Beating victim is transferred to rehab center

COLUMBUS - A 21-year-old Duncan man who was left lying unconscious on a sidewalk outside a city bar after an early August assault has been transferred to a Lincoln rehabilitation center.

Randall “Scotty” Michalak, who had been lying in an Omaha hospital in a coma and breathing with the aid of a respirator for seven weeks, was transferred Monday to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. He was still in a coma this morning.

His alleged assailant, a 26-year-old Columbus man, is awaiting a January trial in Platte County District Court on charges stemming from the Aug. 10 incident outside Reeve's Bar on 11th Street.

Bryan Groene, who has been in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility since his August arrest, is scheduled to go to trial at 9 a.m. Jan. 7 on charges of first-degree assault and being a habitual criminal.

Groene is being held on a bond of 10 percent of $500,000. He was released from the Nebraska State Penitentiary June 21, just 49 days before his August arrest.

First-degree assault is a Class III felony, punishable by a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, $25,000 fine or both and a minimum of one year imprisonment.

Nebraska's habitual criminal statutes provide for enhanced mandatory minimum and maximum sentences for a convicted defendant who “has been twice convicted of a crime, sentenced and committed to prison, in this or any other state ... for terms of not less than one year.”

A conviction on the current charge would be Groene's third felony conviction for the purposes of the habitual criminal law.

As a habitual criminal, Groene could be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum of 60 years.