Dad gets new hearing for murder of "missing" 4-month-old daughter (Ludington, Michigan)

We've posted on this case many times over the past few years. The accused killer dad is SEAN MICHAEL PHILLIPS.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/01/baby_kate_murder_hearing_for_s_2.html

Baby Kate murder hearing for Sean Phillips gets new date

By John S. Hausman on January 09, 2014 at 12:44 PM, updated January 09, 2014 at 2:23 PM

LUDINGTON, MI -- Sean Michael Phillips’ preliminary examination on a charge of murdering his infant daughter, "Baby Kate" Katherine Phillips, has been rescheduled to April 3 and 4.

The hearing had been scheduled for today, Jan. 9, and Friday, Jan. 10. The adjournment was at the request of the defense, which requested additional time to prepare.

A preliminary examination is a hearing at which a district judge hears evidence and decides whether a felony case is strong enough to send to trial in circuit court.

Phillips, 24, is serving a state prison sentence of 10 to 15 years for unlawful imprisonment of his daughter. A Mason County jury convicted him of that in April 2012. The Michigan Court of Appeals last month upheld that conviction and sentencing.

In the pending case, Phillips is charged with open murder. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola accuse Phillips of killing his 4½-month-old daughter on June 29, 2011, the last day anyone else saw her. He was charged Oct. 4, 2013, more than two years after the baby went missing. The case will be prosecuted jointly by Spaniola and an assistant attorney general.

Baby Kate’s body has never been found.