Judge Cooper Overturns Judge Wadel's Decision: Sean Phillips to Face Open Murder Charges

[XLFD]

Barring any further appeal by Sean Phillips' defense team, a decision made by Judge Cooper after listening to oral arguments from both parties will have Phillips back in the 51st Circuit Court of Judge Susan Sniegowski facing the charge of open murder of his daughter Katherine Phillips, aka Baby Kate.  A two hour session necessitated by an appeal of 79th District Court Judge Peter Wadel's decision NOT to bind Phillips over to the trial court had both party's attorneys making their respective cases followed by rebuttals, before Judge Cooper rendered his verdict.

Other media have reported on the decision this afternoon, but we here at the Ludington Torch decided the best way to understand this decision was to offer the full day's hearing in order to decide for yourself using your own viewpoints and prejudices whether it was a good decision or not.  Three videos are provided her for your pleasure, they actually only have audio components, and break down the series of events into three sections. 

The initial arguments by Attorney Donna Pendergast of about 50 minutes following Judge Cooper's brief introduction.  The arguments and counter-arguments of Phillips' attorney David Glancy, lasting about 21 minutes.  The rebuttals and closing statements from both attorneys followed by Judge Cooper's opinion, lasting about 35 minutes.  If you overlook Attorney Pendergast's initial offering it will mostly be rehashed and slightly summarized in the third. 

The second video is the oral arguments of David Glancy on Sean Phillips' behalf.  Mr. Glancy is still a bit inexperienced and seemed a bit more apprehensive in Cooper's court than he did previously.  He still gave a plausible defense effort for having to defend both his client and the district court decision.  He was also put in a position of defending the lead he had from his success in that court with a judge less proactive than Wadel. 

Glancy can probably be perceived as losing the game today based on time-of-possession-- the other side kept the floor at least 70% of the time-- rather than on strict arguments.  The other side also packed a lot of police officers into the courtroom to influence the outcome.  The three detectives on the case, Posma, Wells, and Kenney were there along with Ludington Chief Mark Barnett, Asst. Chief Michael Harry, Sheriff Cole and a couple of deputies.  Being oral arguments on appeal, there were no suspects or witnesses on hand, so the presence of that many police officers during their normal work hours was for the judge's benefit. 

Another presence in the courtroom was Ariel Courtland, there with a friend.  As this reporter was in the press area today, I was able to view her range of expressions while the arguments touched on various topics, sometimes about her.  She was uncharacteristically stoic throughout, occasionally checking her phone and/or texting, but mostly alert to what was going on.

Of the three, the last video is the most interesting as not only does it have the decision and the justification (or lack thereof), but it effectively has Pendergast telling us that she believed the testimony of Phillips' friend in prison, Rushaun "Death Row" Burton, alone would be sufficient in and of itself to warrant the trial going forth.  She did this while effectively repeating her earlier arguments all over again, a habit of hers in the preliminary hearing that was never allowed by Judge Wadel, and may have been refreshing here, since she reverted to emotionally appeals throughout, almost as much as established case law. 

                                                                              Burton Testifying in Preliminary Hearing this spring

In making his final decision, Judge Cooper refused to say, and didn't want it inferred, that he thought that Judge Wadel abused his discretion in his ruling, the basis of the appeal.  But he did say that his decision was based more on law and recent decisions on corpus delecti-- which actually infers that he believes Wadel did not use the rule of law or the proper precedents. 

Judge Cooper's decision appears to be ripe for appeal on the very basis Wadel's decision was, but it also appears to be consistent with his career when the state attorney general's office gets involved with his court, and when police make a significant part of his court audience. 

But you can think the best or the worst of Sean Phillips in this case, and still be a bit disturbed about what happened today.  The attorney general's office says that a well-established criminal's hearsay testimony about an obscurely alleged event a couple of months after the fact can lead to murder charges and trial, even without any other evidence in the case.  Given the rap sheet and the statement of the convict ( "he picked the baby up and got rid of the baby") the veracity of the statement and the meaning of 'getting rid of' still don't warrant murder barring any other evidence.

And then listen to the roundabout reasoning of Judge Cooper, and wonder why he didn't choose to make the prosecution show what Judge Wadel found lacking in his opinion against the prosecution having enough ammo to be successful in showing murder, rather than the variant scenarios that a good defense should bring up over and over again. 

[AQUAMAN]

Cooper should just be a lame duck in his final days, as his decisions for years, esp. lately, have been poor, unethical, twisted, filled with conflicts of interest,  and crappy at best. He's the ultimate yes man when it comes to finding people guilty of anything that comes before his lame court. Good job Cooper, still the hanging judge, still the obstinate negative in the courthouse, still the flagrant scrooge at all costs, even if someone has no evidence to convict the accused. A few short weeks and you'll be gone, and good riddens!!! Might want to consider retiring out of state, where no one knows your black beard background, and your foul ways with the locals for decades. Good luck with your new hideout.

[AQUAMAN]

The onlookers after the warped decision.

[Willy]

Why in the World is the Attorney General's office involved with this case? I tried to listen but listening to attorney's explaining the law, for me, is sure fired way to send me into a sleep like coma. So I will just repeat the opinion I gave earlier in another topic. Why the rush to trial? Sean isn't going anywhere. In my opinion the prosecution should wait until there is solid evidence that would convict Sean, not hearsay, conjecture and circumstantial evidence. If the prosecution fails to convict him on the evidence that they now have they open the possibility of a "not guilty" verdict which will then prevent any further attempt to prosecute him if new damning evidence should be discovered because of double jeapordy which prevents him from being retried on murder when found not guilty. By the way X, you put the LDN to shame. If they put any kind of effort forward at covering this it will be a snippet compared to what you have presented. Good job.

[XLFD]

The COLDnews doesn't have access to all the resources this indigent individual has, LOL.

But I will say this for them, in their print edition court reporter Brian Mulholland did devote a lot of column space to the proceedings of yesterday's arguments and did a good job in conveying the overall gist of things in a fair way. 

But with all the local and even national interest in the case, it's a shame that reporters cannot allow the public to take a look at the full proceedings and post videos at their news sites to supplement their summary reportage.  There were at least three Michigan media crews video recording the whole shebang just to put a few seconds of footage up for the evening news show, and their internet presence. 

It seems a shame that the big media cannot allow the unfiltered story to be accessed by those who want such.  Transcripts can cost up to $2.00 a page and cannot convey the tone and nuances of the speakers at a hearing.

The primary reason the AG is involved with this is to exploit it.  Whenever Schuette puts out a statement on the case, that intent strikes me squarely in the face.  Ask him to do something real useful like go after public corruption in state and local agencies, and see his eagerness to act disappear.

[wildfire]

With these transcipts you also have to know the name of each court hearing, the dates  of them and what courts they are in , and when you don't know just what all the motions , and others are called  and in order it can take a long time to figure out and you won't know the cost till the ladys at the court copy them the lady who handles this has to know like 4 or 6 weeks in avance that you need this and it will take her that long she said to get them ready after which you put it all down on paper for her 1st. then she will send you a cost for them in total and you then can sent a check or money order back to her, of the total of pages she has came up with. I haven't done it just know it, from talking on the phone.

[wildfire]

Ya hearsay can not be used in that court either Willy, it has been told by judge cooper himself, so what this burden  dude is saying that Sean told him in prison is Hearsay  Connot be used in court, cause their isn't any written letter from Sean on that.Now if they go on Hearsay I would like to open some can of worms on that one, lol

[Willy]

Hearsay is not totally inadmissible. There are exceptions to the rule against Hearsay.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_803

[wildfire]

well in the 1st part i watched I noticed the lady taking said that this court has alot of favorism cause she seen it on mason county courts side n glacy had done it all so I chuckled, Then i noticed judge cooper  said he was trying to analize some things that this lady talking doesn't know what she's doing . But in away it sounds like she also tells judge cooper about how a lot of things the court didn't do by The Michigan Law also, That is something good to hear in that court room Cause their is alot that it gets away with just read it everyday. But This is  case still doesn't tell anything about them clothes if Sean throw the baby and the baby had on them clothes, Wouldn't them clothes have something on them that the baby was hurt in anyway, the ones in his pocket? and to me look where he is, no wonder hes all shook up, hes in a stressfull place., The guy who who i read was on the stand thats on death row, if you think about it he doesn't care about anything cause he knows his life is over, but maybe someone told him if he could get it out of sean they would spare him, it's like someone set up Sean in prison to, 

[wildfire]

Well looky their i didn't even know it but i looked at this 2nd  one n read everything 1st and its just what i said in my first note the guy in prison is getting out on parol so i believe hes lieing that he said he doesn't have any motive he just thought he would do the right , he ratted on someone in their(prison) some people  call that Voodoo when you rat on someone in their and its not good  for them. You can bet that burden is going to get something out of this, and Sean has to deal with it in prison, the word was out the day he went to prison, Seans parents how are they doing with all this family of Sean is having it hard to. Also why haven't anybody said anything about Ariel's Life story she sounds like someone whos been in Abuse herself, everything they been saying in the court Sean isn't that away hes done so much  for the 1st kid what is Ariel doing? It sounds like she has someone who's told her or showed her how to get read of kids like she didn't want the kid cause everything would be better in "HER LIFE" what does she mean by this I would be asking her that question

[wildfire]

Boy Cooper sounds like he wanted to stop the case and start making the charges against Sean, But he saids "What ever the prosections saids", I that it was his job to do that they are giving him theirs a long time ago. It doesn't seem like Sean did any of this on purpose, He did try to talk her out of having the baby in the first place, but all the time she was prenate with the baby inside her, what was she doing then, was she drinking, smoking , taking any drugs, why is it she really didn't want it in the first place she should of been on birthcontrol , right off the bat knowning they could not afford another kid, it sounds like to me she GOT PRENATE ON PURPOSE, to trap Sean in some way cause you hear him he didn't want to pay for another one and someone was trying to say it was his, That sounds like to me Ariel was trying to trap Sean like a lot of them young women do, Sure they had aruments what familt doesn't, and sure its hard now days to support a family and yourself to, and food, and gas, house, bills, with they way things are now days and that will only get worse, But I don't believe Sean did it  or did it on purpose, their is no proof,  and you can't go on hearsay, cause Ariel has been doing a lot of that also I just tink that their is more to this story and it has Ariel in it and someone else knows the real truth, maybe its just me that feels this way, but I feel their is more that someone is covering up.

[XLFD]

The investigation and the prosecution have been rather inflexible since day one of this disappearance in their thinking processes.  Within hours of the disappearance Ariel was taken off as a possible witness or accomplice, and they have adapted their scenarios with the goal in mind to not only prosecute Sean, but also to defend Ariel and all the holes in her stories, and cover up their own incompetence.

[Willy]

I agree with Wildfire regarding that prison witness. How can he give credible testimony? He's a con and part of surviving in prison includes being able to expound large doses of bullsh_t.