BERRIEN COUNTY COURT NEWS

Recent action in Berrien County Trial Court includes a plea deal for the teen who attacked a Michigan State Police trooper in February and the sentencing of a former Coloma Township police officer.

An Oct. 16 sentencing date has been set for Travis Tyler Wise. Wise accepted a plea deal last week that had the prosecution dropping five of six counts against him. He had been set to go to trial this week.

Wise, 19, of Middlebury, Ind., agreed to plead no contest to one count of assault with intent to commit murder. He will receive a minimum prison sentence of 15 years in exchange for five other charges being dismissed when he is sentenced Oct. 16 before Judge Angela Pasula.

The five other charges being dismissed are assault by strangulation, resisting and obstructing police causing injury, attempting to disarm a police officer, obstruction of justice and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
The assault with intent to murder charge was the most serious, carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison. The resisting and obstructing police causing injury charge could have brought a consecutive sentence into play if Wise had gone to trial.
Assistant Prosecutor Gerald Vigansky said the plea agreement calls for a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years with the maximum term left up to Pasula. Defense attorney Paul Jancha, Jr. said Wise is pleading no contest because of civil liability concerns.

The incident occurred Feb. 20 on U.S. 31 in Niles Township. Trooper Garry Guild had stopped Wise’s half-brother Michael Barber for speeding on what turned out to be a stolen motorcycle and was struggling to arrest Barber.

Wise was a passenger in a car trailing Barber and stopped to help Barber. As Guild testified earlier this year, Wise put him in a chokehold from behind and was cutting off his airway. Guild was able to escape Wise’s choking and Barber’s attempt to grab his gun when two motorists stopped to rescue Guild.

Barber was convicted in a May jury trial of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and assault by strangulation and was sentenced in June to 14 years in prison.

In the sentencing of the former police officer, ex-Coloma Township police officer Kraig Mitchell was sentenced to two years probation for tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. Other charges of possession of cocaine less than 25 grams and possession of analogues were dismissed.

Mitchell, 33, now of Kalamazoo, was charged earlier this year after it was discovered that he took a mixture of heroin and fentanyl from the scene of an overdose death in January in Coloma. Later that day, he was found to be in possession of pills containing codeine that had been in the township’s MedReturn Box where citizens can deposit unused pills.

In sentencings this week in Berrien County Trial Court, three Niles men are going to prison on a variety of charges.
Michael Allen Henderson, 32, of North Fifth Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 50 years on the first-degree CSC count and concurrent sentences of 68 months to 15 years in prison on the other two.

Henderson has credit for 81 days already served and must pay $1,684 in fines and costs. He must register as a sex offender and must be on lifetime electronic monitoring.

The incidents occurred between January 2014 and June 2017 at a home in Niles against two female underage victims. He watched the two girls undress, took pictures of them and molested them.

Henderson said in court that he was glad he was caught and apologized for his actions. “They can get help and I can get help,” he said.
Pasula called Henderson’s actions a matter of “unrelenting abuse over a sustained period of time.” “You threatened them, they lived in fear of your actions. You robbed them of their innocence,” she said.

Jeffrey Durell Allen, 34, of Cedar Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing police and was sentenced to 16 months to two years in prison. He has credit for 24 days already served and must pay $1,098 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred Aug. 6 when he resisted and obstructed Niles police officer Nathan Adamczyk when the officer responded to a domestic violence complaint. Allen has been to jail 16 times previously and to prison four times before.

James Jabar Kirtdoll, 19, of South 13th Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to fleeing and eluding police and was sentenced to 16 months to five years in prison. He has credit for no time served because he was on parole at the time of the incident. He must pay $1,098 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred July 31 when he fled officer Jim Kidwell at Lincoln and Clay Streets in Niles. Kirtdoll jumped out of his car which struck a house on South St. Joseph Ave. He has two previous prison sentences for home invasion.