CADILLAC, Mich. (Court TV) — A couple accused of torturing and killing their daughter and cutting her unborn child from her womb appeared in court on Monday, asking a judge to dismiss the charges against them, citing what they say are prosecutors’ errors.
Cortney Bartholomew appears in court on Nov. 9, 2026. (Court TV)
Cortney Bartholomew, victim Rebecca Park‘s biological mother, and her husband, Bradly Bartholomew, have pleaded not guilty to torture and murder charges in the victim’s death. Park’s body was found three weeks after she was reported missing in early November 2025. Her infant has never been found.
The couple’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to continue for a second day on Monday, but the proceedings were derailed when attorneys for both defendants alerted Judge Corey Wiggins to discrepancies in the discovery prosecutors had provided them, and asked for charges against their clients to be dismissed as a result.
Bradly Bartholomew’s attorney, Harry Mihas, said that late Sunday night he and Cortney Bartholomew’s attorney, Tracy McCarn-Dinehart, noticed the documents the state had given them didn’t match. “We don’t know what we don’t know,” Mihas said. “What we can tell is there is a 3,000-page, roughly 3,000-page discrepancy in the amount of discovery, at least that’s what it looks like.”
Bradly Bartholomew stands in court on Nov. 9, 2026. (Court TV)
The prosecution’s Bates numbers, an evidentiary system used to identify pieces of evidence, don’t match between the two defendants. Bates numbers are used in hearings so all sides can clearly identify what is being discussed in court, but because the numbers don’t match, the defense said, the numbers were useless.
“This has been a long journey, and we came here ready to ask for a dismissal with prejudice,” Mihas said. “This is not a soap opera. This is not a made-for-TV drama. This is a sad, tragic state where we have a person dead, a fetus missing and two clients who are wrongly accused. We need the same discovery labeled the same way so that we can communicate across both parties and the prosecution with the court. Otherwise, we are going to have a confusing mess on our hands, a cluster, as it were, that is going to bounce back to us from the Court of Appeals asking, ‘Why did you let this happen?'”
McCarn-Dinehart echoed Mihas’ comments. “I can’t tell you if we have the same things. I can tell you that, based on where my Bates numbers start and where their Bates numbers start, they are significantly different in the documents,” she said. “This is a joint [preliminary hearing]. The Bates numbers are identification numbers so that everybody can be on the same page so the record doesn’t get any more muddy than it already is, and this record is, substantially, full of mud.” McCarn-Dinehart said that for one specific document, the Bates number she was given was 9228, while the number Mihas received for the same thing was 6276.
This undated photo provided by the Wexford County Sheriff’s Office shows Rebecca Park. (Wexford County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutor Johanna Carey acknowledged there were discrepancies in the numbers, but said they resulted from how the department’s case management systems worked. “I don’t think anyone’s missing 3,000 pages,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”
“I haven’t received any kind of master list from the prosecution to say, ‘OK, this is what’s been sent to all parties,'” McCarn-Dinehart said. “And really, that’s what I’m asking for. I’m asking for a master list so that we can sit down between all three tables and be sure we’re all operating in the same ballpark so that one of us isn’t in Fenway while the other one’s in Comerica.”
Wiggins adjourned the hearing for the day, ordering Carey and her team to meet with the defense attorneys and go “piece-by-piece” through the evidence to see what they have and don’t have. He also agreed with McCarn-Dinehart that the state should create a master list and ensure that all Bates numbers line up.
Wiggins said he would take the motion to dismiss the charges under advisement.
