Opinion ID: 2982501
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The First Encounter

Text: In January 2012, Judge Wade McCree was a judge on the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Wayne County, Michigan. Robert King and Geniene La’Shay Mott were the unmarried parents of a five-year-old girl. On March 12, 2012, the court issued a felony warrant for King’s arrest for failing to pay child support, in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.165. On March 21, 2012, the state arraigned King before Magistrate Renee R. McDuffee, and the court entered a plea of not guilty. The court then transferred King’s case to Judge McCree. On March 28, 2012, Judge McCree held a hearing in King’s case, consisting of an arraignment on an information and a preliminary examination. King waived the preliminary examination. Two months later, on May 21, 2012, Judge McCree conducted a pre-trial hearing in People v. King, No. 12-003141-01 -FH. Mott, the custodial parent in the state’s child-support case against King, was present. King owed Mott $280.50 per month in support, and he owed Mott over $10,000 in total.’ At the hearing, the state learned that King had made a $400 payment on his arrears that day. Consequently, the court and the parties agreed to a “delayed sentence” in which King agreed to a stipulated payment plan. During this hearing, Judge McCree met Mott for the first time. As the prosecutor prepared the child-support payment agreement, Judge McCree told Mott: “Ma’am you’ve been so patient all day and you know, having all this time with my deputy here, let me get a little of it.” Judge McCree then asked Mott about her daughter’s age and school. Mott told Judge At one point, the prosecutor listed the total as $15,000. At another point, the prosecutor listed the total as “[j]ust shy of’ $12,000. 2 McCree that she had gone years without receiving much payment. Mott told Judge McCree that “[i]f [King] don’t have court dates he doesn’t pay. If we have to go to court he magically always has the money.” King pleaded guilty to failure to pay child support. Judge McCree entered the delayed sentence, pursuant to Mich. Comp. Laws § 771.1(2), under which the court would withdraw the plea and dismiss the charges if King made his payments for eleven months. Judge McCree scheduled the case for review hearings on August 16 and November 15, 2012.