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Tucker Cipriano, Friend Pleaded Not Guilty to Murder Charges

Tucker Cipriano and Mitchell Young will stand trial in Circuit Court.

 

Tucker Cipriano, 19, and Mitchell Young, 20, pleaded not guilty on the five felony charges they face in connection with the April 16 attack that left Tucker's father dead and his mother and brother critically injured.

The two appeared in Oakland County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon for an arraignment and face the following charges:

  •  First-degree premeditated murder
  •  Attempted murder
  •   Armed robbery

The two were arraigned separately, and each arraignment lasted just a few minutes. Neither Young nor Cipriano spoke, as their attorneys spoke on their behalf.

Young is now scheduled to have a pre-trial on July 31 at 1:30 p.m. in Oakland County Circuit Court. Cipriano's pre-trial is set for Sept. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in order to allow for enough time to complete a mental health examination, which his lawyer requested.

Cipriano’s lawyer, Mitchell Ribitwer, said he wants to see if Cipriano is competent enough to understand what is going on with the trial and to assist him as his lawyer in his defense. Ribitwer said that he would like to see if Cipriano’s long-term drug use could have impacted his mental health.

“Some of the things he has said to me raises concern with regard to his mental status and his ability to recall a number of certain events,” Ribitwer said in a press conference after the arraignment.

Ribitwer added that he might be contesting the statements of the police in the future depending on the results of the competency exam, which could shed light on Cipriano’s state of mind when talking to police.  

In a press conference after the hearing, Young’s attorney said he plans to make a motion to ask for separate trials for two defendants.

Related Topics: Cipriano, Cipriano Trial, Farmington Hills Police, Homicide, and Murder

Jessica Carreras

1:26 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The debate on Facebook is around whether or not they should plead temporary insanity, due to the effects of K2. Do you think this is a viable argument?

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Youssef

8:45 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

The problem with that is Cipriano, Young, and a third witness (Ian Zinderman) allegedly conspired together beforehand and planned out the attack on Tucker's family. I don’t think a temporary insanity plea will hold much merit if the prosecution convinces the jury that this was a premeditated murder.

Source: http://farmington-mi.patch.com/articles/testimony-in-cipriano-trial-details-attacks-on-the-farmington-hills-family

Debra L. Van Buren

8:22 am on Friday, June 22, 2012

Considering the facts and/or circumstances in this particular case, I highly doubt that a temporary insanity plea will hold any merit, if the prosecution is successful in proving its' case based on premeditation. Moreover, temporary insanity matters should be evaluated thoroughly with psychiatrsts, pscychologists and other related mental health professionals before final judgment is made. It would be an outrage if temporarity insanity pleas could acquit individuals in this case, in my opinion, based upon the severity of violence and related factors which ensued.

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