said is sick.
“I’m asking you for a chance so I can at least talk to my family,” he told Toia. “I am fully aware I will not try to contact Ms. Perry.”
Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Carmen Defranco objected to Bashi being given phone privileges, pointing to thousands of phone calls by Bashi during his prior jail stint.
Upon Toia’s request, Bashi’s attorneys said they would supply the telephone numbers he is allowed to call.
Bashi allegedly beat Perry, 22 at the time, in July 2018 in the porch area of their home near 27 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue in Washington Township. Bashi can be seen in security video striking the woman with a chair, and punching, stabbing and kicking her, as well as throwing a white substance and melted candle wax on her. He was arrested by police while walking nearby minutes later after neighbors called 911.
Bashi’s initial attorney, David Griem, attributed the attack to Bashi’s “steroid rage.”
Bashi in September pleaded guilty to all of the charges: attempted murder, torture and a minor drug charge. However, Bashi withdrew the plea two months later after the sentencing guidelines, which were not revealed, were tabulated. Griem withdrew from the case in December 2019.
Prosecutors subsequently dropped the torture charge.
Bashi has retained a team of attorneys including Camilla Barkovic, Michael Smith and Vincent Manzella. Also Friday, Bashi accused Toia of being biased against him and asked the judge to recuse himself from the case.
But Toia retorted he has been unbiased and noted favorable rulings in Bashi’s favor as well as his acceptance of a slew of motions by his multiple attorneys and several adjourned trial dates, some of which are attributable to COVID-19 restrictions at the courthouse.
Bashi’s attorneys recently filed several motions, many of them to ban certain evidence, such as some cell-phone information, medical records and photos of Perry’s injuries. Toia denied most of them primarily because they were premature; the prosecution has not provided specific evidence it plans to introduce at trial.
The judge ordered Defranco to provide the exact evidence he plans to introduce at trial by May 21, a month before the June 21 trial date, which may get pushed back due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Toia took under advisement motions to exclude other cell-phone evidence and items obtained by what the defense calls an illegal search and seizure.
The matter of some cell phone evidence was to be subject of the evidentiary hearing, which was adjourned because courthouse restrictions prevented an in-person hearing. Bashi indicated he wants to be present for the hearing.
Friday’s proceeding was held by Zoom and shown over youtube.com.
Toia scheduled a new hearing date for April 16, when Toia said he hopes the number of COVID-19 cases in the county will have declined and courthouse restrictions can be lifted.
Trials and other in-person hearings were allowed for less than a month at the Mount Clemens courthouse in February and March because of a decreasing number of coronavirus cases in Macomb County. But a recent surge in cases resulted in a new ban on live hearings in midMarch.
Bashi, who also has resided in Oakland County, spent over five years in federal prison for a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme.