Judge LOSES IT After Discovering What She Did

On October 10th, 2025, Amanda Jones, 18 years old, appeared before Judge Hartel in the 84th District Court in Cadillac, Wexford County, Michigan, facing a 93-day misdemeanor assault and battery under MCL 750.81. The alleged victim was a 14-year-old girl. What happened that day at the old dam was filmed. Then she went home and posted a second video to Tik Tok. She captioned it round two. She walked into Judge Hartel's courtroom expecting it to be a short morning. Judge Hartel had other plans. This case number 251740 SM. Mr. Council. May it please the court on behalf of the people. The defendant Miss Jones, can you come over here? Uh we are set for a pre-trial conference. Uh it appears we have a resolution in this matter, Mr. Kearns? Yes, your honor. It's my understanding the defendant will be pleading no contest as charged. The people are supporting a delay of sentence with a full dismissal if the defendant is successful on the delay. Success on the delay would be uh whatever programming is recommended by probation and uh no violations of typical probation conditions. Is that agreeable? Yes. Okay. And the reason for the no contest plea is uh potential civil liability, your honor. And so just so we're clear, the uh >> [clears throat] >> success is completion of programming and no violations. That's right, yeah. Mr. Hartel? Is that your deal? Miss Jones, have you heard what the attorneys have said the resolution in this case is? Yes. And is that how you wish to resolve it? Yes. Will you please raise your right hand? >> [clears throat] >> Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you've given in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Uh Miss Jones, it's my understanding that uh the agreement today is is that you will plead no contest to assault and or assault and battery. That is a 93-day misdemeanor and or a fine of $500 and consecutive sentencing may be imposed if the offense happened in the place of confinement. Now, along with that, there's a what's called a Cobbs agreement. And what that is is the prosecution and your attorney and you have reached an agreement that you'll be placed on a delay of sentence. And if you're successful with that delay of sentence, the case would be dismissed. Dismissal mean or I'm sorry, success means that you complete all the programming that your probation officer requests that you do and uh you not have any violations. Do you understand that? Yes. Now, if I decide that I do not want to go along with that agreement, you have the option to withdraw your plea. Do you understand that? Yes. Additionally, this is going to be a no contest plea due to potential civil liability. What that means is that the alleged victim in this case could potentially sue you for any damages in which she's occurred incurred. A no contest plea allows me to read a document, looks like it's going to be a police report, and use that police report to determine whether or not there's a factual basis [clears throat] to accept the plea and to use that for sentencing purposes. Do you understand that? [clears throat] Additionally, a no contest plea cannot be used against you. So, if you were going to uh plead guilty and this person sued you, that guilty plea could be used against you. The no contest plea means that it's not. Essentially, you're accepting responsibility without saying that you did it. Do you understand that? Yes. And is that how you wish to proceed? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> Back on May, I'm sorry, March 31st of this year, were you on probation or parole? No. Were you on bond in any other file? No. Then Miss Jones, to the offense that on or about uh March 31st, 2025, here in the city of Cadillac in Wexford County, how do you plead to committing the offense of assault and or assault and battery? No contest. Counsel, I've been provided with a Cadillac Police Department uh report incident number 25000819. It's been marked as People's Exhibit Number One. Mr. Carns, do you move for its admission? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Cartel? Yes, Your Honor. Uh no objection then. The People's Exhibit Number One is received. Give me just a moment to review that. And we are back on the record. I've uh had the opportunity to review the People's Exhibit Number One. Uh the counsel believe that it forms a factual basis in which uh to accept the plea and the court rules have been complied with. Yes, Your Honor. Yes, Your Honor. As does the court, I find the plea as knowing, voluntary, and accurate. Uh as such, Miss Jones, I find you guilty of assault and or assault and battery. In particular, on March 31st, 2025, there is a video that shows uh Miss Jones hitting, kicking, kneeing as the victim is lying in a fetal position by the old what's commonly referred to as the old dam. Uh the court can take judicial notice that it's located here in the city of Cadillac and is between Haynes Street and uh River or Wright Street on the what's now known as uh something along the lines of the the green trail or the the green pathway. The victim is a 14-year-old middle schooler. Uh the victim reported that she had no injuries. Um It is alleged in the police report that Ms. Jones posted another video on Tik Tok captioned round two. And this appeared to be all over some things that were said about another's deceased mother. As such, I find that the elements are made out for an assault and battery and that this would have been an unwanted, forceful, violent touching. Additionally, I believe the interests are just of justice are well uh established here in allowing the defendant to plead a no contest so [snorts] as to uh not have her guilty plea used against her should a case of civil liability arise, although I question what the civil liability would be since there's no injuries, but I guess that's not for me to determine. Pause for a second. You just heard the words Killebrew agreement and delay of sentence. And unless you work in a Michigan courtroom, they probably meant nothing to you. They are the entire reason we are here. So, let us slow down. A Killebrew agreement is a deal. The prosecutor agrees to recommend a specific sentence in exchange for the plea. Here, the recommendation is a delayed sentence. Amanda goes on probation. If she finishes the programming and stays out of trouble, the case is dismissed. No conviction, no record. A clean slate in exchange for good behavior. But it is only a recommendation. The judge does not have to take it. If he walks away from it, she can withdraw her plea and start over, which brings us to Judge Hartel. Mr. Carnes, are we able to sentence today? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Hartel, any allocution? Yes, thank you, Your Honor. Anytime it's no contest, especially for civil liability, I'm cautious to overly allocute for all these reasons. But what I will say is my client has, to my knowledge, done well on bond. She's stayed in constant contact with the defender's office. Been very cooperative. Uh she does have strong ties to the community. I have no doubt she'll do well on probation. She's highly motivated to do well and receive the benefit of the delay. I in these situations always advise my clients if they don't do well, there is the risk of jail later, the loss of delay, the public adult record. She's a relatively young adult. She wants to be able to pursue uh various careers and ambitions. At the moment, she's working in Judo but she's aware she owes some money on some older files but she is going to uh willing to a wage assignment if I understand that correctly. She also has some friends with her in the courtroom who have been supportive throughout these procedures and I don't doubt will continue to be supportive of her as well. I ask the court to uphold the good. Thank you. Mr. Carnes. Thank you, Your Honor. Um this is a disturbing incident involving the defendant and a 14-year-old. Um really shows some uh lack of judgment, lack of maturity. Um however, the defendant does not have any um prior convictions that I think ultimately this is a fair resolution to the file. I ask the court to place Miss Jones on a delay of sentence. So, I'll leave it there. Mr. Carnes, I I know the CCH is relatively blank because she's just now 18 but um there's some juvenile histories or not? Your Honor, I don't have I don't show that on my end. And I did not I am familiar with Miss Jones on some other things but not where she was the defendant. So, I if the court has Has has Well, I'm I'm just trying to remember. I remember seems like climbing on top of the school for the 4th of July. Was there Were there charges on that? >> 18. That was resolved with the civil infraction. I believe. I'm just going purely off of memory, all right. I'm going to be very honest with everybody. I I don't plan on following this killer girl agreement. She's an 18-year-old who literally kicked and beat a 14-year-old [snorts] in a fetal position on the ground because of something that was said about somebody else's deceased mother and then had the gall to post another video of it on Tik Tok. That's not somebody who's making a mistake. That's not what hide or or this type of thing is designed for. A delay of sentence is to allow the court to determine whether or not the person should will be successful on a term of delay in sentence and hopefully um follow through with with the plans. From what I've seen from Ms. Jones and Mr. Carnes, if you tell me that charges [clears throat] weren't weren't brought, that's I I I trust you on that, but I can tell you and I'm not using any of my prior knowledge because clearly it's not full, [snorts] but I do know from my time as the elected prosecutor here and as judge and I believe she has another case coming up that she has to be arraigned on with Judge Van Als because I had a conflict on that because I was the elected prosecutor when that was uh arose. This is not a one-time mistake. Ms. Jones has been in and out of this whether it's this court or the probate court or somehow tied with other events. I'm not going to make a decision today. Uh what I'm going to do is I'm going to set this over for sentencing and I'll allow both parties the opportunity to do sentencing memorandums and try to convince me why I'm wrong in my thought process, but I I as I sit here today with the information I have, I cannot in good conscience let this just get for all intent and purposes swept under the rug. >> Most people assume that when both attorneys agree on a deal, the judge is just there to sign off. This case proves that is completely wrong. A judge does not work for the prosecution. A judge does not work for the defense. A judge is the only person in that room who answers to the public. And when a deal lands on the bench that does not account for what the public would expect from the justice system, the judge has every right to push it back. That is what happened here. Two attorneys did their jobs. They negotiated. They agreed. They presented a clean package. And the judge looked at the person standing in front of him and decided the package did not match the conduct. You do not get to kick a 14-year-old on camera, caption it round two, and walk out of a courtroom like nothing happened. Not if the judge is paying attention. Amanda did not realize every post was another exhibit. That is the part of the law school curriculum nobody teaches you. If you want more cases like this, subscribe. We will see you in the next one.