Reports on DNA, Mental Competence Move Cipriano, Young Hearings

Sixth District Circuit Court hearings for Tucker Cipriano, 19, and Mitchell Young, 21, charged in the deadly April 16 attack on Cipriano's family, ended this afternoon with new court dates. 

Attorneys are waiting on two reports, including one that will help determine whether Tucker Cipriano is competent to stand trial and whether he was psychotic during the attack.

Both men  to charges of first-degree, premeditated murder, attempted murder and armed robbery, in connection with the April 16 murder of Tucker's father, Bob Cipriano, and attacks that critically injured his mother, Rose, and brother Salvatore, 17, in their Farmington Hills home.

Young walked into the courtroom first, shackled and facing the judge from where he stood in the jury box. Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor John Skrzynski told Judge Shalina Kumar that analysis of DNA evidence had not yet been received from the Michigan State Police crime lab. He also noted that Michael McCarthy, Young's attorney, had filed several motions in connection with the case. 

Kumar set a court date of Sept. 26, 1:30 p.m., to hear the motions and hold a hearing on evidence. 

Tucker Cipriano walked into the courtroom next, smiling briefly at two spectators who sat in the front row. His head remained bowed as his attorney Mitchell Ribitwer and Skrzynski spoke with Kumar.

Ribitwer said he is still waiting for a written report from the Forensic Center for Psychiatry, which evaluated Cipriano. Kumar set a court date of Sept. 25, 1:30 p.m., for a pretrial conference, which will involve scheduling motion hearings and setting a trial date, which Ribitwer estimates will be sometime in 2013. 

After the hearing, he said he expects the report on Cipriano's competence to stand trial within two to three weeks. He said his main concern is whether Cipriano was psychotic at the time of the attacks. There is evidence that Cipriano was using K-2, a synthetic drug, and that long-term K-2 use can lead to psychosis, Ribitwer said. 

"Based on our research, he very well could have been psychotic at the time of the incident," he added. 

Tucker Cipriano has been informed about the , Ribitwer said. 

"I can't tell you that he's getting family support," he added, describing his client as "withdrawn" and "very despondent". 

Ribitwer said he is asking for a separate trial, because some of the statements Young made to police could be damaging to Cipriano. He added that he believes those statements are false.