An evidentiary hearing has been ordered in the sexual assault case against a Livingston County man.

25-year-old Justin Michael Bailey of Oceola Township is charged with two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct for a November 2014 incident in which he is alleged to have raped a 17-year-old girl at a friend’s party after she became sick from drinking too much.

The Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office requested evidence be excluded that indicated DNA collected from the alleged victim was from two different males; Bailey, and an unidentified source. They maintained it violated the state’s rape shield law, which protects victim’s sexual history being used against them. After a protracted legal battle, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in February that the evidence of the second male DNA donor in the case does not fall within the scope of the rape-shield statute, but that the prosecutor should be allowed to file any appropriate motions or make any appropriate objections challenging the admission of the evidence.

In a hearing last week, Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Geddis ruled that an evidentiary hearing will be held to decide that issue. (JK)