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This week marks one month since David and Christa Wielechowski got married. You've seen these folks on TV...they're the wedding couple who wound up getting arrested hours after exchanging vows. What began as a fight between the bride and groom turned into much more, and we now know about what witnesses claim went down at the Holiday Inn on McKnight Road.
The Wielechowskis appeared before Magistrate District Judge Richard Opiela in West View for a preliminary hearing. I for one thought this would last about an hour. It instead took more than three. That's due in part to the testimony of several members of another bridal party who also had a reception at the hotel, and tussled with David and Christa.
They talked about how the fight started on the seventh floor of the hotel, but later wound up in an elevator...battling all the way to the lobby. That's where the police were waiting for them. What's below is actual testimony from the hearing that wasn't able for time purposes, to be aired.
The couple, dressed in dark clothing...held hands for much of the proceedings and didn't say a word in court or to the press afterward. However, they've previously said they're not guilty of the charges against them. You be the judge.
First witness: Laura Florian. She was getting off an elevator at the hotel and says she saw David kicking Christa, who was lying on the floor. "I just yelled HEY!!" she said. Then Florian offered to help the bride.
"I walked over to her, extended my hand and asked if she was OK," Florian told the court. "David told me not to help...and said his wife was an (expletive)."
She said Mrs. Wielechowski was lying in the fetal position, sobbing at the time.
Moments later, Florian's son, Ronald then appeared to see why David was yelling at his mom. Not long after, the two were fighting. Laura said she tried to break it up.
When asked by defense attorneys, Mrs. Florian said she never actually saw David or Christa throw a punch.
Ronald told the court David had insulted his mom, which is why he stepped up.
"He pushed my mom and that's when I grabbed him and shoved him to the ground Ronald said.”I felt someone pull me off of him, and then Christa sucker punched me in my left eye. I pushed her off me."
Then, Ronald Florian Sr took the stand, and told the court how he wound up in the fight.
"I heard commotion in the seventh floor hallway. I see the man (pointing to David Wielechowski) take a swing at my son, and I put David against the wall. David kneed me in the groin. I grabbed him in a headlock and I hit him. He drove me into the vending machine."
Florian then told the court how he and Christa also got into it. "She hit me in the nose. When I went down, she was hitting me in the head."
Then he said the fight wound up in an elevator, and that it stopped twice before winding up in the lobby. "Christa tried to get out once, but I pulled her back in. When the door opened again, David kicked me a second time in the groin. He then threw a trash can and planter into the elevator."
Joe Vacca, Ronald Jr.'s Father-in-Law, was also injured in the fight. He came into court wearing a purple cast on his right arm. Vacca says the fight caused him to tear a ligament, requiring surgery. That's in addition to needing oral surgery for a
missing tooth.
"Christa physically jumped on my back..she was just brutal", Vacca said.
The last person to testify was Ross Township Police Officer James Fitch.
"As I pulled up to the hotel entrance, I saw a male lying on the floor near the doors. That was David. I requested medics
respond. Christa appeared to be highly intoxicated and agitated, Fitch said. "She was babbling incoherently."
Fitch told the court he tried seven times to get Christa to give him the name of someone he could call for her. She didn't give it to him. "I didn't want to arrest her at first since she was still in her wedding dress, but she was completely uncooperative. I then placed her under arrest."
After testimony was over, the final list of charges was decided upon. Both David and Christa are facing five counts of Simple Assault, one count of Criminal Mischief and Disorderly Conduct, one charge of Criminal Conspiracy. Christa is also charged with public intoxication.
Lawyers for the couple say they feel confident those charges will be dropped at the trial.
David's attorney, Robert Mielnicki questions the testimony given, saying some the descriptions of what took place don't match up, or give an accurate account of what happened. Mielinicki says there are a number of people who will testify during the trial that the couple did nothing wrong.
The Wielechowskis will be formally arraigned in July, and their trial will likely start in the fall. |
