Court Watching: Judge Green aims to figure out confusing case against Kenneth Spence

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
On Jan. 28 before 34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Books Green the case of Kenneth Charles Spence, 66, proved to be very confusing.
He was due for a probable cause hearing on Jan. 28, but his court-appointed attorney wasn’t present.
Spence was charged with “unlawful use of a motor vehicle” on Jan. 18 and was out on $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
The charge could have been either a high court misdemeanor or a misdemeanor and wasn’t really a felony, according to attorneys in court. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Strace said there two alternate options and the law isn’t clear.
“We’ll figure it out,” said Judge Green, who said the case was intriguing. She adjourned the case for six weeks, to March 11, so it will be in her courtroom again.
Van Buren Township Det./Sgt. Mark Buxton said Spence is charged with unlawfully using his own vehicle. It was taken out of an impound yard in Dearborn Heights. Somebody else jumped the fence, took it, and gave it to him and he got picked up driving his own car that was stolen from the yard. The car is being held by Dearborn Heights to charge the one who took the car.
Kayla Kristine Tucker
Kayla Kristine Tucker, 18, pled guilty to a reduced charge of embezzlement for taking $1,068.86 in cash from Walmart on Nov. 7 when she worked there.
Judge Green used the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act to handle the plea deal. If Tucker has no further problems over the next year, the charge will be dismissed.
Tucker must pay restitution for the money taken, plus $500 in court costs.
Officer in charge was VBT Officer Derek Perez. Court appointed defense attorney was David Lankford.
Asia Perrie Jones
In a plea deal, Asia Perrie Jones pled guilty to domestic violence and the charge of felonious assault was dropped. She said on Aug. 27 in Van Buren Township she assaulted Evan Burbank, with whom she has a child.
If there are no further problems within nine months, the case will be dismissed. She was assigned court costs and she will roll that into the payment program she already has with the court.
She also was ordered to take anger management and parenting classes and to have no assaultive contact with the victim, who was sitting next to her in court.
Brandon John Petri
Brandon John Petri, who was due to have his pretrial exam on a charge of domestic violence, did not show up at court so Judge Green put out a bench warrant for his arrest. The officer in charge is VBT Officer Ken Toney.
Steven Colt Anderson
Steven Colt Anderson was due for his pretrial exam on retail fraud charge, but he was not in court. His retained attorney Erika Julien explained that he was in the Washtenaw County Jail and has served six months of his year sentence there. She arranged for a plea to reduce his charge by mail.
VBT Det. Devon McCarthy was the officer in charge.
Crystal Marie Bertin
Crystal Marie Bertin was present for her pretrial exam on a charge of Blood Alcohol Content more than .17. She was represented by retained attorney Connie Ribiat. VBT Officer Louis Keele was the officer in charge.
Bertin pled guilty to impaired driving after drinking alcohol in VBT on Nov. 7.
The probation department will review her case before issuing a recommendation for sentencing at a later date.