Genesee judges disqualify themselves from hearing criminal case against county clerk

Genesee County Clerk John Gleason holds a press conference to inform residents of a situation involving city officials being sworn into office before voting results are verified by the Genesee County Board of Canvassers on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 outside Genesee County Circuit Court in Flint. (Isaac Ritchey | MLive.com)

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GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Every Genesee District Court judge in the county has disqualified him or herself from hearing a criminal case against Clerk-Register John Gleason.

Chief Judge Christopher R. Odette said Wednesday, May 11, that he has asked the State Court Administrator’s Office to refer the case to another county, pausing the prosecution until a new judge has been assigned the case.

Gleason was charged last month with bribing or intimidating a witness and willful neglect of duty, crimes which police and prosecutors have said stem from an incident in December 2019 when he performed a wedding ceremony without a license in Shiawassee County.

Gleason has said that he carried out the wedding just before the bride delivered a child in advance of her due date at Owosso Memorial Hospital.

County officials said soon after that marriage ceremony that the clerk-register was being investigated for pressuring employees to backdate a marriage affidavit and license for the wedding.

The witness intimidation charge is a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Willful neglect of duty is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach John D. Dakmak, Gleason’s attorney, for comment on Wednesday.

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene, who is prosecuting the case against Gleason, said a court hearing scheduled for next week will likely be rescheduled once the new venue has been established.

Reene was assigned the task of reviewing a Genesee County Sheriff’s Office investigation of Gleason after Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton also recused himself from the case.

Michigan court rules list a number of potential reasons that a judge can be disqualified from hearing a case, including bias or prejudice for or against a party or attorney, or having personal knowledge of disputed facts concerning the proceeding.

A spokesman for the SCAO said Wednesday that the Gleason case has not yet been resigned to another county.

Read more at The Flint Journal:

Genesee County Clerk-Register John Gleason facing witness intimidation, neglect of duty charges

Gleason could remain clerk-register if he avoids felony conviction

Stay out of coming elections, state tells accused Genesee County clerk-register

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