COURT NEWS UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT 
BCR Correspondent 

        The pandemic continues to affect court proceedings in Southwest Michigan. While felony sentencings have taken place fairly regularly since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago, jury trials and other proceedings have had a rocky road. 

        In Berrien County Trial Court, jury trials were held for a few months last fall and then started up again in March with restrictions and new procedures in place. In Cass County, attempts to start holding jury trials haven’t gotten off the ground with infection rates rising first last fall and now this spring. 

        High profile cases have been either delayed or put on hold in both counties. The

Michael Heskett case in Berrien County was initially set for trial in February and is now set for late May. He is a former partner in a Niles marijuana business and is facing drug, aggravated child sexual activity and prostitution charges. 

In Cass County, the pandemic further delayed the George Field case which had already been postponed for other reasons. Field is a former Southwestern Michigan College instructor accused of criminal sexual conduct, perjury and insurance fraud dating back as far as 2015. He was charged in the fall of 2017, shortly after he was fired by SMC. 

The Field trial has been delayed previously for a number of reasons including when Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman recused himself because he had been on the board of directors of the organization where Field was employed as a counselor. The case had to then be assigned to a visiting judge, Allegan Circuit Judge Roberts Kengis, and fit into his schedule. 

That trial had been scheduled to start this week in Cassopolis but is now off again as Cass County court officials put a pause on holding trials due to rising infection rates. 

While no trials have taken place in Cass County and only some in Berrien County, procedures put in place due to the pandemic have been in force during other court proceedings. Courthouses remain closed to the general public and defendants and attorneys are appearing via Zoom. 

In recent sentencings, a Buchanan man was sentenced to prison for driving drunk and causing an accident that injured three people. 

Jessie James Maurer, 23, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to three counts of operating while

intoxicated causing serious injury and was sentenced to three concurrent terms of 16 months to five years in prison. He has credit for 92 days already served and must pay $198 in fines and costs. 

        The incident occurred Oct. 28, 2020 at the intersection of M-139 (Old U.S. 31) and Ullery Road in Niles Township north of Niles. A car driven by Cheryl Capiak was rear ended by Maurer’s car at the intersection. Capiak and two other occupants of her car including a young child were injured. Another child in the car was uninjured. 

        Both vehicles, Maurer’s Chevrolet Blazer and Capiak’s Ford Focus, were traveling south on M-139 when Maurer’s car hit Capiak’s which was stopped waiting for another car to turn left onto Ullery.  

Maurer said he was “deeply and truly sorry” for his actions. “The harm I caused was never intentional,” he said. “When I heard about their injuries, I was sick to my stomach. I still feel shame, I think of my own grandmother and how I would feel if something happened to her. I couldn’t feel more ashamed of my actions.” 

Maurer’s previous record includes a probation term in 2015 when he and two others were charged in connection with the vandalism of the history mural along the McCoy’s Creek Trail in Buchanan. He was a juvenile at the time but was charged and sentenced as an adult for malicious destruction of a building more than $200 and less than $1,000. 

        Another prison sentence was handed down to a Niles man for criminal sexual conduct. 

      

Jacob Allan Ross, 29, of Niles, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court to nine to 15 years in prison. He has credit for 200 days already served and must pay $198 in fines and costs. He must also register as a sex offender. 

        The incident occurred last year on Sept. 16, 2020 at a residence in Niles Township when he assaulted a woman living in the same household where he lived. 

Defense attorney Kaitlin Locke noted that Ross has never received any substance abuse assessment or treatment in his past encounters with the criminal justice system. She said Ross’ mother was a drug addict and his father had served time in prison. She said Ross was not minimizing his behavior. 

        She asked Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock to sentence her client to five or seven years in prison which would be below or at the low end of the sentencing guidelines. “He knows he deserves some time, but he needs counseling and rehabilitation and treatment for his substance abuse,” she said. 

        “I want to take full responsibility for my actions,” Ross said before the sentencing. “I apologize to the victim and I hope she can forgive me some day.” 

        Judge Schrock said he was mindful of Ross’ prior record. “I understand his upbringing could be a reason for that but there are consequences for his behavior,” he said.