NEW TRIAL JUDGE APPOINTED IN BERRIEN COUNTY

By DEBRA HAIGHT

BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – Berrien County has a new trial judge after Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Gordon Hosbein to the district judge post left vacant by Judge Donna Howard’s move to the circuit court after Judge John Donahue’s retirement in June.

Snyder’s office made the announcement last week. Hosbein, a St. Joseph native, will serve the remainder of Judge Howard’s term in Fifth District Court through 2020. Snyder is expected to make another judicial appointment this fall after veteran Judge Scott Schofield retires at the end of August.

“Throughout his career, Gordon has gained extensive trial experience that has prepared him well for the complexities he will face on the bench,” Snyder said. “I am confident he will be a great benefit to the 5th District Court and to the residents of Berrien.”

Hosbein has been an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Macomb County since 2008, where he handles the felony docket and periodically represents the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in abuse and neglect petitions. Before that, Hosbein ran a solo law practice.

Hosbein is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Federalist Society. He is also a member of the United Auto Workers, serving as Vice President from 2011 to 2016, the Roseville District Court Sobriety Court, serving as Secretary from 2009 to 2012, and the Drug Recognition Experts of Michigan.

Hosbein, 38, earned a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University in 2003 and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2007. He is the son of St. Joseph attorney Gary Hosbein and graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1998.

Prior to this appointment to the bench, Hosbein was one of three applicants interviewed for the Berrien County prosecutor’s job in 2013 after the previous prosecutor, Arthur Cotter, was appointed to the bench.

County officials ended up choosing Michael Sepic, the chief assistant prosecutor under Cotter, as the new prosecutor. Sepic was re-elected to that post in 2016 and continues as the county prosecutor.

A 2014 case Hosbein prosecuted in Macomb County has drawn media attention since his appointment to the bench. That case resulted in a conviction for child abuse was reversed in March by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the defendant deserved a new trial after what they said was prosecutorial misconduct on Hosbein’s part in comments he made during closing arguments. The county has since appealed the Court of Appeals decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeals ruled that Hosbein made misleading statements in his rebuttal closing argument to which the defense could not respond. Specifically, he stated that he did not call an expert witness who he implied would back up the prosecution’s case because the witness was out of the country and calling him would have delayed the trial.

The Court of Appeals decision was not unanimous as one of the three judges dissented from the majority opinion.

Judge Colleen O’Brien wrote “Because I do not believe that the prosecutor’s statements rose to the level of prosecutorial misconduct such that defendant was deprived of a fair trial, and any improper statements were sufficiently cured by the trial court’s instructions, I respectfully dissent.”