Parrott’s trial on domestic violence charge set Jan. 14-15

35th District Court Judge James A. Plakas set a jury trial for Jan. 14-15 for 34th District Court Judge David M. Parrott on a charge of domestic violence.
Although the charge was generated in the 34th District Court venue, the case was transferred to the 35th District Court in Plymouth since Judge Parrott was a sitting judge at 34th. He has since taken a leave from his bench and subsequently was removed by the Supreme Court until charges are settled.
Parrott lost a bid for reelection in the August primary and will no longer be a judge by the time he goes to trial.
On Monday afternoon, Judge Parrott was present with his defense attorney Heather Nalley for a pretrial exam before Judge Plakas.
Parrott is charged with domestic violence against his live-in girlfriend in his home in Van Buren Township on Feb. 8. She called 911 and VBT Police arrived at the home and interviewed her with body cam recording the session.
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Tara Hindelang told Judge Plakas that the two officers describing the injuries and body cam footage would not be admissible if the complaining witness does not come to trial.
“If the complainant appears at trial, it allows me to use police testimony and body cam,” Hindelang said.
Nalley cited law indicating that would not be just automatic.
She said this complainant has a pattern of behavior when intoxicated and she lashes out. Nalley said the woman’s statement doesn’t correspond with what was found and she was making it out to be her client’s fault.
After she sobered up, the complainant keeps saying, “Those things that I said happened, didn’t happen,” Nalley said.
Nalley said the complainant said she pulled down the drapes and cut her hand and the drapes hit her head.
When asked how long after the incident she said these things, Nalley said it was months afterward, and she retracted her statements with sobriety.
Nalley said the whole thing has been prolonged by COVID-19.
Nalley said the complainant had tried to make it look like her client was an “historic abuser of women.”
She said the defense will use MRE 404.b for other bad-act evidence that shows when intoxicated she is impulsive, erratic, and violent. These types of behavior would come out with 404.b, she said.
She asked the Judge Plakas to allow this in evidence that is cumulative.
Nalley said the body cam relies on whether she would or would not appear.
Prosecutor Hindelang said this goes well beyond the scope. She said the complainant said “I didn’t file a false report” when asked by the investigator if she wanted to drop the charge.
She is reluctant to go forward because she doesn’t want to cause problems for his job, Hindelang said. She called 911 to stop the assault and she probably means she’s scared and wants the abuse to end, Hindelang said.
Judge Plakas said everyone responds to stress differently and domestic violence cases tend to be “ugly and dirty” because it is between the parties.
“I have all the respect for the prosecutor’s office, but on Fridays domestic violence cases are dismissed again and again and again” because the complainant doesn’t testify, he said.
He said the prosecutor’s office dug its heels in on this case and no complainant has shown up. He said to him a case is a living, breathing thing and he doesn’t want to make decisions in advance.
“If she is not showing up and nothing is coming in” it’s one thing, he said. If she testifies, he’ll have to hear what she says and watch how she says it, he said.
“Some are artful when they testify and some are horrible at it,” Judge Plakas said. He repeated the baggage that comes with these cases are “messy and dirty.”
He said earlier in his career he prosecuted domestic violence cases because the prosecutor’s office didn’t want to do it and, “I got dragged into people’s personal lives. It’s very unpleasant.”
Judge Plakas said reluctant witnesses happen every time he takes the bench, but he is willing to sign a witness detainer for those not willing to testify.
He complimented the defense attorney and the prosecutor: “It’s good to see you argue zealously, yet in a respectful manner.”
Hindelang said there was the 911 call that said David Parrott assaulted her. She said that the complainant is not partial to this thing and it’s the State of Michigan vs. David Parrott.
Hindelang said at the first pretrial the complainant did appear at the courthouse, but she wouldn’t come into the courtroom.
Hindelang said 404.b is not relative to the case here and she is not trying to enter Parrott’s drunk driving arrest because it is not admissible.
“I don’t know what will be said … What will evolve from the questions,” Judge Plakas said. “I won’t say these things won’t come in … and every two seconds there will be a sidebar with me.”
He said some cases are clean and swift and others are not.
“I’ll listen to anything you want to say,” Judge Plakas said to the attorneys. “I need to make my decision based on what comes out of evidence. When you need time to think, that’s when it gets to be fun.”
He said he remembered as a prosecutor pretending to pause to write things down when he really needed the time to think of a question to ask.
When they agreed they were ready for trial, Judge Plakas said selecting of a jury would be first, with some in the courtroom and some across the hall. He said all trials are on a Thursday and a Friday and there is only one trial a week.
The trial was set for Jan. 14 and 15. He presented a pretrial order for everything needed to the court by 10 days before trial, including list of witnesses, list of evidence, and jury instructions. If there is video or audio as evidence, they are to contact the court IT person to make sure it is compatible with court equipment.