Bench Warrant Arraignment 3B District Court March 13, 2026

All right, we're back. Uh, this is, I believe, the last hearing of the day and the last hearing of the month. It [clears throat] is Friday the 13th.

It's windy. I guess that's bad luck for everybody. Uh, we have succumbed to a couple power outages, brief ones that shut the computers off, but I think we're going to make it through the end of the afternoon.

Um, we've got our defendant in the lot in the conference room at the jail. We're waiting for our public defender. It's going to be Mr Truckucky.

So, good morning to Scotland. I think or maybe good afternoon, good morning to California and Oregon. I will take my name plate off the front of the bench here within the next couple weeks.

I don't think I'll screw it to the bench upstairs. That's a historical uh refurbished bench. Maybe I'll put it up there with duct tape.

And I guess I get to take it with me. Yes. As of today, March 30th, March 13th, Mr Timothy George is the only candidate to apply and file to run for this seat.

The deadline for filing, I believe, is April 24th. Yes. And that one also isn't Oh, it's cracked up to be Ross left.

I just tried calling his cell phone and I got his voicemail and I texted Keith who was at a conference and asked him if he was covering or I told Ross. I said, "I'm here. I'm waiting.

As soon as you're done with Autumn, I'll be ready to do that arrangement. " Not unless he's upstairs doing something with circuit. But I asked Joe out front.

Well, there is no circuit. There's nothing upstairs. They said that they left or he left, so I'm not sure if he was just going to log in from somewhere else, but well, try calling him again.

All right. Thank you. Bestlaid plans.

Yeah, he came in here. I said I had a bench warrant. As soon as he was done with you, we would do ours.

Then he wouldn't have to wait until 2:30. Well, it is 2:30. I'll try him again.

All right. Thank you. Best laid plans.

Our public defender, uh, Mr Stickley is at a conference, so he had made arrangements to have, uh, Mr Ross Truckucky cover the arraignments and he did the bent or the jail arraignments with the magistrate, but he forgot that I talked to him about an hour ago and left. Uh, greetings to you in West Bloomfield. Sorry for uh what happened to the temple there.

Uh that's like a telegraph and 14 mile. Michigan State plays UCLA. I think I'm not sure what that is.

[clears throat] Well, this is disappointing. And now that the circuit court is no longer in our building and uh the probate court is no longer in our building, uh the lawyers often have to be in three rivers and um so we don't have anybody here this afternoon. Uh this building is about to become [cough] a construction zone.

Um and I don't know what's going on. Oh, Judge Kaine had to go Calhoun County. uh assignment.

So, I don't know if there's even anybody over there. So, I'm going to sit here for just a moment. The meantime, this poor schmuck sitting in jail on some traffic tickets.

I'm not sure whether Trent Richmond is a real person or a bot, but I put him in timeout. That was uh in November. The gales of November come early.

All right. Uh this is not very fruitful. Yeah, I understand.

It's great in uh Florida. Well, I got to figure out what to do with this guy. Uh because I can't just leave him there.

Uh my friend in Rochester tells me Minnesota's going to get 20 inches of snow. Um I think maybe she found him. He got all worked up about stumple and he told he said, "I am so sorry.

I turned around. I'm in Ottawa. I'll be there in a couple minutes.

On his way back. " All right. Okay.

All right. Thank you. So, you got him all all spun up and then he I didn't I see Thomas Stimple and I put him in a breakout room because Keith said, "You may want to put him in a breakout room just because this is probably going to get appealed.

" I'm like, "Okay, that's fine. " So, I did. They were in there for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

All right. So, when he came back in, I think he would, he said, I it's my fault. I totally spaced it.

I got all worked up. I said, "That's fine. I'll tell Judge you're on your way.

" All right. We're just sitting here in the group W bench. Okay.

All right. Thank you. All right.

We'll let this run for a minute. Ross has turned around. He's speeding back to Centerville.

Uh, I'll bring Well, I'll just let the guy sit for a minute. Um, good afternoon, Mr Higgins. Uh, we're waiting for the public defender to join us.

Uh, he left the building inadvertently. So, you just wait a minute. As soon as he gets back here, we'll address your case.

You can go and have a seat. I didn't let it run this long, but I don't want to shut it off and start it all over. Well, good.

Michigan is awfully tough. These chairs, I'm not sure what to actually call that color, uh, are 50 years old. They're all very durable.

They're actually comfortable enough to sit in. They certainly are dated. There must be 50 or more of them around the courthouse six.

Hurry up and wait while we wait for Ross to come back. Uh, one of the shutins in South Bend had a 74. Torino was brown.

My belief is they're going to replace all of this. They're probably going to I'm sure they're going to tear this ceiling out. Uh I think all this paneling is coming down.

Um I don't know if they're going to try I suspect they're probably not going to try to save it. They're just going to peel it off and throw it away. the the wall behind me are uh just pine strips that have been stained to match everything else.

As I mentioned, this this bench, I believe, does have bulletproof glass in it. Uh but it's all going 74 Chevel could be cool depending what was in in it. Probably a 350.

Yeah, I don't I guess there probably would have some salvage value to this stuff. The doors here in this building are not hollow core doors. They're solid wood doors.

Seems like somebody could have some use for those. Uh the benches, I understand people are interested perhaps in the benches. I don't think they intend to reuse them.

Uh the new courthouse in Three Rivers doesn't look like a courthouse. It looks like a medical building. And uh I'm I'm not sure what aesthetic they're going to go for here.

trying to think of the answer to that question. Um, probably a 67 Pontiac Grand Prix, something like that. the Buick version of that which I think was in the mods.

They have something in Detroit in the summer called the Woodward Dram Cruise. And the cars are divided into different divisions and they're parked in different areas. And I saw some really mint late60s General Motors, Buick, Pontiac, Oldmobile.

I haven't seen the janitor yet. He stops in to see me about once a week. Just a check in.

All right. I'm sorry. This is very dull, but it's easier for me to just stay here.

I got the guy at the jail um here. Overall doesn't get a speeding ticket between there and here. 59 Plymouth Fury.

Three on the tree. Sorry. All right.

Here's Mr Truckucky. Ran out after finishing autumn. He ran out of steam.

The wind blew me right out the door. Thank you all for posting that. Hello We're able to the uh handle [clears throat] on my live stream commemorative coffee mug has a crack in it and it's about to do a kn singer which is what where it just falls apart in your hand.

Do you recall that? Well, I could I think I may have a spare I know John Bush was using his every day. Others were as well.

Go ahead, Mr Higgins, and have a seat. Thank you. I'm sorry for uh the delay, but we have here with us by special [snorts] guest appearance, Mr Ross Truckucky from the public defenders office.

Uh and you're Stephen Daniel Higgins. That is correct. Senior.

Yes, of course I know you, but I needed to identify you for the record. Uh, your son got arrested the other day, and I thought it was you, and I thought we were going to deal with these old matters, but uh, it was it was him on, I think, on a nonsupport case or something. That is correct.

All right, let's talk about your case. This is file 251670 ST. You got stopped in August.

You got charged with driving suspended as a second offense. That's a misdemeanor that's punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. He also got charged with no insurance under the insurance code, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, fine of up to $500 and not less than $200.

The third count is improper display of a registration plate. Um, you pled not guilty and we set it for a pre-trial. Then you never showed up for the pre pre-trial.

Then we had a show cause. You didn't show up for that. Um, they never got notice of that.

I'm sorry. I would I would gave you a notice right in the courtroom. Let's see when the show cost was.

Okay. I went in front of Judge Addison. I'm sorry.

Yes. And um I talked to the lady in the conference room and she said to show my license to her and I did and to um show proof of insurance. I told her I had to bring that back to the court and when I did she was not present and I showed the information to the um prosecuting attorney's office and I thought that was good and apparently that wasn't good.

So, so I did what the lady told me, but I guess I didn't do what I I don't know what went wrong there, but I did provide the court with the information they requested. And I still do have my driver's license. I didn't know it was suspended.

All right. So, you have your license back and you have uh insurance. That is correct.

Well, you got you got uh $85 with unpaid fines and costs. You had Mhm. Usually in the old days, they used to suspend your license for that.

They wouldn't give you your license if you had a bunch of untaided tickets. Um but apparently you got it back. Now the Yeah, you were charged with no insurance and they dismissed it and let you plead to impeding traffic and then you paid them back by not paying that ticket in 2024.

Then you got another no insurance and then they let you plead to no proof of insurance and you didn't pay that. Then you got a driving suspended and they reduced it to allowing another to violate the voter vehicle code and you didn't pay that. Um, so that's not good.

In the old days, they wouldn't have let you had your license, but so apparently you have a valid license and have insurance now. That is correct, sir. And yesterday, I did start paying on that fine Secretary of State's office when the Sturis Police officers um got me and then brought me here.

So, how did you get stopped yesterday? I was driving to the Secretary of State's office to continue penning on the fines and I was pulled over absolutely in the parking lot of the Secretary of State's office as I was going back in there to um get license and plates on the car I'm driving that I just now purchased. Why did they Why did they pull you over?

Did you not have proper plates on the car then? I I had zero plates on the car, but I had a plate in the car that I was going to have transferred. I just had boughten it from in town stures.

I mean, right then, I didn't even make it to the the Secretary of State's office, and I didn't know I didn't at that time that I had a warrant for my arrest or I would not even have drove. Did you get some new tickets? Um, no, he did not.

He He was nice enough not to uh charge me. He He seen that I was in um in in bad shape as it was in in general. He let me legally park it and he brought me here.

Where do you live? I live at 6690 West 490 North Orland, Indiana at Walden Woods Campground and a property owned campground year round and my the mailing address I had on court file was 11210 Riverside Drve. Yeah, we still have that.

Is that a mailing address? It It's It was should have been good, but apparently I didn't get the notices that were that were sent there. I don't understand.

Who Who lives there? It's my um best friend, Dick Wellington. I have no family left for forwarding address.

So, that's where I have my um the address that I've been using for mail. Yeah. Your brother passed a number of years ago and your dad passed I think last year and my mom three days after.

[snorts] Yes. All right. I'm going lay out of jail.

I'm going to set a pre-trial. You're going to let me out, sir? Yeah.

Okay, good. Thank you. Um, I'm going to set a pre-trial for next week, March.

And I think that's the interact. Oh, shoot. I go get my dentures replaced on the 19th.

Sorry. Okay. Thank you.

at 8:30 at the courthouse. All right. Now, am I able to go get this car legal still now or or Yes, that would help.

Bring in proof that the car is legal. That gives you only one day. Excuse me a minute.

Um, my original thought is I was going to leave you in the slammer till we could get this taken care of, but I believe you that you came in here and showed something to somebody. I don't know if who you were talking to as the public defender or one of the assistant prosecutors, but I want you to bring proof of insurance and uh license. Okay.

I I have that today actually. [clears throat] And proof of payment on fines. Okay.

I can make just a payment. I I don't have enough money to pay it all off. I can make payment.

All right. Well, you don't have to pay it all off, but you've been blowing it off. And each one of these was a break.

You got a deal. Uh then you blew it off. You got a deal.

You got it blew it off. You got arrested last summer on that uh child support case, but I think that's all done, isn't it? That's my son.

Oh, that's your son's. Yes. my kids.

Well, I better take a look at this and make sure these fines are you. But I think they are. Let's look.

Uh five. Yeah, that's you. Okay.

Uh the nonsup support is not you. Not me. All right.

Now, you're going to be here next Tuesday morning, the 17th. Yes, sir. And you're going to bring that documentation with you, and I don't see any reason why this matter can't be resolved.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, your honor. I'm going to set bond at 250 PR each file.

Um, so your version is you came back in and tried to show the information to somebody at the prosecutor's office and then nothing ever happened after that. That is correct, sir. She told me to bring it back within 30 days and I was actually before that.

I did it like two days after she told me that. And when I got there, she was not there. And another lady said she would pass on the information and I thought she did.

I I wasn't aware she didn't. All right. Well, we'll see if we can sort that out.

That's also part of why I'm giving you a PR bond. All right. You got three PR bonds, 250 per file.

Um, on this day you were driving with no registration, no insurance, and your license was suspended. I'll run a new driving record and see what your status is. Okay.

How much is it going to cost for me to get out today, sir? Nothing. I gave you three PR bonds.

Okay. Thank you. Do you have a way to get home?

Um, I I'll probably call Uber or I'll call um I got to get the car that's legally parked in Sturgis, but I'm just going to uh go from there. All right. I will drive the car.

Well, I would have seen you this morning, but I had a bunch of stuff and I would have seen you earlier, but we got a little sideways here this afternoon. So, you're gonna get out three PR bonds. It might SOS might be closed before you can get back over there.

Um, all right. Anyway, next Tuesday morning here at the courthouse, 8:30 a. m.

Yes, sir. You're good to go, sir. Okay.

Thank Thank you. Thank All right. So, there's more going on there.

We'll sort it all out. [snorts] Tuesday's a busy morning, but I don't want to miss adventures. All right, we will uh stop the live All right, we're back.

Uh, this is, I believe, the last hearing of the day and the last hearing of the month. It [clears throat] is Friday the 13th. It's windy.

I guess that's bad luck for everybody. Uh, we have succumbed to a couple power outages, brief ones that shut the computers off, but I think we're going to make it through the end of the afternoon. Um, we've got our defendant in the lot in the conference room at the jail.

We're waiting for our public defender. It's going to be Mr Truckucky. So, good morning to Scotland.

I think or maybe good afternoon, good morning to California and Oregon. I will take my name plate off the front of the bench here within the next couple weeks. I don't think I'll screw it to the bench upstairs.

That's a historical uh refurbished bench. Maybe I'll put it up there with duct tape. And I guess I get to take it with me.

Yes. As of today, March 30th, March 13th, Mr Timothy George is the only candidate to apply and file to run for this seat. The deadline for filing, I believe, is April 24th.

Yes. And that one also isn't Oh, it's cracked up to be Ross left. I just tried calling his cell phone and I got his voicemail and I texted Keith who was at a conference and asked him if he was covering or I told Ross.

I said, "I'm here. I'm waiting. As soon as you're done with Autumn, I'll be ready to do that arrangement.

" Not unless he's upstairs doing something with circuit. But I asked Joe out front. Well, there is no circuit.

There's nothing upstairs. They said that they left or he left, so I'm not sure if he was just going to log in from somewhere else, but well, try calling him again. All right.

Thank you. Bestlaid plans. Yeah, he came in here.

I said I had a bench warrant. As soon as he was done with you, we would do ours. Then he wouldn't have to wait until 2:30.

Well, it is 2:30. I'll try him again. All right.

Thank you. Best laid plans. Our public defender, uh, Mr Stickley is at a conference, so he had made arrangements to have, uh, Mr Ross Truckucky cover the arraignments and he did the bent or the jail arraignments with the magistrate, but he forgot that I talked to him about an hour ago and left.

Uh, greetings to you in West Bloomfield. Sorry for uh what happened to the temple there. Uh that's like a telegraph and 14 mile.

Michigan State plays UCLA. I think I'm not sure what that is. [clears throat] Well, this is disappointing.

And now that the circuit court is no longer in our building and uh the probate court is no longer in our building, uh the lawyers often have to be in three rivers and um so we don't have anybody here this afternoon. Uh this building is about to become [cough] a construction zone. Um and I don't know what's going on.

Oh, Judge Kaine had to go Calhoun County. uh assignment. So, I don't know if there's even anybody over there.

So, I'm going to sit here for just a moment. The meantime, this poor schmuck sitting in jail on some traffic tickets. I'm not sure whether Trent Richmond is a real person or a bot, but I put him in timeout.

That was uh in November. The gales of November come early. All right.

Uh this is not very fruitful. Yeah, I understand. It's great in uh Florida.

Well, I got to figure out what to do with this guy. Uh because I can't just leave him there. Uh my friend in Rochester tells me Minnesota's going to get 20 inches of snow.

Um I think maybe she found him. He got all worked up about stumple and he told he said, "I am so sorry. I turned around.

I'm in Ottawa. I'll be there in a couple minutes. On his way back.

" All right. Okay. All right.

Thank you. So, you got him all all spun up and then he I didn't I see Thomas Stimple and I put him in a breakout room because Keith said, "You may want to put him in a breakout room just because this is probably going to get appealed. " I'm like, "Okay, that's fine.

" So, I did. They were in there for at least 10 to 15 minutes. All right.

So, when he came back in, I think he would, he said, I it's my fault. I totally spaced it. I got all worked up.

I said, "That's fine. I'll tell Judge you're on your way. " All right.

We're just sitting here in the group W bench. Okay. All right.

Thank you. All right. We'll let this run for a minute.

Ross has turned around. He's speeding back to Centerville. Uh, I'll bring Well, I'll just let the guy sit for a minute.

Um, good afternoon, Mr Higgins. Uh, we're waiting for the public defender to join us. Uh, he left the building inadvertently.

So, you just wait a minute. As soon as he gets back here, we'll address your case. You can go and have a seat.

I didn't let it run this long, but I don't want to shut it off and start it all over. Well, good. Michigan is awfully tough.

These chairs, I'm not sure what to actually call that color, uh, are 50 years old. They're all very durable. They're actually comfortable enough to sit in.

They certainly are dated. There must be 50 or more of them around the courthouse six. Hurry up and wait while we wait for Ross to come back.

Uh, one of the shutins in South Bend had a 74. Torino was brown. My belief is they're going to replace all of this.

They're probably going to I'm sure they're going to tear this ceiling out. Uh I think all this paneling is coming down. Um I don't know if they're going to try I suspect they're probably not going to try to save it.

They're just going to peel it off and throw it away. the the wall behind me are uh just pine strips that have been stained to match everything else. As I mentioned, this this bench, I believe, does have bulletproof glass in it.

Uh but it's all going 74 Chevel could be cool depending what was in in it. Probably a 350. Yeah, I don't I guess there probably would have some salvage value to this stuff.

The doors here in this building are not hollow core doors. They're solid wood doors. Seems like somebody could have some use for those.

Uh the benches, I understand people are interested perhaps in the benches. I don't think they intend to reuse them. Uh the new courthouse in Three Rivers doesn't look like a courthouse.

It looks like a medical building. And uh I'm I'm not sure what aesthetic they're going to go for here. trying to think of the answer to that question.

Um, probably a 67 Pontiac Grand Prix, something like that. the Buick version of that which I think was in the mods. They have something in Detroit in the summer called the Woodward Dram Cruise.

And the cars are divided into different divisions and they're parked in different areas. And I saw some really mint late60s General Motors, Buick, Pontiac, Oldmobile. I haven't seen the janitor yet.

He stops in to see me about once a week. Just a check in. All right.

I'm sorry. This is very dull, but it's easier for me to just stay here. I got the guy at the jail um here.

Overall doesn't get a speeding ticket between there and here. 59 Plymouth Fury. Three on the tree.

Sorry. All right. Here's Mr Truckucky.

Ran out after finishing autumn. He ran out of steam. The wind blew me right out the door.

Thank you all for posting that. Hello We're able to the uh handle [clears throat] on my live stream commemorative coffee mug has a crack in it and it's about to do a kn singer which is what where it just falls apart in your hand. Do you recall that?

Well, I could I think I may have a spare I know John Bush was using his every day. Others were as well. Go ahead, Mr Higgins, and have a seat.

Thank you. I'm sorry for uh the delay, but we have here with us by special [snorts] guest appearance, Mr Ross Truckucky from the public defenders office. Uh and you're Stephen Daniel Higgins.

That is correct. Senior. Yes, of course I know you, but I needed to identify you for the record.

Uh, your son got arrested the other day, and I thought it was you, and I thought we were going to deal with these old matters, but uh, it was it was him on, I think, on a nonsupport case or something.