Pending the California extradition hearings and the issuance of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Warrant (a required document in Michigan’s extradition process) Mr. Deering was released from the Los Angeles County Jail after posting bail in Judge Ito’s court. (Judge Lance Ito of O.J. Simpson trial fame). He can still recall standing in the prisoner booth and looking up to see it was Judge Ito and the overwhelming feeling of being cast in a low budget Hollywood film in an unwanted role and a bad script.

As a certified paralegal he began assisting the attorney in his case, and prior to being forcibly taken from California during a Stay of Extradition spoke with A.A.G. Mitch Wood directly. Mr. Wood was informed that: 1) the alleged Order for Support was given Ultra Vires, e.g. outside the Court’s Statutory Authority, and was therefore Absolutely Void. This is a part of the Oakland County Records where A.A.G. Wood could plainly see from the Docket and Judgment of Divorce (pp. 3 – 5; shared economic custody via 168 overnights) that Judge McDonald had no authority to issue the alleged Support Order; and, 2) that Wood lacked jurisdiction to prosecute as Mr. Deering’s former wife and children resided in Minnesota, and he resided in California from before MCL 750.165 was passed into law in November 1999. Moreover, A.A.G. Mitch Wood knew that he lacked jurisdiction to prosecute as he had firsthand knowledge that no parties to the Void Order resided within Michigan (he was arresting Mr. Deering in California and had spoken to Mr. Deering’s former wife and one of his  children in Minnesota). Nonetheless, A.A.G. Mitch Wood, at the instruction of former A.G. Mike Cox and A.A.G. James Long, continued the criminal prosecution.  He even had the audacity to openly inform Mr. Deering that he didn’t care about his lack of probable cause and questionable jurisdiction and would “proceed regardless.” Mr. Wood ended his last call to Mr. Deering by telling him he wouldn’t talk any longer as he was calling on his personal cell phone while on the way to pick up his son from soccer. How could he be so bold in his defiance of our constitutional laws? Where was his sense of moral duty to the People he serves, the Oath of Office he took, and our Constitutions? Regardless of the answers to these questions, answers we may never know, We would later learn that Title IV-D was providing a financial incentive for Mr. Wood’s anti-male bigotry, the justification for his cushy state job, and his political aggrandizement.

The California Governor’s Warrant finally issued and Mr. Deering was returned to custody. At that time he could no longer afford an attorney and represented himself. A Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was scheduled to be Heard before Judge Bianco (formerly before Judge Lance Ito who was retiring) and the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a Stay of Extradition. But on a Sunday, when the court offices were closed, the judge and his staff were not available, and before the Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus could be heard and adjudicated, A.A.G. Mitch Wood coordinated Mr. Deering’s release from the Los Angeles County Jail and into the hands of his agents, where by force Mr. Deering was brought to Michigan, a state where no crime by him was ever committed, and where the trial court under one Judge Rudy Nichols knowingly proceeded without jurisdiction. Mr. Deering was unconstitutionally detained Without Bail and a bond towards the alleged debt was required; another of Michigan’s unconstitutional Debtor Prison and Cruel & Unusual Punishment schemes.

Instead of the Constitutionally Required appointment of effective representation for indigent defendants, Mr. Deering was provided with plea bargainers. The first plea bargainer was attorney Alan S. Graff (Bar No. P61709) and then followed by James Daniel Shanahan (Bar No. P20267). Meeting Graff for the first time at the District Court Arraignment Mr. Deering presented him with a list of his defenses and asked that he both sign and provide a defense accordingly. Alan Graff refused on both counts and insisted the arraignment was meaningless; it should just be waived. He further assured Mr. Deering that it was at the Circuit Court where his issues would be brought and heard; and besides, the prosecutor had a “deal” for him. The district court arraignment was waived and Mr. Deering was bound over to the Oakland County Circuit Court (OCCC). In the wee hours of December 30, 2005 Mr. Deering was awakened to be transported to the OCCC Arraignment. He sat there waiting at the Oakland County Jail for nothing. Alan Graff had waived his Arraignment against Mr. Deering’s explicit instructions. Moreover, Alan Graff perjured himself by writing on the waiver that he signed Mr. Deering’s name with his consent! Graff did not conduct an investigation into the charge or review the facts and law of the case, he did not investigate whether there was any party to the Alleged Support Order residing in the state such that a crime was committed within its jurisdiction, he did not identify or prepare to call any witnesses, he did not conduct any discovery, he refused to investigate any potentially meritorious defenses even though Mr. Deering  prepared them for him, he did not review the Divorce Court Docket, Transcripts, Judgment of Divorce, Motions, or bring appropriate pre-trial Motions or bring a Motion to quash the Circuit Court Bind-over. The Preliminary Hearing in Mr. Deering’s case should have resulted in his immediate release as this is when the court adjudicates whether a crime had been committed in its territory, which must be done before it can proceed. As evidenced above, no crime had been committed by Mr. Deering in the State of Michigan and Graff did nothing! 

Mr. Deering then wrote to Graff demanding his removal from his case. Graff agreed to be removed and Judge Nichols then offered the Case to attorney James Daniel Shanahan who was in the courtroom at the time. Shanahan accepted, but he too was just a plea bargainer. Like Graff, all Shanahan did from the very beginning was to insist on a deal, which turned out to be a Plea Agreement. Shanahan’s only act that remotely resembled a defense was to approach the bench and inform Judge Rudy Nichols that on the Plea Agreement as to where the crime occurred, he stated; “I have written in Pontiac,we crossed that out and wrote in Los Angeles and Rushford, Minnesota“. Nichols then knew he had the duty to make a court directed inquiry as to what evidence the prosecutor had that Mr. Deering or any alleged victim resided in the State – without this evidence the court lacked jurisdiction to proceed. Instead Nichols (acting as co-prosecutor) threatened to detain Mr. Deering and proceed to trial without Jurisdiction if he didn’t change it to read Pontiac, Michigan. Knowingly, brazenly, and without jurisdiction, Rudy Nichols proceeded with mock hearings for an alleged crime committed against Minnesota residents by a California resident in violation of his solemn oath of office.

Without an attorney willing and able to bring a defense and under the Duress of those lawless proceedings, Mr. Deering entered into a Plea Agreement. Under the Plea Agreement all his Constitutional rights and challenges were preserved, including pre-rendition and re-extradition, and he was allowed to return to California and his son for six months. He was hopeful that at least the California State and Federal courts would hear and adjudicate the jurisdiction question as mandated by Constitutional law. But, as you will read on the following page, there seems to be no end to the abuse of discretion or usurpation.