By DEBRA HAIGHT

Special to Leader Publications

One of the men who assaulted a Michigan State Police trooper in February was found guilty on a number of charges Friday.

It took a jury of six men and six women nearly four hours to reach the verdict in the trial of Mishawaka resident Michael Scott Barber on assault and other charges stemming from the attack on MPS Trooper Garry Guild. The verdict in the two-day trial was announced early Thursday evening.

Barber, 21, will be sentenced June 19 and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on the most serious charges, assault by strangulation and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, both as a habitual offender. His bond was revoked Thursday and he remains in jail.

He was also found guilty of third degree fleeing and eluding police, assault of a police officer causing injury, receiving, concealing and possession of stolen property, and attempting to disarm a police officer of a weapon.

The incident occurred Feb. 20 when Guild saw Barber speeding southward on the U.S. 31 freeway. After a chase, Barber went off the road and crashed the stolen motorcycle. He then attacked Guild, who was also attacked by Barber’s half-brother, Trevor Wise, 19, of Middlebury. Wise was trailing Barber in a car.

Wise’s trial has been delayed pending a forensic examination to see if he is competent to stand trial. Wise faces similar charges to Barber.

Earlier Thursday, jurors heard from four prosecution witnesses. The prosecution rested shortly after the noon break and defense attorney Scott Sanford did not call any witnesses on his client’s behalf.

Medical expert Dr. Stephen Cohle, of Grand Rapids, testified about the effects of strangulation and said Guild could have been within minutes of dying from Wise’s chokehold on his neck if two “good Samaritan” bystanders had not stopped to help.

His testimony corroborated testimony Wednesday from Guild, who said he felt like he was within seconds of passing out. The seriousness of the situation was also brought home by the testimony of the two bystanders, as well as the dashcam video first shown Wednesday.

Keith Pepple, of Plainwell, said he stopped after seeing Guild struggling with Barber. He said that he grabbed Wise to get him off of Guild and saw Barber reaching for Guild’s gun belt, which caused him to fear that both he and Guild could have been shot and killed.

Jerry Burnham, of Berrien Springs, said he stopped at the urging of his wife. He ran up and worked with Pepple to subdue Wise as Guild put handcuffs on Barber. He recaptured Barber after Barber escaped from Guild’s patrol car.

The last to testify Thursday was Buchanan Police Officer Dave Capron, who was the first officer on the scene after Guild. Capron said he heard Guild say he had had trouble breathing after Wise choked him.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Scott Sanford claimed the case had been “overcharged” and that the prosecution had not proven that Barber intended to strangle or murder Guild. He called the incident a matter of two brothers looking out for each other.

Assistant Prosecutor Gerald Vigansky relied on testimony and the dashcam video as he went through the elements of the six crimes during his closing argument.

“The testimony was clear that Mr. Pepple was so concerned about the defendant finding the trooper’s weapon and killing both of them,” he said.

“Without them, Trooper Guild wouldn’t be here and he’d be immortalized on the bluff in St. Joseph,” he added. “ … If they hadn’t shown up, he would have been in the deathhold for over three minutes before Officer Capron came. He would have been dead.”

Guild expressed appreciation for Pepple’s and Burnham’s actions after the verdict.

“I’m thankful they were there and stepped up,” Guild said. “When I needed them, they rose to the occasion. This was one example of where I was a victim of a crime and other citizens stepped up to help me.”

Sanford called the verdict a victory for his client as he was not convicted of the most serious crime, assault with intent to murder, which carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison. He had not disputed several of the charges, but disputed the claim that Barber had intended to murder Guild.