MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —
A preliminary hearing for a Martinsburg attorney accused of pointing a handgun at several people at a boat dock party last summer and threatening to shoot them was continued after his legal counsel informed the court his client was in the hospital.Michael Shawn Santa Barbara, 52, of 45 Radnor Lane, Martinsburg, is charged with five misdemeanor counts of brandishing and one misdemeanor count of battery, according to court documents.
Santa Barbara’s attorney, David Camilletti, requested the hearing be continued just before 5 p.m., Monday, less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to start at 2:15 p.m., according to Magistrate Jim Humphrey’s office.
“... the defendant is currently in the hospital for a heart procedure and will be unable to attend the hearing scheduled for (Tuesday),” Camilletti said in a faxed request for a continuance filed in Humphrey’s office.
Police investigated the alleged incident in the Whitings Neck area of Berkeley County on Aug. 15, according to court records.
Santa Barbara, who lives in the area of the reported altercation, told police that he went to the boat dock because everyone in the neighborhood was upset by the noise and traffic caused by a party there, according to court documents.
One alleged victim told police that Santa Barbara struck his girlfriend in the face with the flashlight after she approached him, the documents said.
After the alleged battery, police were told that people at the party began screaming at Santa Barbara, who then “racked” his weapon and ejected a round to show everyone that the gun was loaded and “asked who wants to be the first,” the documents said.
The ejected round was later found in front of the pavilion, and police also found a .380-caliber handgun in Santa Barbara’s vehicle.
When questioned about the altercation, police said Santa Barbara indicated that he “stepped in a little too deep and screwed up,” the documents said.
