He said Field will be given the opportunity to withdraw his plea if Kengis decides to sentence him to more than a year in jail or change any other terms of the agreement. AGC investigations are confidential, and investigations of the Judicial Tenure Commission only become public if the commission decides to proceed with a formal complaint against the judge, typically reserved for allegations of serious misconduct. Judge Kengis noted that Field will be sentenced before him on Friday, Sept. 10 in Cass County Circuit Court at 8:30 a.m. All Rights Reserved. In the majority opinion, Murray wrote that while the appeals court recognized the communications were ex parte, such communications "between a sitting judge and a prosecutor do not warrant a new trial so long as the communications focus on administrative or procedural (i.e. Recount in Allegan County prosecutor race confirms same winner by 17 votes, Judge said man who killed 3 women should never go free but felon seeking parole after 48 years, Family of WMU student slain in 1972 awaits killers parole ruling. While he was a prosecutorinthe Allegan County Prosecutor's Office, he participated in discussions about the unsolved disappearance of Aundria Bowman with the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and a cold-case panel of other prosecutors and detectives in Lansing. Kengis was appointed to the circuit court judgeship in March 2018 by then-governor Rick Snyder after the resignation of Judge Kevin Cronin. None of the communications were ever intended to influence or provide advice nor did they. He was sentenced to a minimum 20 years in prison on each charge. SMC completed its investigation in late September 2017 when they fired Field. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; .courts-container { background-color:#fcfcfc; width:100%; border:1px solid black;padding:5px;text-align:center;clear:both; } If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia. The chief judge holds "administrative superintending power and control over the judges of the court and all court personnel, including the friend of the court," according to Michigan Court Rule, managing staffing, caseload, court finances, making county clerk and prosecutor's office appointments and managing assignment and reassignment of cases. The murder was onlyconnected to Bowman in 2018 when detectives used a genealogy database searchingtechnique toidentify a DNA sample from the decades-old case. Allegan County Friend of the Court et al 1:2021cv00195 | US District Court for the Western District of Michigan | Justia Collet v. Allegan County Friend of the Court et al RSS Track this Docket Docket Report This docket was last retrieved on March 3, 2021. CASSOPOLIS A former Southwestern Michigan College instructor accused of having improper relations with a student he was counseling has accepted a plea deal just days before his trial was to start. Subscribe:Receive 3 months of all-access to The Sentinel's award-winning digital coverage for $1. County Clerk, Judge, or Other Info: Staff: George R. Corsiglia (Chief Judge), William A. Baillargeon Hours: Open Weekdays 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Additional: Frederick Anderson (Prosecuting Attorney), Margaret Zuzich Bakker (Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney); Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys: Douglas E. Ketchum, Roberts A. Kengis, Steven J. Lanting, Myrene K. Koch, Daniel Norbeck, Judy H Bakker was Allegan Countys first female circuit court judge. The people of Allegan County are served by the Michigan Third District Court of Appeals, a circuit court, district court, and probate court. Betty Kortman . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. prosecutorial candidate Michael Villar accused his opponent, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. According to testimony from detectives, Bowman claimsthat he and Aundria physically fought and Aundria fell down the stairs, breaking herneck. All rights reserved (About Us). Koch previously told The Sentinel she never discussed the emails with Jipp. Allegan County will soon have a new Prosecuting Attorney. Kengis was the chief prosecuting attorney when. The defense said the emails show misconduct. Bowman is already serving a life sentence for a murder he committed in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1980, where he had reported for his two-week annual active drill as a member of the Navy reserves. Koch said in an email to MLive: "While I respect Judge Baillargeon, I disagree with the basis of his decision in granting a new trial. Share & Bookmark, Press Enter to show all options, press Tab go to next option, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests, Annual Reports and State of the County Report. Appeals from the Western District go to the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Bowman told detectives thaton the day he reported 14-year-old Aundria missing, March 11, 1989, he came home to find Aundria had broken into her parents' room, normally kept locked, and was getting ready to run away. Judge Kengis is an Allegan Circuit judge who was assigned the case when Cass County Circuit Judge Mark Herman recused himself. Before taking the bench, Kengis served as the elected prosecuting attorney for Allegan County. Loew currently is free while awaiting the outcome of his appeal. Subscribe:Get unlimited access to our local coverage. On Jan. 1, the Michigan Supreme Court announced Judge Roberts Kengis would replace Bakker in supervising the 48th Circuit Court. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Myrene Koch will replace Robert Kengis as Allegan County Prosecuting Attorney on March 19. The same date Kengis starts as a Circuit Judge. It was after his arrest in November 2019 for Doyle's murder that he began asking to speak to detectives about the circumstances of Aundria'sdeath. The two then exchanged several emails about the lack of a medical exam. Ms. Kochs response acknowledged the criticism and acknowledged the breakdown in procedure. ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI - A judge ordered a retrial for a man convicted of sexual assault because the trial judge emailed the county prosecutor - who was not trying the case - during. The emails were made public by Villar during the 2020 Republican primary for the Allegan prosecutor post. The Michigan Supreme Court made their current appointments to the courts across the state. Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens. Loew's attorney, Heath Lynch, argued it's impossible to know whether Koch shared the communications with Jipp and whether trial strategy was altered due to what Bakker wrote in the emails. The Michigan Supreme Court is providing the information on this website as a public service. Judge Kengis used previous testimony and evidence to show that Field committed perjury when he testified that he had not had sex with the victim, that he had held himself out as a licensed health practitioner when he wasnt, presented a false insurance claim for services rendered to another person, possessed marijuana in his home in 2017 and attempted to commit indecent exposure against the victim. She became a judge on Jan. 1, 2010. More:Man wins new trial over email exchange between judge, prosecutor, More:Judges recused from hearing mans request for new trial, More:Allegan man says judge, prosecutor denied him a fair trial. Justices Christopher Murray and Jane Markey were in the majority, saying the emails didnt provide an advantage to the prosecution. "Whenever an issue arises or a policy decision needs to be made, Judge Bakker and Judge Kengis always discuss the matter prior to the chief making the final decision.". In November 2020, Allegan District Court JudgeWilliam Baillargeon's granted Loew'smotion for a new trial, saying such one-sided communications, called ex parte communications, between the judge and the prosecutor gave the appearance of impropriety. The Allegan County decisions included the new appointment of the Honorable Roberts A. Kengis as chief justice of the 48 th Circuit Court, and the chief judge reappointment of the Honorable Michael L. Buck to the Allegan County Probate Court and the Honorable Joseph S. Skocelas to the 57 th District Court. Jim Wheat, MD. ", Bakker wrote back, "One more question this victim was not referred for a medical, do you know why?". Ballotpedia features 395,436 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Jury trials routinely require two to three days to decide amidst other . Penny Brown . 269-226-5014. craig.chindemi@ascension.org. In the motion for a new trial, the Defense team did not allege nor did the Judge cite any actual bias or impact on the integrity of the trial based on those communications.. Dont they have detectives with MSP anymore?. ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- Allegan County Prosecutor Rob Kengis has been appointed to a recently vacated judgeship with the Allegan County Circuit Court. Dont they have detectives with MSP anymore? Koch and her husband married in 1993. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. On Jan. 1, theMichigan Supreme Court announcedJudge Roberts Kengis would replace Bakker in supervising the 48th Circuit Court. Bakker, who remains on the bench, served in the role for 11. Kengis said during Thursdays hearing that the hearing would likely be reassigned next to a judge in Allegan Countys 57th District Court. Bakker did not apply for reappointment in this appointment cycle, circuit court administrator Jennifer Brink said, and supported Kengis's application for chief judge in a letter to the Michigan Supreme Court. If there are not more than twice the amount of candidates than there are persons to be elected, the race will not appear on the primary election ballot, but only on the general election ballot. In August, Bakker also recused herself from hearing the motion for a new trial. Under the plea agreement announced by Chief Assistant Prosecutor Tiffiny Montenegro and defense attorney James Miller, Field will plead no contest to three counts of attempted aggravated indecent exposure, one count of perjury, one count of unauthorized practice of a health profession, one count of health care fraud and one count of possession of marijuana. Community Volunteer . Villar, a private practice attorney, later lost the electionby a handful of votes. Michigan Probate Courts, Courts in Michigan Michigan judicial elections Judicial selection in Michigan. Allegan Attorney Michael Villar, who challenged Koch for her job in the August Republican primary, uncovered the emails in a Freedom of Information Act request. The incidents occurred between September 2015 and early 2018 when he perjured himself during a court hearing. Download the WZZM 13 app now. The emails between Koch and Judge Margaret Bakker showed the two discussing the case while Loew's trial was occurring in Bakker's courtroom. The jury found the Defendant guilty based on that evidence. 13 READS: Muskegon book store asking for help to stay open, continue to promote literacy, 13 On Your Side Forecast: Fog Thursday; Snowstorm Friday. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The fact that the presiding judge was commenting on the quality of the investigation while the trial was underway it's inconceivable to me that that could happen," Lynch said. This collaboration will continue as Bakker supported Kengis decision to apply for the leadership position. The case was tried by assistant prosecuting attorney Emily Jipp. Judge Kengis relied on the testimony from the 2018 preliminary hearing in the case for his findings of fact in accepting Fields plea. In Allegan County, the presiding judge of the Family Court is the Honorable Michael L. Buck. In Wednesday's announcement, the state Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal, but would limit the scope to the ex parte communications between Bakker and Koch, whether they were administrative in nature and whether Loew is entitled to a new trial. Reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens @ hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @ cjmuyskens replace Bakker in supervising 48th... 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