Independent Editor
On May 31, Jamele Johnathon Belton, 18, waived his preliminary exam on first-degree home invasion charges and 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley bound him over to circuit court for an arraignment on the information on June 7.
Belton was one of three arrested for breaking into a home in the 27000 block of Sumpter Road in Sumpter Township on April 29. The three have been lodged in the Wayne County Jail since then and a fourth member of the group, a juvenile, is being handled in juvenile court.
Belton’s court-appointed attorney Shaun Godwin said his client is an 11th grader at Ypsilanti Community High School and has only one previous charge, a juvenile felonious assault in 2012. Godwin asked for personal bond instead of the present $25,000/10%.
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Akaraz opposed personal bond and Judge Oakley reduced Belton’s bond to $10,000/10%.
Armani Lavel Chivas Karo
Armani Lavel Chivas Karo, 18, another defendant in the Sumpter Township home invasion also waived his preliminary exam and was bound over to circuit court for an arraignment on the information on June 7.
He is charged with home invasion first degree. His stand-in attorney Godwin asked for reduced bail and Judge Oakley reduced the original $25,000/10% he had set for Karo to $10,000/10%.
Judge Oakley noted that the two traffic violations pending for Karo were cleared in light of time served. Karo has been in the Wayne County Jail since his arrest on April 29.
Deantwuan Rayshawn Woods
Attorney Godwin also asked for reduced bond for the third co-defendant, Deantwuan Rayshawn Woods, 20, who is also charged with home invasion 1st degree. In addition, Woods is charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, weapon in a vehicle, and five counts of felony firearm.
He was lodged at the jail on bond of $100,000 cash or surety. Judge Oakley noted Woods is on probation on a conviction of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle.
When Godwin asked for a reduced bond of $25,000/10%, Judge Oakley refused and kept the previous bond.
Sumpter Detective John Toth is officer in charge of the cases.
James Forrest Chapman
Charges from a June 2016 incident in Van Buren Township have been refiled against James Forrest Chapman by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office. That’s the time Chapman reportedly jumped into Belleville Lake to flee VBT police.
He is charged with a felony offense of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer and the misdemeanor offense of refusing to provide a DNA sample.
The charges had been dismissed May 2 by Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten when Van Buren Township officers did not show up for the jury trial that was to begin. They were not subpoenaed for the trial and were unaware it was to begin. Charges against Chapman were dismissed without prejudice and the Prosecutor’s Office indicated it would refile the charges.
According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department website, Chapman was booked on the refiled charges at 10:12 p.m. May 30 and bonds were set at $500 cash or surety and $2,000 personal recognizance bond. He was in custody via an electronic monitoring unit and was due at 34th District Court to face the charges on June 7.
But on Monday, Chapman appealed to Judge Oakley for a reconsideration of his bond and Judge Oakley reduced Chapman’s bond to personal recognizance (no cash required) and ordered his tether be removed.
Meanwhile Chapman also is due to be before Judge Brian Oakley on June 21, which was the motion date set for a similar DNA refusal charge, this one that had accompanied a 2015 felony.
Chapman said he would write a motion requesting dismissal of the 2015 charge. Judge Oakley previously dismissed the charge and the Prosecutor’s appeal to Circuit Court resulted in Circuit Court sending the case back to Judge Oakley.