Pretrial Hearing for Former Seaholm Student Set for Today

A pretrial examination for Courtney Thomas, the former student charged with ethnic intimidation, is set for 1 p.m. today in Oakland County Circuit Court.

The exam has been pushed back twice since Thomas . At his arraignment, Thomas's attorney Elbert Hatchett requested a four-week information-gathering period before the pretrial. Then, before Thomas's scheduled examination July 27, the defense and prosecution agreed to an adjournment of the pretrial period until Aug. 31.

Hatchett — who replaced Wendy Barnwell as Thomas’ counsel after the case was passed from the 48th District District Court on June 14 — said he planned to use the extensions to better familiarize himself with the case and that he and the prosecution would discuss options and consider potential dispositions short of trial.

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Brett Chudler said he had no issue with moving the pretrial hearings.

Thomas was charged after . The graffiti was the first in a string of racist incidents at the high school, including more graffiti and racist notes delivered to African-American students and a teacher. Birmingham spokeswoman Marcia Wilkinson said the schools still have no leads or suspects in those cases.

If convicted, Thomas faces up to two years in prison or a $5,000 fine. . After receiving a continuance of the pre-exam period May 24, Thomas waived his preliminary hearing June 14, sending the case to Circuit Court.

Thomas, a senior at Seaholm when the incident occurred, graduated but was barred from participating in commencement activities June 5. He is free on personal bond with a 7 p.m. curfew and a stipulation to stay away from Seaholm and the four students targeted in the graffiti.