Court Watching: Netflix crew records preliminary exam with ‘adult film star’ witness

A Netflix camera crew received permission from 34th District Court Chief Judge Brian A. Oakley to record the preliminary exam of Kevin Demarco Whitfield on Sept. 14, as part of a documentary.
Whitfield, 24, of Detroit was brought from the Wayne County Jail for the in-person exam on a charge of armed robbery on Jan. 19 at the Marriott hotel at 30559 Flynn Dr. near the airport in Romulus. A second charge of unlawful imprisonment was added after testimony.
The only witness was Melissa Ann Stioetti, who testified she lived in Florida and she is an “adult film star.” She testified she came to Michigan to see her mother and then to see fans and clients. She testified she received a 4 p.m. text for a 6 p.m. appointment and the gentleman arrived at 5:58 p.m. She said he handed her $500 for a half hour of her time. She identified him as the man in the orange jump suit at the defendant’s table.
“After we finished with the session, we both got dressed,” she said, adding that as they walked to the door, he threw her against the wall and pointed a gun in her face. She testified she pled with him not to shoot her, telling her she had kids. She said he ordered her to give him her Rollex watch and he ripped her gold chain with charms necklace off her neck and took her wedding and engagement ring and her cellphone.
She testified that he walked her back in the bedroom and rifled through her luggage while she was forced to sit on an ottoman. She said he wanted to know where the money was and she said she didn’t have any money but he found her $5,600, took his $500 back. She said he took her wallet but gave her back her ID when she asked. He also gave back a charm that had belonged to her grandmother who had died. He took her laptop computer but allowed her to pull out the hard drive that had all her records on it.
She testified he unplugged the hotel phone when he left and she didn’t leave the room for 30 minutes. She said she watched out the window and didn’t see him exit the building. She told the judge that she is married and when she didn’t answer her phone to her husband’s calls, her husband called hotel security and said she needed a welfare check. Security came to her room and knocked and asked if she needed help and she told them she’d been robbed.
Defense attorney Nancy Ann Richards cross-examined the witness and Stioetti confirmed the half-hour session involved sex and no pictures were taken. She said that session actually lasted about 15 minutes and she saw him without clothes and described tattoos on his chest. She said he flushed his condom down the toilet.
She said he had facial hair, but now he doesn’t. She said she picked him out of a police photo lineup at once. “As soon as I looked at it, there he was,” she said.
When she was asked by Prosecutor Bryn Bailey if she had ever been convicted of theft or debauchery, she said no. Bailey added the charge of unlawful imprisonment after the witness was dismissed and defense attorney Richards objected, saying she would have asked different questions if she had known there was an added charge. Judge Oakley brought the witness back.
The witness estimated she was held an hour after the initial session and there was no way for her to move past him and run.
“When he pulled the gun, I peed on myself,” she testified. “I asked to use the restroom.” She said he said no and she asked again and he refused. “I thought I was going to die in that room,” she said.
Prosecutor Bailey said the defendant told her not to leave, to shut up, and kept her over an hour confined to a single piece of furniture.
Judge Oakley bound Whitfield over on both charges for a Sept. 21 arraignment on the information at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.
After the court session was over, the four members of the camera crew filed down from the jury box and left the courtroom.

Joseph Lawrence Broomfield
Joseph Lawrence Broomfield, 44, of Detroit was charged with first-degree retail fraud on June 4 in Van Buren Township. He was arraigned June 6 and his probable cause conference was scheduled for June 15 and then rescheduled for July 27. A live preliminary exam was set for Sept. 14.
The exam was held on Sept. 14 and Judge Oakley found there was probable cause and bound him over to circuit court on the charge for a Sept. 21 arraignment on the information.
Prosecutor Bryn Bailey’s first witness was Denise Fisk, a store detective who had been in the business for 30 years and transferred from another Meijer store to Van Buren in April. She presented testimony and a surveillance video from Meijer that showed the defendant walking out of the store with a cart holding ten boxes of work boots.
Fisk testified a greeter called her around 2:45 p.m. to report what she saw and Fisk reviewed the video of the “push out” of the cart with work boot boxes going out the grocery area doors. She did a close up with a different and noted it was an individual she knew from a previous case on March 16.
She said after checking the shelf via video she determined ten pairs of work boots worth a total of $1,299.90 was missing.
Van Buren Township Officer Jason Tront testified that he heard a report of retail fraud at Meijer with the suspect leaving in a U-Haul truck. He saw a U-Haul that had pulled into Menards. He helped Officer Derek Perez who made the stop. He looked in the window and saw several pairs of boots in boxes. The male driver of the vehicle was unable to provide ID. There was a female in the vehicle, as well.
Officer Tront testified he put the boots in his vehicle, took them to Meijer, put them in a cart and returned them to Meijer, and Meijer identified it as their property.
Defense attorney Andrew Sullivan said there was no knowledge provided on why the U-Haul was stopped by police and there was no basis for the search. He said there was no evidence of the value of what was taken or the number of things taken, which could be for a finder of fact at circuit court.
Prosecutor Bailey said Officer Tront had prior knowledge of the defendant.
Judge Oakley said he finds probable cause without Tront’s testimony, but he accepts that too. He said there were ten boxes in the cart and $100 each box times 10 boxes equality $1,000-plus. He bound Broomfield over to circuit court for a Sept. 21 arraignment on the information.

Jenny Denise Diehl
Jenny Denise Diehl of Adrian had her final pretrial on a charge of domestic violence before Judge Oakley on Aug. 3. Although a jury trial date had been pending, her live bench trial was set for Sept. 14 before Judge Oakley.
She was charged with domestic violence on Oct. 17, 2020 in Van Buren Township and is free on $10,000 personal bond. She is to have no assaultive contact with the victim.
At the bench trial, the defendant’s daughter, Madison, now 19, and her boyfriend Gabe Wheeler testified that Jenny Diehl pushed them twice at an outdoor family birthday party and Jenny took away Madison’s cell phone. At the time, the complainant was a minor who was in the legal custody of her mother, but had moved out to first live with her father and then her boyfriend, testimony showed. Madison testified her mother yelled at her.
Judge Oakley found Jenny guilty of domestic violence and sentenced her to a delayed sentence of 12 months, at which time the charge would be dismissed if there is no further problem. He also ordered some counseling, but it may be a new program or the conventional anger management. He will let her know. Also, she was fined $500 in court costs.
“She did not let me know where she was,” Jenny said of her daughter. She also was paying for the cell phone.
Madison thanked the judge for holding her mother accountable for her actions. She said she now is in her second year of nursing at the University of Toledo. Judge Oakley suggested Madison have counseling as well because in the future she may want to have a relationship with her mother.
“Hear my heart,” Judge Oakley said. “Get some counseling.” He said that will help her with her schooling, as well.

Lamarcus B. Shields
Lamarcus B. Shields of Flint was charged with uttering and publishing on Dec. 1 in Sumpter Township. On Jan. 19 he was arraigned by Judge Green and his appointed attorney Blasé Kearney said he needed discovery on the charge of uttering and publishing at a bank.
He said he’ll need bank video and body camera footage of the victim. Prosecutor Gillis said the defendant is disabled and his sister helps him. The probable cause conference was set for Feb. 16 and the live preliminary exam for Feb. 23. On Feb. 23, Shields pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and the original charge was dropped.
Shields said the check had his name on it and it was not for more than $500. He told the judge he is not working, gets SSI benefits, and has a caregiver. Judge Oakley fined him $500 in fines and costs, with no probation.

Farnetino Rafael McQueen
Farnetino Rafael McQueen, 35, of Van Buren Township was charged with operation while intoxicated-2nd, driving while license suspended-2nd and possessing a pistol while intoxicated on June 19, 2021 in the City of Belleville. He was set for a remote show cause, arraignment, and pre-trial on Feb. 23. The remote final pretrial was set for March 23 and then reset to April 6 and then May 11. Then it was adjourned to June 1 because the prosecution was waiting on blood results. McQueen is out on $10,000 personal bond.
On June 1, the final pretrial was adjourned until June 15, since they were still waiting for results of the blood test.
On June 15, McQueen’s attorney Antonio Tuddles said they are in the last stages of a plea deal and asked for another adjournment to July 6. On that date it was adjourned until Aug. 10 for a remote pretrial. On Aug. 10 it was adjourned to Aug. 17 and then to Sept. 7 because attorney Tuddles said he needed the blood alcohol test results.
On Sept. 7, Tuddles did not appear in court, but McQueen waited for several hours on zoom until Judge Oakley told him the court session would be adjourned. The new date was set for Sept. 21 and on court records it showed the attorney as “failed to appear.”