By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
The current COVID-19 coronavirus crisis has had an effect on all aspects of people’s lives and all parts of society from church and other private gatherings to businesses and government.
One of the areas most effected in government has been the court system. Court access and operations were first changed after a mid-March Michigan Supreme Court directive limiting the number of people in offices and courtrooms to 10.
That directive also ordered local courts to adjourn all civil jury trials until May and most criminal jury trials where defendants are not in custody. Other proceedings are being done via phone, video and mail.
That directive and practice has translated into much smaller dockets in area courts. For example, the Niles courthouse only had one sentencing on Monday and the Niles court staff is working shorter hours Monday through Wednesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had other effects on the courts. With the public barred from the courthouse and the 10 person limit on gatherings, sentencing hearings have featured only the attorneys, the judge, the bailiff and the court reporter in the courtroom. Defendants are appearing via closed circuit television from the jail.
Robert James Baldwin, 59, formerly of
Berrien Springs and now homeless, pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to 16 months to five years in prison. He must pay $198 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred Nov. 5 at a residence on Rocky Weed Road in Oronoko Township with the victim being mentally and physically impaired woman.
Berrien County Assistant Jerry Vigansky reported that this incident occurred subsequent to Baldwin’s plea in an earlier case of aggravated indecent exposure. Baldwin ended up being sentenced to probation in that case which stemmed from a March, 2019 incident.
In the current case, two counts of aggravated indecent exposure and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, Vigansky said. Baldwin was also not sentenced as a habitual offender.
In Cass Circuit Court, similar practices have been put in place as the Law and Courts Building along with other county facilities are closed to the public for the next few weeks.
Last week’s Cass Circuit Court docket featured four sentencings including two men being sent to prison. In addition to the defendants appearing remotely from the jail, defense attorneys Robert Drake and James Miller called in to the courtroom as did a victim.
Blair Allen Mitchell, 25, of Pearl Street in Cassopolis, pleaded guilty to attempted embezzlement over $1,000 and under $20,000 and was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison and $3,671.56 in fines, costs and restitution.
The incident occurred Sept. 29 in Ontwa Township near Edwardsburg. Two other charges, one of embezzlement over $1,000 and under $20,000 and one of embezzlement over $200 and under $1,000, were dismissed in the case.
Mitchell also pleaded to a misdemeanor larceny charge and was given credit for time served from an Oct. 21 larceny incident involving the theft of tennis shoes. He is currently on parole from an April, 2018 Berrien County prison sentence for stealing/retaining a financial transaction device without consent.
His past record includes several other convictions for theft, breaking and entering and property damage, primarily in Cass County. He has 13 criminal convictions including seven felonies.
According to published reports, when he was 17, he and others broke into the Park Shore Golf Course in Cassopolis, stole 16 golf carts and went on a joy ride. They also stole a forklift and he sprayed graffiti on a nearby train underpass.
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