BERRIEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR OFFICE ISSUES A WARNING ABOUT A SURGE IN OPIOID OVERDOES IN RECENT WEEKS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

This week’s court and law enforcement news includes a warning about an upsurge in opiate overdoses from Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic and a ruling in a criminal case where Sepic’s office had been accused of wrongdoing.

Sepic’s warning about opiate overdoses in the county came last week, after a two week period with an extraordinary number of overdose deaths as well as overdose visits to emergency rooms. He reported that there had been four overdose deaths in the previous two weeks and five others who ended up surviving after getting help.

The statistics for heroin based overdose deaths have been relatively static over the years, around 30 or so deaths per year over the last several years with a slight downward trend last year, Sepic reported. He credited the downward trend to possibly being due police officers, medic crews and others using Naloxone (Narcan) antidote.

“However, in the last two weeks the prosecutor’s office has received reports of an extraordinary number of overdose deaths and overdose recoveries in such a short period,” he said. “Though not yet confirmed by autopsy reports, death scenes would suggest that these deaths have been throughout the county.”

He noted there had also been a higher number of treatments at emergency rooms.  “Preliminarily, it appears the spike in these occurrences may be related to mixtures containing a higher than usual percentage of fentanyl, an opiate now used by drug dealers because the synthetic version of this product is less expensive than heroin itself,” he said.

Sepic urged people who know of anyone using opiates to warn them that the source of their supply could be part of this recent deadly mixture. More importantly, he urged people to seek substance abuse treatment.  Information is available at the Berrien County Health Department at 269 927 5668 or Carol’s Hope at 269 556 1526.

Sepic noted that delivery of these controlled substances is a crime and delivery of such a substance that results in a death is punishable by life in prison or any term of years. He said local authorities are investigating these incidents and prosecution decisions will be made as the investigations conclude.

Those with any information relating to the recent incidents Sepic was referring to should contact their local law enforcement agency, Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP or 800-342-STOP, or the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department tip line at http://www.bcsheriff.org/FormCenter/Sheriffs-Department-7/Tip-Form-48 .

In other court news, Sepic reported that visiting Judge Paul Stutesman of St. Joseph County, Mich. ruled in a criminal sexual conduct case where current Berrien County Trial Judge Jennifer Smith had been accused of acting in bad faith and not turning over evidence.

The underlying case involves 10 counts of first, second and third degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes allegedly committed by Jason King, 45, of Cleveland Avenue in Baroda. The incidents allegedly occurred against underage females in Berrien County between September 2008 and September 2016.

Judge Stutesman was appointed to hear the case after all Berrien County Trial Court judges disqualified themselves. He ruled that Smith, then the prosecutor assigned to the case, and others in the prosecutor’s office did not act in bad faith when key evidence was misplaced and not initially turned over to the defense.

He ruled that the defense was not entitled to remedies they sought such as the dismissal of charges, not allowing some evidence to be heard at trial and the holding of another preliminary hearing.

Recordings of witness interviews had initially been misplaced within the prosecutor’s office and county storage facility. In addition, it was discovered that emails between an alleged victim and a Michigan State Police detective had been deleted.

Last month, Judge Stutesman took testimony from Smith, Assistant Prosecutor Amy Byrd and Michigan State Police Detective Michael Sites. Byrd took over the case after Smith was appointed judge. Sites testified about emails he exchanged with one of the alleged victims in 2017 and later deleted.

Byrd testified about how she found the first of the recordings last summer and the other in February. The first was discovered in a separate closed neglect and abuse file on King, while the second was discovered in storage boxes associated with the CSC related interviews conducted by the Children Assessment Center.

The King trial had been scheduled to start May 14 but it expected to be postponed.