One suspect in Bluffton backyard beating case faces trial in mid-November

One of the suspects charged in the brutal attack on two men as they grilled steaks in a Bluffton backyard a year ago Friday is expected to go to trial the week of Nov. 16, a spokesman from the 14th Circuit Court Solicitor's Office said.

The trial will take place in Beaufort County General Sessions Court and will be prosecuted by assistant solicitor Alec Robinson, communications director Daniel Brownstein said.

Kuwan A. Fields, who was 19 at the time of the attack, was arrested Nov. 25, 2008. He and two others, Theophilus D. Hamilton and Harry C. Battle, who were 16 at the time of their arrest, are charged in the Oct. 30 attack on Brian Lanese, then 33, and his friend Jeffery Wooten, then 24.

Hamilton and Battle face charges of assault and battery with intent to kill in Lanese's beating. Both were released on bond from the Beaufort County Detention Center following their arrests. Their trial date has not been set.

Fields faces a simple assault charge in the attack on Wooten. He remains in jail.

All three suspects face burglary and criminal conspiracy charges. All three are being charged as adults.

Lanese and Wooten were attacked as they grilled steaks outside Lanese's home in Bluffton. The attackers burst from the woods wearing masks similar to those worn in the movie "Scream" and beat both men.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said the suspects were attempting to burglarize Lanese's backyard shed before the attack.

Lanese spent nearly a month in Savannah's Memorial University Medical Center. He suffered serious head trauma and internal bleeding, underwent multiple surgeries and had been in a medically induced coma, spending several weeks in the intensive care unit.

Wooten suffered minor injuries.

Lanese has filed suit against Beaufort County EMS, alleging paramedics mishandled his treatment following the beating.

As the year anniversary of the attack passed Friday, Lanese's wife, Tracy, said her family awaits the conclusion of the trial to put the incident behind them.

"It will be just another chapter in this whole journey closed," she said.