by
Judge Kenneth King
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission on Thursday filed a complaint against Detroit 36th District Court Judge Kenneth J. King as a result of a highly publicized incident in 2024 in which he had a teen girl handcuffed and put in jail garb for sleeping in his courtroom, and for a 2022 incident in which he handcuffed and detained an attorney without holding him in contempt.
The commission is requesting that the Michigan Supreme Court appoint a master to preside over a public hearing and prehearing matters. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will review the findings and decide whether to take action against King, which could range from doing nothing to censure, suspension, or removal from the bench.
The 12-page complaint alleges that in the incident with the teenage girl, King "brought disrepute to himself and the judiciary" with his unorthodox actions, ignored the law, and failed to show professional competence, patience, and courtesy to the teen.
In the case of the lawyer, the complaint alleges that King "willfully disregarded and ignored the law" by handcuffing and detaining him without good cause or making findings that would support contempt, and without declaring that he was holding the lawyer in contempt.
"My only comment is that I do not believe my actions were malicious and did not amount to judicial misconduct," King said in a statement to Deadline Detroit.
King has been a lawyer since 1996 and a judge in 36th District Court since 2006. He declined to comment to Deadline Detroit.
In the case of the teen girl, she was part of a high school group on a field trip on Aug. 13, 2024, to King’s courtroom to learn about the judiciary and watch a criminal proceeding.
According to the complaint, at the start of his presentation to students, the judge came off the bench and removed his robe. After about 45 minutes, he noticed the teenage girl had fallen asleep and said: “Am I boring you?” and woke her up.
A short time later, she fell asleep again, according to the complaint. So, the judge had the court security officer take her for a walk in the hallway. King then said to the students: “I think, ultimately, she may need to take a walk in the back to see where we keep our people who are disrespectful to the court.”
The judge eventually took the bench again and put on his robe, but no one in the court told the teen that sleeping was considered contemptuous or that she could be held in contempt for doing so.
The judge then warned her not to fall asleep again, then ordered her taken into custody and put in a jail uniform and detained.
“But you don’t care about being disrespectful. Well, you don’t listen and your attitude is showing that you don’t care," King said to her. "Your attitude is showing everything.”
He went on to say: “One thing you’ll learn about my courtroom is that I’m not a toy. I am not to be played with.”
“Just like a regular defendant that’s being held in contempt of court. She got to get dressed too. Jail clothes . . . . She can go downstairs . . . . Far as I’m concerned, she in contempt of court.”
The complaint said the judge did not assign the girl a lawyer or cite law supporting contempt of court.
"The teenager’s sleeping was not disruptive to, and did not have a disorderly effect on, respondent’s presentation to students or any court proceeding," the complaint noted.
The teen was in a jail uniform, handcuffed, and detained until the judge ordered her returned to his courtroom nearly two hours later, the complaint said.
The complaint went on to say that the judge "willfully ignored that he had no basis in law to proceed with summary punishment of the teenager. Rather, (the judge) acted as if no legal procedures or standards limited his use of contempt power to detain a non-litigant teenage courtroom visitor when no case had been called."
He then said:
“I have a young lady here that’s with these students who has been pretty disrespectful to the court this morning, and I’m contemplating on putting her or holding her in contempt of court.”
“You’re not fazed by this at all, are you?”
“She just don’t give a care. I’m tempted to give her some days in jail, as a lesson.”
“And I, quite frankly, don’t like your attitude. How old are you? You’re old enough to know better. What is your problem?”
“I don’t have time for games. Like I said before, you want to play, you better get a toy, because I’m not to be played with; do you understand?”
He then held a mock hearing to determine if she should go to a juvenile detention center overnight.
The other incident cited in the complaint happened on Feb. 9, 2022, and involved defense attorney Tyrone Bickerdt, who was working a case before the judge.
The assistant prosecuting attorney, according to the complaint, requested an adjournment for a preliminary examination that day, saying she had not provided discovery owed to the defendant and that the complaining witness was unavailable.
Bickerdt said that he had received some discovery material and was prepared to proceed, but also was not opposed to the requested adjournment.
The judge challenged Bickerdt’s claim that he had received discovery. Bickerdt showed the judge that he had received some but not all.
Judge King challenged Bickerdt’s claim that he was ready to proceed with the hearing. Bickerdt responded, saying he could proceed if necessary but did not object to an adjournment. King accused him of being untruthful. He also told the lawyer it would be malpractice to proceed with the preliminary examination on the basis of the limited discovery.
The judge accused Bickerdt of being disingenuous. Bickerdt tried to explain how he was not being disingenuous, according to the complaint.
"Throughout the incident, Mr. Bickerdt never raised his voice, nor was he belligerent, nor did he sound confrontational," the complaint said.
Nonetheless, the judge ordered him to be detained in a holding cell for hours. The lawyer then returned to the courtroom in handcuffs, and King discharged him without ever finding him in contempt, the complaint alleged.
Judge King "willfully disregarded and ignored the law that constrained his use of contempt power by detaining Mr. Bickerdt without colorable cause, without making findings that would support contempt, and without stating that he was finding Mr. Bickerdt in contempt," the complaint said.
