Trial begins in 2007 baseball bat assault

 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By RICK SETCHELL/ Plattsmouth Journal

PLATTSMOUTH — The assault trial of Travis Meisinger began Tuesday after nearly a year of delays. Meisinger, 19, is accused of beating Anthony Premo with a bat and critically injuring him Sept. 9.

Before opening arguments began, Meisinger’s attorney, Michael Ziskey, asked for and was granted an order of sequestration — keeping witnesses waiting to testify outside the courtroom until needed.

In his opening statement, Cass County Attorney Nathan Cox described the events of the evening of Sept. 8 and the early morning of Sept. 9.

[+]Enlarge

He said a group of young people from the Weeping Water area had gathered and one of their friends began receiving calls from her ex-boyfriend. Justin Johnson was repeatedly calling the girl and Joshua Hauschild, 22, took exception to his tone, Cox said.

Cox said Hauschild, Meisinger, Anthony Houchin, 18,  and several others drove to Plattsmouth, where they were jumped by a number of young people with weapons. After escaping, they returned to Meisinger’s car, grabbed bats from the trunk and returned. As Premo walked onto the front porch of his house, he was struck on the arm and then the head with a baseball bat, Cox said.

“He goes down like a ton of bricks,” he said. “The critical event is when the parties are first separated. It’s over. Instead, they grab bats to get their piece of justice.”

Ziskey said this was a situation where something is expected but something totally unexpected occurs. He said Meisinger had no intentions of getting into a fight, and that he just wanted to talk, “free of anger.”

“He saw people emerge with bats and clubs,” Ziskey said. “He runs, he trips, he falls and takes blows to his head and back before he can run.”

Ziskey said Meisinger went back to Premo’s porch for an explanation, and brought a bat for protection. He added that going to the house and returning to the porch was a mistake, but not, “intentional assault.”

The jury also heard testimony from Plattsmouth Police officer Jeremy Shook, the first officer on the scene. Shook described the chaos and the condition of Premo, who he had known previously.

“I didn’t even recognize him,” he said.

When Cox asked Joshua Hauschild to describe what happened, he invoked his fifth amendment rights. His attorney, Christopher Perrone, asked for a motion in writing granting his client immunity from his testimony, which was granted.

Hauschild said he he had been smoking marijuana, and he and his brother, Dustin, had been drinking beer before they met up with the rest of the group.

Hauschild said at one point he answered the phone and began arguing with Johnson before challenging him. On the way to Plattsmouth, he said, he learned that Johnson was a minor and did not want to fight. As Hauschild, Meisinger and Houchin approached the Premo house, Hauschild said, they saw Johnson beckoning them on; then they were attacked.

“They all had weapons,” Hauschild testified. “They had bats and golf clubs. There were 15 or 20 of them.”

Hauschild said he escaped but Houchin and Meisinger were hit repeatedly. Hauschild got to the car, where his brother drove them away, but they returned to find Houchin and Meisinger. Cox asked if they ever considered not returning to the Premo residence.

“Well, we’d just been beaten with bats,” Hauschild said.

When they all got together,  Hauschild said, Meisinger grabbed two bats and handed one to Hauschild. As they approached the porch, Houchin took the bat from Hauschild. They stood on the porch challenging people inside the house to come out. When Premo came out, Hauschild said, he had his right arm raised and his hand was in a fist. Houchin struck his arm with a bat first, Hauschild said, and Hauschild ran from the porch but heard a thud.

Ziskey asked if Meisinger was able to see who was on the other side of the picture window door.

“No,” Hauschild said. “I only know what I saw.”

Court adjourned and will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.