Asbury, Livingston to be arraigned Tuesday in Iowa

Two men accused of felony assault while on Cloverdale Community School Corporation business are to be arraigned in an Iowa courtroom on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

School board member Brian Asbury and former high school wrestling coach Steven Livingston are charged with felony assault-willful injury stemming from a Nov. 3 bar fight in Independence, Iowa.

The two men will be arraigned in a 9 a.m. hearing in Buchanan County (Iowa) District Court.

The charges were filed by the Buchanan County attorney following an investigation by the Independence Police Department.

Asbury was already arraigned on Dec. 6 for a misdemeanor assault charge relating to the case. He is set for a Jan. 3 pre-trial conference and a Jan. 23 trial in that case.

However, it is unclear if these dates will change following Tuesday's hearing.

Asbury and Livingston were reportedly in Iowa in early November to pick up wrestling mats for the school.

The police complaint alleges that the two Indiana men assaulted two Iowa residents outside of an Independence bar.

One of the men suffered serious injuries to his left eye which have required at least one surgery to correct.

Asbury, 38, of Cloverdale, was arrested the night of the altercation on charges of assault, serious misdemeanor and disorderly conduct after admitting to Independence Police that he hit both men several times.

He spent the night in the Buchanan County Jail.

Livingston, 34, of Spencer, denied hitting anyone and was not charged with a crime until warrants were issued for both men for the felony counts on Nov. 10.

The arrest landed Asbury back in Putnam Superior Court for violating probation in a 2012 driving while intoxicated conviction.

He pleaded guilty to probation violation and spent the remaining 16 days of his sentence in the Putnam County Jail.

Livingston was placed on administrative leave from his position as wrestling coach and middle school administrative assistant and technology integrator.

The school board later accepted his resignation, effective at the end of the current school year.

Asbury remains a member of the Cloverdale School Board, although he missed the December meeting while lodged at the Putnam County Jail.

The board censured Asbury at the meeting, although the body has no power to remove him from office at this time.

"We trust that Mr. Asbury will do what is in the best interest of the students of the district and consider resigning his current position," board president Duane Huge said in an official statement. "This is his decision to make -- not ours for him. His resignation would in no way be an admission of guilt for any pending charges against him, but would serve the best interest of the students and community in taking responsibility for his behavior."

Under Indiana law, an elected official must be convicted of a felony before he or she can be removed from office. At this time, Asbury has a misdemeanor conviction for driving while intoxicated and remains merely accused of a felony in the Iowa assault case.