Ingham County assistant prosecutor Kimberly Hesse holds up a plastic water pitcher while cross-examining MSU alumnus Meng Long Li Jan. 30 at 30th Circuit Court in the Ingham County Courthouse, 315 S. Jefferson St, Mason, Michigan. The water pitcher is a major piece of evidence involved in crimes that were committed Jan. 31, 2014, at Limit Pool & Karaoke Club, 2800 E. Grand River Ave. and had been used to repeatedly beat the student who was attacked that evening. Allyson Telgenhof/The State News.
More than three months after a hung jury was declared, Meng Long Li, the alumnus accused of assaulting another Chinese student with a plastic water pitcher at a karaoke bar on Jan. 31, 2014, appeared before a jury again Tuesday for the start of his retrial.
The 24-year-old faces three counts for his alleged connection to the assault of fellow alumnus Yan Li at a Meridian Township karaoke bar the night of the 2014 Chinese New Year.
Li is charged with the intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the LSJ.
Opening statements were heard from both the prosecutor and the defense attorney, and their arguments echoed much of the same from the first trial.
In Ingham County assistant prosecuting attorney Kimberly Hesse's opening statement Tuesday, she alleged that on the night of Jan. 31, 2014, Yan Li recognized Meng Long Li from a prior scuffle at a separate karaoke bar in November 2013. She said it was at this point Meng Long Li confronted Yan Li, said, "Remember me?" and followed Li back to the private room where he was celebrating with friends.
There, Hesse said, Meng Long Li pushed Yan Li's girlfriend aside and began beating Yan Li over the head with a plastic beer pitcher. Yan Li suffered lacerations to the back of his head that required three sutures and 10 staples to repair the wound, she said.
Hesse also continued allegations from the first trial that Meng Long Li and his friends are part of a gang that goes out to drink and pick fights to assert their dominance, saying they are part of a group known as "Chengguan" — named after a lower-level police authority in China.
On the contrary, defense attorney Chris Bergstrom said this is a case of misidentification. Meng Long Li denies being part of the "Chengguan" group, and says it's more of a joke than anything else. Meng Long Li previously stated the group is just a bunch of friends who hang out and play basketball.
After Yan Li was admitted to the hospital, he was given the opportunity to disclose to hospital staff the names of those responsible for his assault. He gave no names at that time.
It was later that Yan Li gave the names of Meng Long Li and former MSU student Shan Gao.
Since then, Gao was cleared of all charges against him in February 2015, when a jury found him not guilty.
Bergstrom also alleges that while Meng Long Li did confront Yan Li in the karaoke bar in January, it was to question Yan Li as to why he was asking around for his phone number.
In addition, during the time of the attack Bergstrom alleges Meng Long Li was behind a group of about 15 people and had no direct involvement in Yan Li's assault.
The trial will resume Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
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