Sovereign Citizen Thinks Sentencing Is a Negotiation — Judge Bryant Says NO

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: smoking, eating, drinking, sleeping, or lying down, even while logging into the waiting [00:00:05] Speaker 2: room. And please, ladies and gentlemen, do not unmute yourself or to tell you to do so by the court. Good morning, your honor, and good morning, all. Good morning. Give me one moment. [00:00:17] Speaker 3: I click on, got it. [00:00:22] Speaker 2: No, what you click on is mute. That's what you click on. Mute. This is case number 215841301, the people of the state of Michigan versus Lamont Eric Brown, defendant is charged with one count of license plate illegal use, and one count of driving while license suspended, revoked, denied, and one count of motor vehicle operation without security. Today is the date set for sentencing. Appearances, please. [00:00:58] Speaker 3: Christina Ritter on behalf of the people. And Jacqueline George, P26320, assigned counsel for Mr. Lamont Brown. We are appearing by Zoom, and we waive being physically present in the courtroom. And your name, sir? [00:01:16] Speaker 2: Unmute yourself, please. My name is Lamont Brown. Good morning, by the way. Good morning. Today is the day set for sentencing. The court has had an opportunity to review the pre-sentence report. On behalf of the people, are there any additions, deletions, or corrections? Not on behalf of the people, Judge. On behalf of the defense, are there any additions, deletions, or corrections? [00:01:45] Speaker 3: No, Judge. We reviewed the report last night, and there are no additions or corrections. [00:01:53] Speaker 2: All right. With respect to sentencing, is there anything on behalf of the people? Nothing on behalf of the people, Judge. Nothing on behalf of the people, Judge. With respect to sentencing, is there anything on behalf of the defense? [00:02:06] Speaker 3: Yes, Judge. Mr. Brown is a 32-year-old father of four, ages eight, six, four, and three. His son, the eight-year-old, lives with him on Brentwood and Inkster. It's a stable residence. He's been there seven years. Pays $970 a month for rent. And significantly, Judge, he's the owner and operator of Four Browns Cleaning Company, which power washes cars, boats, deep cleans homes, and cares for their lawn care needs also. He's prepared to pay his court costs for today, and his arrearages forthwith to the court. All right. Would your client like to make a statement on his own behalf? Yes, he would, sir. [00:02:58] Speaker 1: I was just waiting, but good morning, Your Honor. Pretty much, like she said, I really don't get in trouble like that. It was just driving mishaps. I actually just purchased a truck. Like, I work every day. I'm up 6 in the morning every day, get my kids to school, then I start my business. It's very, my hours of operation is very, like, meticulous because I work through a while out the night and day, depending on when people need things done. And I was asking for leniency on my sentence. Like I said, I'm prepared to pay a fine, fine today, any type of cost that I can knock out the way. But one of my pre-sentencing statements, he was saying about probation, and I was just asking for the courts or judge, is there any way that I can work around it or if y'all could work with me in any type of way, due to my work schedule. You know, I ain't really dealt with probation since I was like 19. So that's what I really remember, like, going down, checking in, and calling every morning to determine whether I come in or not. Because I just want to get this over with so I can get back to my regular life and finish and prospering. [00:04:16] Speaker 2: All right. The court is ready to impose sentence, and I will do so as follows. The court will accept the recommendation from probation for probation. I'm going to reduce the months to 12 instead of the 15 that they recommended. And that puts us in November of 2022, with a final review date of November the 4th, with the following terms and conditions: You shall not violate any criminal law of any governmental unit. You must not leave the state without consent of the court. You must make a truthful report to probation on a monthly basis, or as often as they require, in person, in writing, over the phone, or via Zoom. You must notify probation immediately of any change of your address, phone number, or employment status, and you must pay the following fines, costs, and fees. The court is going to impose as to each count. Count one counts one, two, and three. The mandatory cost on each count of $210. On count one, the license plate unlawful use the court is going to impose. Judge Judy: Count three was dismissed. [00:05:32] Speaker 1: Judge Judy: Excuse me. [00:05:34] Speaker 2: Judge Judy: No, sir. No, sir. [00:05:37] Speaker 1: Judge Judy: I'm really talking to my attorney. [00:05:41] Speaker 2: Judge Judy: No, sir. I'm talking. You don't get to talk to your attorney while I'm doing sentencing. No, sir. You're right. So I don't mean count three. I mean count four. So it's count, one, two, and four. Correct. Thank you. Judge Judy: Okay. All right. So, and then on count one, the court is going to impose a $250 fine. On count two, the court is going to impose a $200 fine. And on count four, the court is going to impose a $175 fine. Judge Judy: With respect to the probation oversight fees, the court is going to assess those fees on count one. Probation oversight fees are $35 per month. The total 12 months is $420. Additionally, the court is going to impose the pre-sentence investigation fee onto count one. The total fines, costs, costs, and fees on count one is $980. On count two, $410. And on count three, count four, Judge. Judge Judy: Count four. Thank you, counsel. I'm sorry. I keep. You're good. Judge Judy: It's $385. The total fines, costs, and fees is $1,775. You have the duration of probation to pay that amount. Additionally, you shall not use or possess any illegal substance. You shall not use or possess any marijuana without a valid medical marijuana card. You shall submit to random your analysis and pay the outside agency directly. The court notes that you failed to appear for your drug screen that was ordered by probation. Had you appeared, sir, it is my turn. [00:07:26] Speaker 1: Judge Judy: There's no way to get there. [00:07:28] Speaker 2: Judge Judy: It is my turn. Judge Judy: It is my turn. If you keep, I let you talk. I said, do you want to make a statement? And you did. And now it is my turn. It is my turn. Stop interrupting me. Judge Judy: And if you want to make another statement, you will do so when I give you the opportunity to. But you will not interrupt me. Judge Judy: Had he appeared for the drug test and I had a drug test result, then I may not have ordered the drug screen. However, I do not have a drug screen result and therefore he is going to submit to your analysis. If the screen is negative after two times, then the court is going to discontinue the testing. Additionally, I'm not going to order the 20 days of community service as recommended by probation. I am going to order and I'm also not going to order the no alcohol. I am going to order that he pay all outstanding tickets in full. According to the report, he has a $2,292 balance. Additionally, he's going to attend the driver improvement program and he shall not drive without a valid license. So I don't know how he's getting around in the middle of the night and doing all of this cleaning cars and stuff and whatnot, but he shall not drive without a valid license. If he receives another driving infraction while he's on probation, that is a violation of his probation. There is an opportunity for early discharge from probation if all of the terms and conditions of probation are met. And then the court is also, of course, going to order that he shall clear up all 14 of these outstanding warrants that he has at 36th district court and 19th and one at 19th district court. And then he has one at 16th district court and one at 43rd district court. Oh, and this first one is from 20th district court and 18th district court and 22nd district court. He has 14, 15, 16th. He has at least 16 outstanding warrants. He has at least 16 outstanding warrants. He shall clear up those outstanding warrants or that will be a violation of his probation. The court is going to set a review date for February the 4th at 9:30 via zoom. We are going to mail a copy. Probation will contact Mr. Brown at the phone number that ends. Is there anything further at this time on behalf of the prosecution? Yes. On behalf of the prosecution. Nothing from the people judge. Thank you. Mr. Brown, you're not going to come in my courtroom and think you're going to change my process and my [00:10:40] Speaker 3: procedure. You will not do it. Anything on behalf of the defense, Ms. George. Judge, on the February 4th, 2022 court date, does he appear by himself or am I still in the case on that? No, you're not in the case. [00:10:58] Speaker 2: Your appointment ends at sentencing. Okay, Judge. All right. And then Mr. Brown, what is it that you would [00:11:05] Speaker 1: like to address the court with? Um, like when I was talking to my attorney yesterday and like I was telling her, um, even with the probation, is there any way I could just pay the file and be done with it? Because I'm just, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm gonna fail the probation. Okay. Well, let's just come on in and go to jail. It's gonna, because it's gonna be, it's gonna come, it's gonna come the, the decision between, because I'm by myself. I gotta make money to support whatever I'm doing. And it's gonna be coming between me having to go to work and me having to go to probation. So it's any, I ain't saying, yes, I should be punished for what I've done. But the probation terms is like, and then you, you factor in things that have nothing to do with my case. Even with my tickets, most of my tickets have been thrown out. I have paperwork from the secretary of state. They threw a lot of my infractions out. That's not the right number you got. I'm seeing it. So they threw a lot of my infractions out. So I don't have that many, that balance that you said, that's not my original balance for my tickets. And I was just wondering, what do they have to do with this case that proceeds now? Even with me having to, all right, even if we get on a probation, having to go pay this, having to go pay extra to go, that's gonna, that's kind of hard for a person. You know, that's kind of hard. That's going to be hard for me. I'm by myself. That's going to be very hard for me, man. I'm by myself. I got custody of my first kids. I'm [00:12:38] Speaker 2: a football player. So, Mr. George, let me ask this question. Let me ask this question. Stop talking when I start talking. So when the plea was taken, and maybe I'm not clear, because I didn't take the plea. It was taken on the felony docket. It's Mr. Brown suggesting to me that the judge at the time they took the plea did not advise him that for each count, it's a penalty up to 93 days in the Wayne County Jail, up to $500 in fines plus costs, and up to two years probation. Was that explained to him when he took the plea? Yes, Judge. And the felony was dismissed in lieu of a misdemeanor plea? [00:13:28] Speaker 3: Okay. So then I'm confused by your statement, Mr. Brown. So here's where we are. [00:13:44] Speaker 2: Ma'am, I don't know what you... Sir, you're not going to keep interrupting me. So we can withdraw his plea, and he can go back and deal with it as a felony, or we can go ahead and do my sentencing. But what I'm not going to do, I'm not going to explain the law to Mr. Brown. I'm not going to explain why you can't be walking around with 16 outstanding warrants for your arrest. In a minute, I'm going to start adding some jail days. That's what I'm going to start doing. I'm not going to explain why you can't walk around with 16 open warrants. I'm not going to explain what one thing has to do with the other, because that's not what I'm here for. That's not my role, and I'm not going to engage in somebody else's role. So either we can go ahead, or we can go and send it back to the felony docket. And I don't know what the penalty is on the felony docket. I don't know how many years he can get in prison on the felony docket for this thing that was reduced to a misdemeanor. But it is clear that these three counts that he pled to are an inconvenience to his way of living. And all I can say is that probation is an alternative to jail, and jail is an alternative to probation. So I don't know what we're asking me for, but this isn't just a give me a fine and let me go on my way. And not only is he asking me to just give me a fine and let me go on my way. Apparently, he don't want the fine on all of the counts and the cost on all of the counts, because he doesn't understand what that has to do with anything. So I'm not here to explain myself. I'm here to impose sentence. So either we want to go ahead and do the sentence and try to work the probation, or we want to go ahead and withdraw the plea, take it back to the felony docket, and handle it as a felony. Because I'm confused. [00:16:21] Speaker 3: Miss George? Judge, I'm sure he can work it out with probation to a report by Zoom or by mail or something. I'm sure it's workable. Oh, of course it is, because everybody else is working it. [00:16:37] Speaker 2: I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is. But he's made up in his mind that it's something that he's not going to do. He just said he's going to fail the probation. And when he fails the probation, because he has made up in his mind that he's going to fail the probation, then it's going to be jailed. So there's no sense in doing that. Let's let him go back now, since he's already made up in his mind that he's going to fail. And when you come out the gate with a defeated attitude, then there's nothing that you're going to be defeated. [00:17:07] Speaker 3: Judge, you gave him an option to close him out early if he gets everything all cleaned up. I sure did. And you can't do any better than that. [00:17:17] Speaker 2: You can't do any better than that. Well, I didn't think I could, but apparently I can. Apparently I can do better. And correct me if I'm wrong. Are there three counts? Three counts, Judge. Madam Prosecutor, are there three counts? Yes, yes, that is correct. Three counts. Okay. And I sentenced him on three counts. Did I not? Yes. Okay. Mr. Brown, since you think you're going to fail, would you prefer to just go to jail, sir? Or what would you want me to do? [00:17:56] Speaker 1: Ma'am, this is what I said. I said, the stipulations, it's going to be hard. I might fail. That's what I said. [00:18:03] Speaker 2: No, you didn't say I might fail. [00:18:05] Speaker 1: Ma'am, I've been on probation since 19, since I was 19 years old. So I'm misremembering for me going to probation at 19. And you don't think we do anything different from since you were 19. I've been in this type of stuff since I was 19. [00:18:21] Speaker 2: You get what I'm saying? No, I don't. And I don't want you to talk to me like that. I don't get what you're saying. And I don't. [00:18:28] Speaker 1: I was just asking that stars in the stipulation of probation. Okay. I got $2,300 to pay with, $1,700 to pay with y'all. Bam. But every time I'm going to drop, I got to still pay. Well, if you had, bam, went to drop that first time, you wouldn't have to drop. Ma'am, I wasn't aware of it. [00:18:47] Speaker 2: You don't have to be aware. I wasn't aware that I had to explain myself to you. They did tell you to go to the drug test. [00:18:58] Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. All right. I just see. If I tell you something, it's going to be. I wasn't aware of the drug screening. [00:19:07] Speaker 2: They didn't even tell you to go. Let me bring the probation officer in. Can you get Ms. Williams, please? Can you have Ms. Williams come in? Because Mr. Brown says she never told him to go drug test. And I need to know why she put that in her report. [00:19:24] Speaker 1: Ma'am, I didn't hear her. All right, ma'am. Can you just sentence me in? We could just move on with the process. Your Honor, can I get sentence and move on? [00:19:37] Speaker 2: I didn't think you were. I didn't think you were talking to, Your Honor. Because the way you're talking to me sounds like you're talking to your person, your homeboy or something. So now all of a sudden that I'm calling Ms. Williams because you said you weren't aware of the drug test. Now you want me to move on and you want to get sentenced. You told me you weren't aware of the drug screen. [00:20:04] Speaker 1: Ma'am, I just, Your Honor. [00:20:06] Speaker 2: I remember I was Your Honor. [00:20:08] Speaker 1: Your Honor, I don't want to just go. It seemed like it's not working for the best of me right now. So I just want to proceed. [00:20:16] Speaker 2: Well, it probably was seeming like that. And that's why you probably should have let Ms. George do the representation. But you just insisted on saying what you wanted to say. So I'm insisting on listening. And now that you have said you didn't know about the drug test, I want to find out why Ms. Williams would put that in her report. Because what we don't do in Judge Bryant's courtroom is come in and lie. And so certainly she would, why would she put that in a report? Certainly she needs to be written up for putting that in a report that she ordered you to go to the drug test. Certainly she needs to have her supervisor notify that she is putting false information in a report. Because no one will submit a false report to me and I not address it. Of course they would not. So let me say this to you, Mr. Brown. We're here in courtroom 339 and we're changing lives and making a difference. We're helping people. You have come in here this morning with a whole bunch of excuses. And now accusing Ms. Williams of not telling you about the drug test. Listen, if you want to work, see here you go again. Here you go. Go ahead. Okay, I'm going to sit back and let me say this. I'm not going to speak until you're done. You go ahead. [00:21:40] Speaker 1: This is the only thing I got to say, Your Honor. I wasn't aware. I don't know if she told me or not. I just wasn't aware. If you want me to go down there today right now and submit the drug screen, I will go do that as soon as we get off the Zoom interview, the Zoom card day. I don't have no undefeated persona. What you said? I don't have none of that. I don't have no. [00:22:09] Speaker 2: Let me tell you what you're not going to do. You're not going to go tit for tat with me with everything I say. What I say is not up for discussion, Mr. Brown. I don't say things so you can give me a response. You tell me what you want me to know about you and that's it. Don't give me a rebuttal to what I say. Okay. As I said, we're coming in here with excuses. I have to work all day. I don't have time to do this. I don't have time to do that. You have three counts on a case that started out as a felony. We're going to figure out how to get it done. We're going to figure out if we can pay the money or not. If we need a different alternative, we're going to get it done. But what we're not going to do is come in with my experience from 10, 15 years ago on a probation that Judge Bryant wasn't presiding over and interject these things into my courtroom. So we're going to just try to get it done like everybody else does, right? And then we're going to not think that we have the equal opportunity to everything that the judge says, I'm going to respond and rebut. That's not going to work out good for you. That's not going to work out good for you. So we're going to work together to get this probation done, to get these fines and costs and fees paid. I don't know if they went over the advice of rights form or on the felony docket. That wasn't me, but they should have. And if they had, it would have said, if you can't pay the fines, costs and fees, you notify the court. And then they'll try to do something different. That's what the advice of rights form should have said. But I didn't take the plea. I pride myself on, I'm not your average judge. I don't know what you're used to. But if you come in here and you want to be argumentative and combative, every time I'm going to win the argument. Every time. Look at Ms. Williams. They called her and she showed up. Ms. Williams, he backtracked now. He backtracked. He backtracked, Ms. Williams. Thank you for coming in. Don't put your name on the record for the, for the, for the record. Don Williams on behalf of the probation department. Good morning. Ms. Williams. I was just going to try to verify, but I'm, he, he, he changed his mind. Because you put in a report that the, the, um, that on, on October the 11th. Did they tell you which case this was regarding? Yes. This is Mr. Lamont Brown. Yeah. You put in the report on page six that on October 11th, 2021, the defender was given verbal and written instructions to screen for alcohol and drugs at ATS by October the 13th. And then, um, he had forgot because he thought that he didn't, he wasn't aware of the drug screen. And I wanted to know why you would put that in the report. Um, if it wasn't true, but I think he, he remembers. So I appreciate you coming in though. Um, because I wanted to, I didn't want somebody to, you know, I wanted to, you to have an opportunity to speak on it, but he, he, he remembered that you did tell him and that you did give him a paper. Um, that you may have given him a paper and instructing him to go to the drug screen. [00:26:09] Speaker 3: Thank you. [00:26:09] Speaker 2: You're welcome. And thank you. All right. Have a great day. So I'm, I gave the review date of February the 4th at 9:30 on zoom. And, um, he's going to be assigned a probation officer in a short, um, time frame. And if he does not receive that, he can call the courtroom. If they don't reach out to him, he can call the courtroom. And Ms. Muldrow will be more than happy to, um, let him know who the probation officer is. Is there anything further for this record? No, judge. [00:26:45] Speaker 3: Thank you. Nothing from the people, judge. Thank you. All right. [00:26:48] Speaker 2: Then we're all set. Mr. Brown, you have a great day and stay safe. - Yeah.