Woman accused of helping in torture case asks for a separate trial

One of the defendants charged with torturing of a woman in Port Huron is asking for their trial to be severed.

Aaaron Schoenrock and Jolynn Hirsch both face multiple felony charges for reportedly torturing a woman whom Schoenrock believed to be an informant for law enforcement in a drug investigation.

Hirsch's attorney filed a motion to sever the trial on Oct. 5, arguing that it would be prejudicial against Hirsch to be tried alongside Schoenrock, as he faces charges unrelated to hers, including an incident where he allegedly stabbed a man in the neck.

The victim reportedly escaped and Schoenrock was arrested after the stabbing incident was reported. Schoenrock reportedly thought the victim was at the man's house. Hirsch was arrested after the female victim talked to police.

The victim said she was beaten over an eight-hour period by Schoenrock, raped, force-fed a concoction of drugs and forced to write a suicide letter at gunpoint.

Hirsch reportedly helped in the beating by hitting the victim with a cane, checked online to see if anyone was searching for the victim, retrieved a chainsaw Schoenrock used to threaten the victim and stopped her from escaping the residence she was imprisoned in by blocking the exit.

Defense Attorney Lisa Dwyer began representing Hirsch on Sept. 20. In her motion to sever, Dwyer cites the need to review extensive court records as another reason to separate the defendants' trials, saying she will need more time to catch up on the case.

"(G)iven the complexity and nature of the evidence, the drain on the party's resources, and the party's readiness for trial, severance of the defendants' trials will 'promote fairness to the parties and a fair determination of the guilt or innocence of one or more of the defendants,'" Dwyer wrote in her brief quoting Michigan court rules.

St. Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling opposed the motion, saying the court should only sever the trials if the defendants' are accusing each other with contradictory arguments.

"The witnesses and evidence to be admitted will be almost the exact same in both cases and the Defendant and Co-Defendant's statements are not completely at odds with each other," Sparling wrote in his response.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Oct. 16.

Schoenrock's attorneys also filed a motion to compel that argued the prosecution and Port Huron Police Department had been too slow in turning over evidence and may have withheld exculpatory evidence.

The motion asks the court to require the prosecution to give information on police efforts to retrieve data from the victim's phone. The defense suggests the phone may have had messages that contradicted the victim's statement.

Police reportedly found data on the phone had been deleted and could not be recovered.

"It is necessary for Mr. Schoenrock to know what efforts have been made to obtain data from this phone so that he can determine whether he would like to obtain his own expert to attempt a data retrieval," the motion states.

The defense is also requesting data from several social media accounts belonging to the victim, as well as social media accounts and phone data from an ex-boyfriend she was in contact with after reportedly escaping from Schoenrock.

Sparling responded to the motion with a brief stating all evidence had been turned over to the defense. He said the defense had offered no evidence that the phones or social media accounts contained any exculpatory evidence and that police could not search those devices without a warrant.

"Defense accuses police conduct to be borderline 'unconstitutional' but fails to understand that in order for a search warrant to issue there must be a basis of probable cause," Sparling wrote.

Sparling also pointed out the defense could file a subpoena with social media companies if they believed there was relevant information in the social media accounts.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled at the same time as the motion to sever in Hirsch's case.

Sheonrock has been charged with 10 felonies including torture, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon, and three counts of possession of felony firearm possession.

Hirsch has been charged with torture, unlawful imprisonment and two counts of felony firearm possession.

Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Woman accused of helping in torture case asks for a separate trial