Detroit Judge Sets Preliminary Exam Date in Samantha Woll Case

Samantha Woll and suspect Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos

A preliminary exam to determine if there's sufficient evidence to proceed to trial in the October fatal stabbing of downtown Detroit synagogue President Samantha Woll is scheduled for Jan. 16.

Detroit 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King held a probable cause conference Tuesday and set the date.

Defense attorney Brian Brown insisted last week that his client, Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, is innocent.

"I haven't gotten any material from the prosecutors yet," Brown said, according to the Detroit News. "I believe once I get everything and these proceedings start, we'll show that the evidence is all circumstantial, and that my client had no involvement in this crime."

In an email to the News, assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller stated:  "Brown has some of the discovery at this point. However, there is outstanding discovery that he will be receiving."

The News previously reported that during a Dec. 13 arraignment, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey said the evidence against the defendant included a jacket found in Jackson-Bolanos' girlfriend's home that was stained with Woll's blood.