CASS COUNTY COURT NEWS

CASSOPOLIS – A Benton Harbor man was sentenced to prison last week for sexually assaulting a 13 year old girl in Dowagiac last year.
Markal Leneal Jackson, 22, of Highland Avenue in Benton Harbor, was sentenced in Cass Circuit Court last week after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the middle of a June trial.
The incidents occurred in March of 2016 at a home in Dowagiac. Jackson was staying with the victim’s family as they tried to assist his efforts to attend college. He was dating the victim’s older sister at the time.
Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman sentenced Jackson to two concurrent prison terms of six years nine months to 20 years. He has credit for 382 days already served and must pay $766 in fines and costs. Restitution will be determined at a later date.
Jackson must register as a sex offender and be on mandatory lifetime electronic monitoring when he gets out of prison.
“The defendant is trying to equate it to a Romeo and Juliet situation,” Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said. “This is no Romeo and Juliet, it’s Romeo’s older brother preying on Juliet’s younger sister. He groomed her and then told her not to tell.”
“This was a college man with a seventh or eighth grader,” he added. “It’s not a matter of her innocence lost but of her innocence taken. She trusted him like an older brother and he saw an opportunity be a predator … I ask for a sentence that takes into consideration the seriousness of crime. This will impact her life forever.”
Fitz noted that charges are still pending against Jackson for trying to intimidate the victim into not testifying against him.
 Dameon Michael Ouert, 31, of East High Street in Dowagiac, was convicted of first degree home invasion and lying to a police officer after a June trial and has continued to deny his guilt in the incident.
Ouert was sentenced to four years three months to 15 years in prison for the home invasion charge and a concurrent two to five years in prison for lying to a police officer. He has credit for 262 days already served and must pay $1,116 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred Nov. 15 at a neighbor’s home in the 200 block of East High Street in Dowagiac.
Fitz noted Ouert’s past criminal history which includes four felony and three misdemeanor convictions. “He’s earned a prison term,” he said. “The victims’ lives have been changed longterm. They’re on edge when they’re in the house and when they’re gone. There’s also betrayal as they thought of him as a friend.”
Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman said that while Ouert maintains his innocence, one of the victims was home at the time of the break in and identified him. “She identified you and the jury believed her,” she said.
 James Lanier Brant, 23, of 61st Street in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to two years probation, 270 days in jail and $1,438 in fines and costs. He also pleaded guilty to failure to report an accident and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and $150 in fines and costs. He has credit for 164 days served.
The incident occurred Aug. 31, 2016 near Lakeshore and Park Court in Wayne Township near Dowagiac. Brant had an argument with his girlfriend, Amber Pierce, and then backed over her with his car. He then put her in the car and had to be chased down by others who took her to the hospital. He then lied to police about the incident.
Herman said that Brant’s statement that he didn’t see Pierce was “less than plausible.” He told Brant to get help with his anger problems. “If you don’t get it under control, you’re going to prison,” he said.