Change of plea was scheduled for Michael Black on February 28. It was continued to this morning at 8:30.
Russ Clanton was asked to leave the courtroom by the bailiff as he would not be quiet while the resolution of the case was being stated by Deputy District Attorney A.J. Kamada. He was so loud and distracting that it was hard for others to hear what going on. The fact that he was asked to leave the courtroom was stated on record by Judge Kaleb Cockrum.
Russ Clanton was allowed back into the courtroom to make a statement before sentencing.
A global resolution for Black's cases was reached. Black was placed on three years formal probation.
Terms of probation include a 100 yards stay away order from Russ Clanton and his wife. Since Black is a neighbor of the Clantons and there is only one road to access his home, Black is allowed to travel to and from his home but otherwise he has to stay away from the Clanton's property. Judge Cockrum ordered Black to undergo mental health, drug and alcohol assessment.
On January 28, 2019, a mistrial was declared in one of Michael Black's cases. He was charged with criminal threats against local attorney Russ Clanton. Nine members of the jury did not believe Russ Clanton and his wife and were the not guilty votes.
The Clantons did not want Black to receive a misdemeanor disposition.
On January 28, Deputy District Attorney A.J. Kamada told Judge Kaleb Cockrum, the People would refile charges. No new complaint has been filed for that PC 422 charge. Jury trial in that case is set for March 18.
Black is represented by Ms. Andrea Sullivan. If you read my preliminary hearing coverage, you know that Russ Clanton admitted to not returning money to Black for a case that was dismissed by the DA as well as other details about how he handled his attorney-client relationship with Black.
There is previous coverage where there was an attempt to resolve Black's case with a mental health diversion. Today, in court it was stated on record that the Clantons refused the mental health diversion option prior to jury trial.
There were other claims made during remarks by Russ Clanton that were clarified later by Deputy District Attorney A.J. Kamada and not as claimed.
Judge Cockrum pointed out that besides these charges, Black did not have a record. Judge Cockrum and both attorneys pointed out that even if the criminal tnreats case would have gone to trial again, Black would have received felony probation.
Based on conversations with the jurors, both Mr. Kamada and Ms. Sullivan said that trying the case over and over again would result in a hung jury.
The same courtroom theatrics today, especially the rant against the District Attorney's office by Russ Clanton is exactly the same behavior that the jury saw during the preliminary hearing.
Black was released from custody.
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https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/02/change-of-plea-in-one-case-and.html?m=1
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ReplyDeleteHe was expected to be released today. Thank you for reading and your support.
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