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A Columbia City man found guilty of aggravated battery and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2003 will be re-tried in Kosciusko Circuit Court beginning Monday.
Billy Dean Little, 34, of Columbia City, was tried on both charges during the same trial, but according to state law, a person cannot be put on trial for a felony and for being a felon with a weapon at the same time.
Since Little was tried and convicted of both crimes at the same time, he requested a new trial.
Jury selection began today in Little's aggravated battery trial.
Once that trial is complete, the same jury will hear arguments charging him with being a felon in possession of a weapon. Once that trial concludes, Little will face charges of being a habitual offender.
A 12-person jury found Little guilty of shooting Bruce Allen Smith of North Webster, June 4, 2002, after Little, his brother and another man were refused service at Good Times, a bar formerly located on South Buffalo Street, Warsaw.
The gun and a shirt Little was wearing when the shooting took place were later recovered along Crystal Lake Road, where police investigators were told the items could be found. Little apparently changed his shirt after the shooting because he knew police were looking for a man in a white shirt.
Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed handed down a 70-year sentence to Little in April of 2003 for aggravated battery and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, both Class B felony charges, and for being a habitual offender. Little received 20 years for the each of the first two charges, with the habitual offender charge adding 30 years.
Little was previously convicted of felonies in Ohio and in Marshall County.
