The Place Where Ludington Talks
A Week of Dirty, Scary, Hands
On the week of Halloween, one week before our appointed county prosecutor becomes duly elected for the position since she has no opponent, our local courts show that we may have some problems over the course of the next four years.
Prosecutor Beth Hand handily won the primary election over two qualified Republican candidates, one an assistant prosecutor in Manistee County, one an established local defense attorney. During a debate held by local media at Waterfront Park this summer, they would point out Ms. Hand's backlog of cases and comparatively poor record in successful prosecutions. Hand was able at that point to blame such problems on turnaround in her office, which until this spring was under the command of the former elected prosecutor, Lauren Kreinbrink.
Such critiques, and others which I hear all of the time from her victims, indicate she has a penchant for charging serious crimes where none existed in the first place. This actually showed itself in spades this week at the courthouse in three consecutive days. Working backwards:
Wednesday, October 30: Jury Acquittal of Cody DeRooy
"It took the jury two hours of deliberations to render its verdict following a three-day trial for Cody Michael DeRooy, said his attorney Andrew LaPres. He was arraigned on the felony child abuse count a year ago.
“It was a case in which he and the child’s mother lived apart, and he had parenting time with the child. When he returned the child to the mom as scheduled — she got the child back on Sunday, and then on Thursday, the kid goes to a counselor and tells the counselor that the dad hit him and said he had a bruise on his leg. The mom never said anything about it for four or five days. Everything was normal for several days. He didn’t hear anything about it until the following Friday.” DeRooy maintained his innocence. The jury received instructions for a lesser charge of misdemeanor child abuse, and DeRooy was also found not guilty of that count." MCP, Oct. 30, 2024
Hand's victim in this case spent a year where his reputation and livelihood was ruined by this prosecution which seems to have at best the words of a very young child about a superficial leg bruise well after the fact, where, in the background, you have custodial parent issues. Assuredly, this should have been investigated fully, but when a jury can't even bring back a guilty verdict on a lesser charge, the likelihood is great that felony child abuse should never have been sought. Following the verdict, DeRooy will forever have to see his name forever in print and in Google searches of his name come up connected to his arraignment, see the COLDNews, Nov. 3, 2023 and the MCP, Nov. 5, 2023.
Having to sit through a three day courtroom battle, where thirteen of your peers in the county sit in judgment after hearing such bad things said about you in court is a 'trial' in every sense of the word. Enduring having your name dragged in the muck a full year before that, and having all your associates wondering about whether you are actually guilty of such a crime and adjusting their behaviors accordingly, may last forever.
Tuesday, October 29: Lindsey Towns Plea, Her Mother's Plea
Last year, I began following a case against a 33-year-old homeless woman named Lindsey Towns, who was at her parent's house causing a disturbance at the end of August 2023. Her mother called 911, and later told them she was struck by her daughter, and she was ushered outside by the parents before the police arrived, where Officer Austin Morris reported:
She was eventually charged with a count of domestic violence and two resisting and opposing counts. The Ludington Torch observed the body cam videos of both responding officers, Morris and former LPD Sergeant and current MCSO Deputy Mike Fort (who switched jobs shortly after this). The mother did not want to press any charges and her arm where the contact was allegedly made showed no bruise or even redness in the videos; no picture was taken.
As for the R&O, it was after dark in an area of Ludington without a lot of outdoor lighting (Lowell Street). The audio has Fort commanding Towns to "come here" twice, while she was heading the opposite direction, asking "Come here what?" He then commanded her to put all of her stuff down and then commenced an assault on her. Her reactions were consistent with not knowing who was giving her commands or understanding why she was being assaulted when she didn't immediately obey. As noted, she never was told they were cops, they never explained why they would be attacking, or alternatively detaining, her.
At the least, this was violation of multiple LPD protocols in such situations, but these two 'men' dragged this woman to the ground without good reason, and any moves by her that was discernable was defensive. This was the only clear assault found in the video, but when the prosecutor presumably looked at this video, they saw enough to put two charges of resisting on her. A year later, after experiencing a lot more issues in her life, she would plea to one count of resisting, and the domestic violence charge and given 90 days in jail to serve, with credit for 41.
On Tuesday, she would receive that sentence, but only after Towns' mother got up for a victim's impact statement, where she, with admirable restraint, courageously chewed out Prosecutor Hand and the Mason County justice system for their excesses in going after her daughter and dismissing her own pleas to not press charges on the incidental contact she had that day in 2023. This 'successful' prosecution was due only to the LPD and their city's contractor failure to be duly diligent to their official duties.
Monday, October 28th: Tom Rotta's Malicious Persecution
Having met with his attorney the previous day, Tom Rotta (aka XLFD) went to court to go through the usual process, a pre-trial hearing. This is the stage where the prosecutor and defense attorney meet in private to see whether some arrangement can be made. My attorney, Nancy Urban, has been apprised that I will not plea this case out, as there is no case to be made by the other party that has any chance in a fair court, it is pure lawfare, as noted previously. Hand probably doesn't care, however, as, like with DeRooy, just the act of irresponsible arraignment for specious charges is enough to damage one's reputation.
Urban met with contracted prosecutor, Jason Gerber, to discuss our case in private. If you recognize the name, Gerber was another candidate for last year's open Third Ward Councilor spot, along with me and three other people, including the eventual winner, Jeanne Oakes. The second floor halls of the courthouse were bedecked with others being churned through the system, and I heard a couple of accounts of wrongful accusations in the twenty minutes I waited for them to finish. It's sad how our local police and court system is manufacturing criminals out of minor infractions.
The prosecutor had no middle ground to offer, but my attorney arranged for additional, supplemental discovery to occur. I will later divulge what that was looking for, but it will be significant in showing why the City of Ludington and their police department is continuing to target me and using illegal means and methods to do so. The new pretrial is scheduled for November 25th at 10:15 AM, and it will likely be more of the same, but with better leverage on my side. It is unlikely that they will dismiss their own specious charges, but the extra leverage and information I'm getting will likely help me out in my future endeavors to confront the corruption behind charges like this.
In conclusion, in the week leading up to her election for the first time as a county prosecutor, these legal cases could be called exemplary of the work that we will likely see over the course of the next four years by Beth Hand. Whether it's prosecuting flimsy cases, ignoring the evidence and the pleas of an unharmed mother, or manufacturing charges against a media personality who points out her past unethical activities, Hand will continue to make a mockery of justice in Mason County.
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