A plea offer will be made to dressage trainer Michael Barisone, indicted in connection with the shooting of a former student, Morris County, N.J., Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn said during a virtual court hearing today.
Barisone’s next appearance before Judge Stephen Taylor in Morristown is set for mid-April. The reserve rider on the 2008 Olympic dressage team has been incarcerated in the Morris County Correctional Facility without bail for 18 months, but supplemental discovery material is still being exchanged between the defense and the state. Schellhorn said he hopes to have more discovery for Barisone’s attorney, Ed Bilinkas, within six weeks.
“I also anticipate at some point before the next court appearance I will make a formal offer to Mr. Barisone, but I’m not at that point yet,” Schellhorn stated.
Barisone has been in custody since a fight at his Long Valley farm with Rob Goodwin and rider Lauren Kanarek, who lived at the facility and boarded horses there. She was hospitalized after being shot twice in the chest during the Aug. 7 incident.
Michael Barisone on Neruda in the Invitational at the World Cup finals in Las Vegas. (Photo © 2007 by Nancy Jaffer)
The trainer had been trying to get the couple evicted, but calls to the police had not resolved the matter.
Two days after the shooting, Barisone was added to the SafeSport and U.S. Equestrian Federation’s ineligibility lists. He entered a not guilty plea to a December indictment on two counts of attempted murder and two counts of possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
The volume of material involved in the case meant delays as the defense dealt with mountains of evidence and social media posts.
During a hearing last March, Bilinkas said, “I want to make sure I have all the discovery before I start making any decisions” about how to proceed with the matter.
Judge Taylor said in January 2020 that were the case to go before a jury, speedy trial requirements would mean a June 2020 date for a trial. But with the onset of Covid restrictions, there have been no live trials and the courts are operating virtually, though the judge said he hoped by May that motions at least could be heard in the court.