LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Attorneys representing a St. Johns man facing murder charges have filed an emergency motion asking for a bond.
Attorney Matthew Newburg and Nicole A. Samuel say they believe they’ve found evidence pointing to the involvement of another man in the 2018 murder of 68-year-old Chong Yang. They represent Robert Rodway, 34.
Rodway and Thomas Olson, 34, of Grand Blanc Twp., were charged in 2022 with the murder of Chong Yang. Attorney General Dana Nessel argues the two men killed Yang while they were hunting. After the murder, they stole the victim’s headlamp, knife, backpack and shotgun.
“Mr. Rodway and I were preparing for his trial and discovered information that the Bath Township Police Department had in their possession since 2019 but chose not to review,” Newburg tells 6 News tonight. “We filed a motion outlining its significance to the case against Mr. Rodway to bring it to the attention of the Attorney General and Mr. Olson’s counsel.”
The motion was argued Tuesday in Clinton County Circuit Court, but the judge has not ruled yet.
The motion “requests this Court to grant Mr. Rodway bond due to the discovery of exculpatory evidence that supports Mr. Rodway’s innocence in the murder of Chong Yang.”
Newburg and Samuel argue in the brief that the court denied Rodway’s bond in June because he may “present danger” to the community. But the evidence the team has uncovered undermines that claim and points the finger at another man.
After laying out evidence of “hatred” against Rodway by Det. Bryan Miller, the attorneys argue he ignored evidence implicating another man. Among that evidence is cellphone data showing the third man was in the area of the killing at the time it happened, gutting his alibi for the time of the murder.
The third man the defense lawyers are pointing at also had text messages on his phone with his wife. Despite telling investigators he had not gone hunting the night of the murder, his wife asked him in a text if “the boys” went hunting with him that night. That was missed, the attorneys argue because Miller did not review the large amount of data downloaded from that person’s cell phone.
In the files were also several tips pointing to this individual – including allegations he would refer to anyone who was Asian with “derogatory comments and use racially insensitive terms.” Another tipster indicated this third man held a grudge against Asians because his father was killed in Vietnam.
In yet another tip, the man the defense attorneys are pointing at was identified as appearing in the area of the shooting, noting he had been hunting there the night before – when the murder occurred.
The lawyers conclude their motion by arguing that “with this new evidence the case against him has dramatically changed.”
Rodway is scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 27.
