Jury finds Ringel guilty on all counts in attempted murder case

A jury found 59-year-old Gregory Ringel's of attempted murder after hearing closing arguments Tuesday, as well as five other felonies.

The jurors reached their verdict following a week-long trial, concluding there was sufficient evidence to prove Ringel attempted to kill his wife in March 2022 by shooting at her and that he did not meet the legal standard to be innocent by temporary insanity.

The verdict came after less than 15 minutes of deliberation.

St. Clair County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Sparling played video recording from police body cameras during a search from the home and a recording of Ringel's confession for the jury.

Police initially responded early March 29, 2022 after Ringel's wife reported she had opened her bedroom door after hearing a noise in her kitchen. She is seen in the video telling police she was confronted with the barrel of a shotgun which fired and was so close to hitting her it left burn marks.

The wife said she pushed the door shut, catching the shotgun in the entrance, and tried to block the door while calling 911.

Ringel originally told police he woke up while sleeping in a separate room, grabbed a handgun and shot at the intruder as they fled.

The police investigation, however, found no evidence of a break-in. Instead, they learned Ringel was having an affair, and that his girlfriend had requested he start divorce proceedings.

A second search of the home found the shotgun hidden in a closet, and Ringel admitted to firing the gun at his wife, though he claimed he didn't remember ever making a decision to do so.

Defense attorney Joshua Rubin has argued his client's actions were not part of a plot to murder his wife, but the result of steroid-induced psychosis brought on by his medication, Prednisone.

Rubin acknowledged the difficulty in his case, telling the jury that when he first read the report and saw Ringel had confessed, he thought it would be a simple case. But he said he became convinced of his client's innocence when taking a closer look at the evidence.

There was no evidence of Ringel planning to kill his wife, Rubin said, no Google history or text messages revealing his plans. Both sides were financially comfortable after the divorce.

Rubin also cited testimony by Dr. Gregory Shiener, who testified that he diagnosed Ringel with steroid-induced psychosis after examining him. Shiener told the jury Prednisone, which Ringel had been taking for an arm injury, can cause patients to act irrationally.

Ringel testified Friday that he had hallucinated and thought he was hunting pheasant with his father, who died more than a decade before the incident.

Rubin told jurors the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office ignored Ringel's statements about his medication until he asked about it as Ringel's attorney, and that detectives had not taken the possibility Ringel's actions were influenced by drugs seriously.

Sparling told the jury Ringel's insanity defense was a desperate attempt to avoid prison after he had been caught in the act.

"This is not a memory problem," Sparling said. "This is a lying problem."

During rebuttal, Sparling called another psychiatrist who examined Ringel, Dr. Trang Walker with the Center for Forensic Psychiatry, where the state examines defendants in criminal cases to determine if they meet a legal standard for insanity.

Walker testified that, based on Ringel's statements to police, body camera footage from interviews and his testimony in court, she concluded he did not meet the legal standard for insanity and was likely making up his psychosis.

Sparling said Shiener based his diagnosis only on what Ringel told him, whereas Walker used her own independent observations. Throughout the trial, Sparling asked each witness if Ringel showed any sign he was hallucinating, or if he had mentioned hunting with his father. Each witness said he had not, including police, his former wife, his girlfriend, and a family doctor he saw the day after the shooting.

Walker also testified that Ringel told her his Prednisone prescription ran out in early April. She said it should have run out in March.

Sparling told the jury that for Ringel's insanity defense to hold up, he must have been taking his medicine as prescribed. If his Prednisone was not taken in proper doses, Ringel would bear legal responsibility for his actions under the medicine's influence.

Sparling said he was pleased the jury agreed with his arguments and found Ringel guilty.

"I think the jury saw through his lies and they reached the right verdict," Sparling." They showed Mrs. Ringel's life is important."

Rubin declined to comment after the verdict was read.

In addition to assault with intent to murder, Ringel was found guilty of discharging a firearm in a building, tampering with evidence, false report of a felony and two counts of felony firearm use.

Ringel was taken into custody after the sentence. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:35 p.m. June 17. Sparling said due to sentencing guidelines he likely faces between 11 and 17 years in prison.

Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Jury finds Ringel guilty on all counts in attempted murder case