Ritter is in the courtroom. Miss Turner is also in the courtroom. Would you both please raise your right hand swear testimony about to give this case is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
So happy. Thank you. The court on June 25th of this year had entered a personal protection order filed by petitioner Miss Turn Miss Turner against Mr Ritter.
And again, that was June 25, 2026. Set to expire in January 25, 2027. After the order was entered, is Ritter timely filed a motion [clears throat] terminate the personal protection order.
And so we'll proceed in that fashion. But the understanding is under the law the u it's the petitioner's burden to establish that a personal protection order should continue and so we'll proceed in that fashion. Also u as I understand it there was a USB that was submitted and the court did review that as well.
Apparently, it was some sort of video from inside a motor vehicle. So, uh, Miss Turner, why do you believe that the personal protection order should continue? Um, because of that USB drive.
I mean, I had an active PO when that was presented to me and she was following me around bad and so this is in part a motion to to find her in contempt for violation violation of personal protection order. You didn't file that, correct? What do you mean?
You didn't file a motion to to have her jailed. No, you did. Here it is.
I did. I took the USB drive to the Badax City uh PD and they told me I had to take it up to the clerk's office. When they brought it up to the clerk's office, they told me PD should handle it.
Um but then the clerk's office helped me. They gave me the paperwork to fill out and told me what to do with it. So, the video that's on the USB drive, whose vehicle is that in?
That is out of Miss Ritter's vehicle. Okay. Okay.
You reviewed that as well? Yes. So, you believe that's a violation of the personal protection order?
Why? Because she was intentionally following me. Okay.
And what do you base that upon? That she was following me. She was behind my vehicle and then going around corners to I don't know.
I didn't even know she was there until I saw that video. So, okay. So on the day in question that the video was made, you were going southbound on Southport Crescent, correct?
Is that correct? Yes, that is correct. Okay.
Where were you going to? I was going from my work. I work at Independent Bank.
I was off for the day, but I stopped there to see my manager, her husband. They own uh Thumb Auto Glass or Thumb Glass Auto Parts. Yep.
Correct. And you were to go there. Yep.
I was going there because my windshield was cracked. Um I was going to pull up there. I drove through the light.
I was going to pull up there, but there was another truck backing out. It was kind of raining. There were other cars parked on the side of the road.
I've never been there before, so I was trying to find the driveway and I just decided to drive around the block to wait for that guy to leave. So then I pull in. Um so that's what I was doing that day.
So you drove past the the driveway. You turned on what street? Would it be the first street?
I'm not familiar with Bad X. Yes. The F I turn left.
Okay. There's a doctor's office. Used to be a church on I think so.
Yeah. You turn left there. Yep.
And then just drove down and turned left and came back around. I believe the video then shows you what I call the street that's on where the park is. The park is Yep.
And you drove through that intersection. Yep. Just up to the main road to go back to the light.
What color is the vehicle? My vehicle is yellow. Yeah.
And then there's a third video where you're at the main traffic light where you're facing west. Correct. Because I was in a left turn lane and you were going back then to Yes.
And then I pulled into two thumbs and your position is that the respondent was at the same intersection facing north. She was, but all the videos show her going around to find my car. Okay.
Okay. And beside that issue, why do you believe the personal protection order should be too? Um, at the time when I submitted this, she was pretty aggressively following me around, driving around my house, beeping the horn, getting behind me at lunch, beeping the horn, flipping me off.
I mean, when I came to submit this paperwork to the clerk's office the first time, she followed me here and I have witnesses. I called dispatch to let them know that she was following me. Um, but calling 911 isn't the most convenient thing.
And by the time I got someone on the phone, I was literally walking out the courthouse steps. So, do you know of any reason why this alleged behavior is going on? I had never met her before in my life, but as I stated, apparently she dated one of my exes for a short time and was keeping tabs on me for quite a while.
So, you don't know her from Eve in any other situation? And how many times is this alleged following behavior? Um, it was several times.
I know I noted everything in my initial statement and then um after that there was a handful of times I caught her behind me but I couldn't get my camera up in time. But your response is it okay if I just read my opening? Sure.
Absolutely. Your honor, my name is Lindsay Ritter and I'm the respondent in this matter. On Friday, June 19th, my former boyfriend, Kevin Brown, broke up with me.
That morning, on June 20th, early in the morning, I found his truck parked outside of a home that belonged to Jennifer Turner, his ex-girlfriend. I contacted both of them that morning trying to talk things out. Clearly, I was upset.
I just got cheated on. Jennifer Turner never responded to my text, nor did she answer my calls. She never sent me a text asking me not to contact her.
We never had a conversation. I blocked her number the next day, and I thought things subsided. Almost a week later, I got served with the personal protection order against Miss Jennifer Turner.
I was absolutely appalled and in disgust with some of the statements that I was reading and knew that I wasn't going to let this woman try to take my rights away from me over hearsay and false allegations because she is upset that I found out about a situation I wasn't supposed to. The evidence that I bring forward today will show that the petitioner's statements are factually incorrect and fail to meet the legal standard for a personal protection order. Miss Jennifer Turner has not met the required burden of proof and the claims presented in her request lack the specific factual support needed to sustain a personal protection order.
Today I will present time cards, photo evidence from security cameras, dash cam footage from my vehicle, and a witness testimony that will contradict the petitioner's allegations. The petitioner wants you to believe I have committed a crime, but the evidence presented today will tell a different story. This case is not about assumptions or hearsay.
It is about facts. suspects that will prove that there was no threat, stalking behavior or harassment and that this order should be dismissed. Any other witnesses you wish to call?
Yeah, Brown. Mr Would you please step up the testimony in this case the truth truth? Yes, sir.
Sir, would you please state your name? My name is Kevin. Okay, Miss Go ahead.
You have some questions. Please step to the podium and you may ask questions. Did you witness this stock?
Yes. And how so? when we came to the courthouse here to file for PPOs at the same time, not just for yourself, but for myself and for my daughter as well as I got here before you did.
You came from the main lake coming through this way, pulled into your parking spot on the right hand side of the road. Miss Ritter was behind you. I know you had already sent me a message that she was behind you at the main light.
She came behind you and was talking repeatedly as she went by. We came in, found out the paperwork we found online was not correct paperwork. So we were in there 20 minutes, 25 minutes and the county clerks didn't start filling out forms.
Upon leaving, Miss Ritter was driving past us heading west. Um, circled around the main life, came back up at the first block and stopped there. We have pictures of her, stopped there at the light.
She gave us a look, threw her arms up in the air, and sped off and took off like that. Um, so I'd say 100% that was undoubtedly her. I'm happy with the situation.
I know you have shown me videos that you have taken sitting on your porch of Miss Ring by your house um turning around in the neighbor's driveway next door. So then as she had seen you sitting on the porch waiting to video her and do that. Um that first night, Miss Britter mentioned that she did contact us early in the morning.
That was 1:30 2:00 in the morning, something along those lines. Um I don't know how she got Miss Turner's phone number. It's not anything that I've been able to look up at any point in time.
has an unlisted phone number, but yes, she somehow had it already to call her at night. You sent me several pictures of her behind you. You have text me several times that she's been behind you is circling your work.
Um, yes, Mr does live two blocks away from the bank where Miss Turner works, but there's no need to be circling the bank to get to her apartment complex. You have a question. Did I know her while you were dating her?
Have we had any communication before you told me that she was doing all of this? No. for questions.
Um, so you're saying that you did see me drive past the court house, correct? The day that you Okay. Did you ever get a subpoena to request this information or do you have any of the video footage from me?
We have the pictures that were submitted to the court for the BPOS of you sitting outside. I've never I guess not those ones because this was the day. Wait, wait, wait.
No, I don't need to hear from petitioner responding. Go ahead, miss. Go ahead.
Received because my PO was not submitted until the next week. So, I don't know. I do not have any videos of my or video footage or um photo evidence and any of these personal protection orders of me in front of a courthouse or my vehicle driving past a courthouse.
So, did you request a subpoena from the courts to get that? They do have cameras outside of the courthouse. Correct.
They have cameras. So, did you request a subpoena to get the video footage of me driving by the courthouse that day? No, because we she had already submitted her paperwork that day.
But you are aware you can still file more paperwork after it's the first I'm not familiar with any of this because I don't come to court. Okay. Um, so you do have these photos of me outside of the courthouse, correct?
And you are sure it's my vehicle with my license plate. Correct. And it shows in those photos that my license plate clearly and me and that doesn't show your license plates of your vehicle.
So, how are you sure that it's me and that you seat? That's all for questions for him right now. Thank you.
Let me see if I can put this together. How do you know this? Uh, we dated for a period of time.
Okay. And obviously the relationship ended when it happened. Uh, she was at work.
I sent her a message and I dropped off all of her belongings to her apartment. I'm just asking when uh would have been June. I look up the date.
It was Father's Day weekend. That was June 9th. Father's Day weekend this year.
Correct. Yes, sir. Okay.
Do you have a relationship with the petitioner? Yes. Is it a dating relationship?
Yes, sir. Okay. And prior to your allegations that there was some following going on at the courthouse when you filed the per the personal protection order, do you have any firstirhand knowledge of alleged stalking or repeated contact with petitioner by the respondent before the court before you appeared in court?
to the file for the PO. Yes. Yes.
So, Miss Turner and I were in contact and she had sent me several different videos of Miss Ritter driving by her house, stopping and looking. We have the video. I believe all the people were turned into the police department.
Um Okay. And so, but you don't have firstirhand knowledge. I have one firsthand occurrence when that night she came over outside was honking in the middle of the night, sent me videos directly on Snapchat of her standing outside my vehicle outside.
Miss Rder sent me videos of what? Of herself on the road behind my vehicle around my vehicle that was parked on the road next to Miss Turner's house. So she sent me those where she was frustrated.
She went back to Banax, contacted Bax Police Department and filed a report and the officer told her no contact either way. Told me no contact either way. I continue to get contact.
Miss Turner, we were still sitting at her house and several more times throughout the night, a car that we did not see drove by repeatedly the exact same manner that Miss Ritter did when she was outside Mer's house. But you have no visual to indicate for sure that No, not that it was for sure. But first occurrence obviously was because she sent me a video of her being there as she was sitting outside honking the horn.
Okay. Any questions in light of the courts? Yes.
Any questions in light of the court's questions? Yes. You said in this last video, I videoed myself honking the horn past Miss Turner's house.
That's in the video that I sent No, you sent me the video of you outside my vehicle, outside disturbed house, but at that time you were funking repeatedly um several times before the video and after the video. Who else would be doing that at 2 o'clock in the morning? So, you've never seen me honking my horn or look out the window and see you doing it.
You never seen me honking my horn or seen me driving past her house at all? Not those extra times that you did later. So the first time that you were claiming that I drove past her house, you did see me outside in in my You sent me a Snapchat video of yourself being at that pre.
I was in the video myself. You were talking in the video. You were holding your phone talking in the video, but you didn't see me driving past Mr at all.
You don't have that. You didn't record that at all? No.
If there was a vehicle outside, neither of you guys recorded a vehicle driving past, honking, blaring their horn? No. Did you call the police and report it afterwards?
Yes. What police department did you call? The police department.
And did they come in? Did you write a report? They did not come.
Why did they not come? That's a question for them. So, you called the police and they didn't come to let you write a report.
That's a question for them. They're not regularly scheduled. Did you Did either of you guys get a subpoena to have that officer come in here to say that he got a phone call?
It's the standard work line. Um, can you answer the question? I don't file for I don't know how the court process works you do.
How are you thinking that I know how the court process works? You know, obviously more how it works than I do. Was this not up to you to make sure that you were ready for court?
You and Miss Turner, to make sure that you have all your Why are you here then? To make sure that everything gets on record as it should be. That's all.
You do you have any further proofs? Um, there was a police report filed um with Obly and there was a case number. I included that in my PO paperwork.
I did see that. Okay. I didn't see that.
All right. You want to call witnesses? Yes.
Go ahead. This would be for the violation of the PO though that Miss Turner is Okay. Okay.
So, my witness is Miss Reene Allen. She's the manager of the Snowco gas station in Bad Axe. You want me to explain why the testimony about the truth truth nothing but the truth.
Would you please state your name for the record? Alan, I can spell that for you, please. [clears throat] R A G Y N E A L.
Go ahead. Question. Um, on June 30th at approximately 12:07 p.
m. , you were working at the gas station that you worked at. Yes.
And at 12:07 p. m. , you said you were outside that day, right?
you had um somebody training inside. You were outside doing something outside at 12:07. No, I was getting a job interview in my office.
My boss was present and I had an employee at the front end of the store. Okay. And did anyone in your store hear any honking or um any noise outside at 12:07 p.
m. ? No.
Um I came to you with a subpoena and we went and looked at the camera footage for it facing the road. um from 12:05 to 12:10 p. m.
on June 30th. Correct? Yes.
Did we ever see a yellow Bronco driving east or west from 12:05 to 12:10 on that day? No. And then is it true we could not get the video footage to save on a flash drive to turn into the court, so we had to have you come in today to testify?
Yes, I could not figure out a single way to get the video saved onto a flash drive at all. Um, I'm very new at my job and my boss is not available to help provide me with the information to get videos. That's all questions I have for questions.
No, thank you. Your employ stop across from Franklin the old district. Yes.
Okay. I don't have any questions. Any objection?
This witness being excused. Any objection? You're excused.
Thank you. You too. Further approves.
So, in this violation order that Miss Turner turned in, it states that um the PO was signed and dated on June 25th and on June 30th at approximately 12:07 p. m. She was on her lunch break.
She was driving down 142 just before self-s served lumber, it says, and she heard somebody blowing their horn. She looked up to see me apparently in her rearview mirror, swerving, blowing my horn, flipping her off, and then I quickly turned down a side road. This would not be possible if she wasn't even on that road between 12:05 to 1210 driving east or west.
So, this is not a factual statement that she put in here for a violation. Okay. any response to that?
I don't know exactly what street she drove down. I'm not familiar with all the side streets in Badox. I don't live here, but it it was her.
It might have been before the Snowco, but I'm not going to subpoena a bunch of businesses and upkeep. Is But isn't the alleged violation the It's really for the you the the drive that I drive right here. This part.
That's correct. There's two different ones in here. Yes.
Okay. [clears throat] All right. What do you wish regarding the personal protection?
That it stay in place. Your wish. Your honor, this case is not about protection.
It is about misuse of the legal system. The petitioner has made serious claims, but claims alone are not true. Over the course of this hearing, I've shown clear inconsistencies in their testimony.
a lack of credible evidence and motives that point toward personal gain rather than genuine fear. Um I respectfully ask the court to deny this petition recognizing that the evidence or rather the lack of it speaks louder than any accusation. Very well.
Petitioner has a burden of persuasion to establish a motion to either terminate or modify a PO in the Pickering case. also burden improved rest for us upon the petitioner u if there's a violation and the burden continues that way and the court has considered the testimony considered all the evidence clearly a personal protection order was authorized and after hearing the proofs on a motion to terminate uh the court finds that there is insufficient evidence to terminate the personal protection order. Clearly there was a reason for it to begin with and from the testimony of Mr Brown as well there was even allegations regarding behaviors the date the personal protection order was sought.
So clearly there's a sufficient basis to continue the PO relative to the alleged violations one of which was alleged to have occurred at the Mr Chips I call Mr just the on the east end of town at Badex. There was testimony from Miss Allen indicating that there was no video of the petitioner's vehicle in that area. However, uh court does take the initial notice that I don't know what camera angle it is, but but clearly selfs serve lumber is to the to the west of of the Shell station.
I guess it's shell snow the snow gas station. Um so it's alleged that apparently there was beeping of the horn and and all that going on. Uh, I find insufficient proof to find a violation there.
The second part though is there were three videos submitted to the court on a USB drive. Appears to be either a dash cam or maybe a phone being held by uh by someone in the vehicle where you see the petitioner's vehicle go by uh actually going down the Southport Crescent. Suppose according to her testimony, she used to go to get uh glass repaired at thumb glass.
There was a vehicle backing out so she could turn into the driveway. She turns left at the block where the doctor's office is. Takes that to the end uh to the dead end, which I would call Park Street, but that's really not Park Street.
That's leaves South Hansel. Um take South Hansel north. The respondent who apparently ran the video was at the corner of Hanselman and West South Street.
So it appears that according to the video, petitioner's vehicle is in front. Respondent is behind. Petitioner goes past the thumb glass, turns left.
Respondent turns left at South Hanselman. They meet again at the intersection because you see the vehicle go by, the petitioner's vehicle go by. And then there's a third video where again the petitioner is at the main light and then so responded.
So there there was a valid personal protection order at the time and clearly I don't know how you can chance contact each other that many times. I find a violation of the personal protection. You've had your opportunity.
I find a violation of the personal protection law and it appears that this is a relationship between Mr Brown and M. Ritter that on the bad side there's there's a bad breakup. There's about someone else in the picture and the behaviors that are being alleged.
Court finds have been established by the proper standard regarding a sanction in this matter and the court has done this before. This is not a situation where someone was physically harmed, physically threatened. However, I can understand why someone would feel apprehensive.
and regarding alleged harassment which I clearly understand and so as a result for the sanction it's simply this is written if you see the petitioner if she is driving down the road in her car don't follow her don't I went the other way in that video don't associate with her but there were three encounters I went the opposite way each time I understand and to the sheriff's going to ask again. You've had the opportunity to speak. Yes, sir.
I found a violation of the personal protection order. I'm not going to issue a sanction, but what I'm telling you is drop this relationship. Absolutely.
I already have. He's he is clearly in a different relationship. Look elsewhere on the same side.
I don't want any fueling in the fire here by anyone. Just mind what the personal protection order calls for. Stay away from each other.
And we'll leave it at that. That's all. I wish you all the best.
Personal protection order remains. The other section.