COURT NEWS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

Two high profile criminal trials took center stage last week in court news. The murder trials of Antwan Mims and John Benton Lewis continued in Berrien County Trial Court in St. Joseph.

Several witnesses testified in both cases which were set to continue this week in the courtrooms of Judges Arthur Cotter and Gordon Hosbein.

Mims, 40, of Benton Harbor, faces two counts of first-degree murder

along with three other firearm related charges. He is charged in the March 25, 2018 incident in Benton Harbor which left Cortez Miller and Michael Johnson dead.

Witnesses testified to both what they saw that night as well as statements Mims made on his way back to Michigan to face trial. Mims fled the state after the shootings and was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List before his capture in Georgia last July.

Mims and his attorney claim self defense and say that Miller had a gun in his waistband right before the shooting. The prosecution and its witnesses describe the killings as cold-blooded executions.

Lewis is accused of killing his wife at their Niles Township home in August 2017. He claimed that unknown males broke into their home and shot his wife and stole her vehicle. Police and prosecutors have said that Lewis was having an affair with another woman and had asked an acquaintance to bring ammunition to the home that day.

Witnesses testifying last week included a woman Lewis allegedly had an affair with, an acquaintance who worked occasionally for Lewis and brought ammunition to the Lewis home the day of the murder and police who were the first to arrive on the scene.

Also last week, additional court dates were set in the Sarah Kurtz embezzlement case. Kurtz is accused of embezzling more than $230,000 from the Village Seventh-day Adventist School in Berrien Springs.

Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic said Sarah Jane Kurtz, 50, of West Eureka Road in Eau Claire, faces an April 30 trial on a felony charge of embezzlement over $100,000. The alleged embezzlement took place over an eight year period from 2011 to 2018 when Kurtz was the school’s secretary/treasurer.

Kurtz was initially arraigned in Niles in January but had the case transferred to St. Joseph when Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata recused himself as he knows her family. Kurtz’s husband, Martin, is a lieutenant in the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department.

Sepic said the case has now been assigned to Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock. Kurtz waived her right to a preliminary hearing late last week, pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial at a pre-exam conference.

Upcoming court dates include case conferences set for March 15 and April 22 before the April 30 trial date start.

In sentencings, two area residents were sentenced in Berrien County Trial Court on drug related charges.

pleaded guilty to second offense use of methamphetamine and was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court to two years probation, 90 days in jail, completion of prison boot camp, 180 days tether and $1,405.02 in fines, costs and restitution.

He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and was sentenced to time served, 45 days in jail. Restitution from the domestic violence incident totaling $507.02 was assessed in the meth use sentence.

The use of methamphetamine incident occurred Oct. 12 at a residence on Baldwin Drive in Niles Township.

The domestic violence incident occurred Nov. 22, also at a residence on Baldwin Drive in Niles Township when he assaulted his stepmother by throwing her through a window while he was high on drugs.

“Maybe the prison boot camp can turn this train around,” Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata said. “You have as bad a record as I’ve seen and your family history is bad. Something has to change … I want to set you up to be successful. Boot camp is pretty intense but nothing we’ve done so far has worked.”

. pleaded guilty to first offense possession of narcotics (Fentanyl) less than 25 grams and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. She has credit for 90 days already served and must pay $198 in fines and costs. Her driver’s license is suspended for 365 days.

The incident occurred Dec. 15 when police found drug paraphernalia and traces of Fentanyl in her car during a traffic stop on the U.S. 31 freeway near U.S. 12 in Bertrand Township. She said she ended up in Michigan when she took a wrong turn in South Bend.