Royal Oak Principal's Court Hearing Postponed

About two dozen supporters of Principal Michael Greening were in court Friday morning for a preliminary examination conference on embezzlement charges, which was postponed to allow his lawyer time to examine the “volumes” of discovery in the case.

Greening was . the principal, who has , took between $2,000 and up to $40,000 from the school's student activities funds. If convicted, Greening faces up to five years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000 or three times the amount embezzled, whichever is greater, for each charge.

Friday, Judge Daniel Sawicki rescheduled Greening’s preliminary exam conference to June 8 to grant his defense time for review of what Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor John Slevin described as “a couple of thousand pages of discovery.”

Defense attorney Paul Stablein of Royal Oak indicated he discussed with Greening his rights to have a preliminary examination within 14 days of his arraignment and that he waived those rights to give his attorney time to review the prosecution’s evidence.

Sawicki granted the waiver to give the defense time to review the “volumes” of discovery in the case, he said.

About a dozen current and former students were in court today, some dressed in green, to show their support for the principal. Some of the students were part ofat 9:20 a.m.

As Greening walked into the courtroom he appeared relaxed, but made little eye contact with the students.

Outside the courtroom, Greening did not speak to the students as a group. Katrina Gorski, a ROHS freshman, was one of three students who walked up to Greening to talk to him.

“I told him ‘I miss you’ and ‘I support you,’” Gorski said. “He said ‘thank you’ but his lawyer wanted him to leave.”

Gorski said Greening told her it meant a lot to him that she skipped school, but that she shouldn’t have. She said she understood that he "couldn’t be too talkative."

“I told him I have been crying because we just really need him,” Gorski said. “I feel really bad because he teaches his kids there (at the high school). This is such a mess.” 

Greening, a longtime Royal Oak resident, has two daughters who attend Royal Oak High School.