Trial postponed for Amber Alert dad
Douglas Ball Jr. entered St. Clair County Judge Michael West's courtroom wearing orange jail garb and in shackles. He smiled slightly and waved to one person in the audience.
Ball, 39, was in court to set bond and to address attorney Sharon Parrish's request to withdraw from his case because of scheduling conflicts with the proposed trial dates.
Ball was arrested Aug. 21 following the murder of his wife, 30-year-old Lydia Ball. He is charged with open murder and torture.
West extended Ball's right to a speedy trial from 90 to 180 days, with the new trial date set to Jan. 12 to allow Parrish to remain on the case. West also set Ball's bond at $1 million. He's been in the county jail without bond.
St. Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Deegan said a high bond was needed due to Ball being a flight risk and a danger. Deegan said that Ball has failed to report to court for prior offenses in the past and a bench warrant had to be issued in a prior, unrelated case.
"We do believe there is quite a bit of evidence against this individual," Deegan said during the hearing. "We believe a conviction of life without parole is likely."
Parrish said a $1 million bond was unreasonable. Parrish requested a $50,000 bond.
West, ruling in Deegan's favor, said an extremely high bond is appropriate due to the evidence and history presented related to Ball.
Lydia Ball was found dead in her home in the 1200 block of Rawlins Street in Port Huron. Lydia Ball was last seen with her husband, who made efforts to conceal the crime, divert witnesses from discovering her body and fled with their son.
Lydia Ball suffered numerous blows to her head, was found in the basement of her home covered in bleach and had been violently killed, Deegan said.
An Amber Alert was issued Saturday night, Aug. 20, after the couple’s 5-year-old son was missing from the home Lydia Ball was found dead in. The son was rescued by the Oakland County SWAT team at Douglas Ball Jr.’s mother’s home in Orion Township around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Douglas Ball Jr. was arrested at the same time.
St. Clair County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz testified during Ball's preliminary examination, that based on the condition of her body, she was likely dead for a couple of days before being found. He said Lydia Ball suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to the head, hands and upper extremities.
He testified she was killed by one of 14 blows to the skull.
Contact Nicole Hayden at (810) 989-6279 or nhayden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleandpig.