COURT NEWS UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES – A Berrien Springs man has pleaded guilty in connection with the mid-June shooting outside a Berrien Springs gas station. Meanwhile, others have been sentenced in Berrien County Trial Court including a former South Bend area youth hockey coach.
Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Arnold reported that Hoge pleaded guilty in late September to two counts of assault with intent to murder which carries a maximum penalty of life or any term of years in prison.
He is in jail and will be sentenced Nov. 14 before Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock. Arnold said there is no plea agreement as to a minimum sentence or a sentencing range.
Ethan William Hoge, 23, of East Shawnee Road in Berrien Springs, had been charged with 10 felony

counts: five counts of assault with intent to murder and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The felony firearm charge carried a mandatory penalty of two years in prison consecutive to other penalties.
The June 18 incident in downtown Berrien Springs occurred outside the Speedway gas station at 105 N. Cass St. Berrien Springs/Oronoko Township police were called to the gas station in the early morning hours of June 18 on reports of a shooting.
Hoge said he got into a verbal and physical confrontation with two male subjects about 15 minutes prior to the shooting and then went home to get his AR-15 rifle. He said he went back to the gas station and saw several people outside the station and assumed that the two men he had confronted were among them and started shooting.
The police report stated that Hoge told police that he pointed his rifle out of the driver’s window and began firing multiple rounds toward the Speedway, steering the vehicle with his knees. He returned to his home and parked his vehicle in a wooded area near his house on fears of retaliation.
The employee who was shot had been standing near the entrance to the gas station when he was struck with a bullet. The building was hit with several rounds as well, with approximately thirteen bullet holes found in the building and pumps. The employee had non life threatening injuries.
Former South Bend area youth hockey coach Christien Joubert apologized to his family and his former players at his sentencing in late September for accosting a minor for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime.

Joubert, 39, of South Bend, was sentenced in Berrien County Trial Court to five years probation, 25 year registration as a sex offender, 60 days in jail with credit for five days served and $1,258 in fines and costs. He initially was sent to jail but was released last week on tether when he secured a residence in Michigan.
The incident occurred May 12 when he arranged to meet an underage girl he had met online at a Niles hotel. When he got there, he was greeted by police and arrested.
Joubert told police that he thought he was communicating with an underage girl when he was actually in contact with a police officer. He said he had found the person on a website called skipthegames.com. He initially thought that the girl was 19 but the person later said they were 15.
Joubert apologized to his family for the harm and stress he caused them. He said the incident had put strain on his marriage and added that he will “spend the rest of my life apologizing to her.” He also apologized to his son and daughter and called them “the true victims in this matter.”
He also apologized to other family members as well as all the youth he had coached over the last 18 years. “They looked up to me for support, I will miss my friendships with them,” he said.
“You acknowledge and recognize the wide ranging consequences when you commit a crime,” Judge Schrock told Joubert. “The implications for your family, your stature in the community and your ability to earn an income are things you don’t think about when you commit a crime.”
Colin James Sanderson, 29, of Niles, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less

than murder and was sentenced last week to six years to 10 years in prison with credit for 73 days served. He must pay $258 in fines and costs. He had possession of meth/ecstasy and assault and battery charges dismissed.
The incident occurred July 22 in Niles. According to statements made in court, Sanderson was being confronted by the father of a young woman he had accosted at a downtown shop when a woman who lived nearby came out with a baseball bat. He then stabbed the woman several times in the liver, lungs and neck. She spent a month in the hospital.
While Sanderson claimed that he was defending himself and defense attorney Scott Sanford noted that both his client and the victim had been using meth and the events didn’t “happen in a vacuum”, Judge Schrock said that Sanderson continued to stab the victim instead of retreating to where he was safe.
“You don’t have the right to stand your ground if you can retreat,” Judge Schrock said. He pointed out that Sanderson pleaded to a reduced charge and actually had been charged initially with assault with intent to murder which carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Judge Schrock recommended that Sanderson get a mental health evaluation in prison although he did say that he was completely competent to face the charge and be sentenced.