Man charged with multiple felonies in kidnapping of Whitmore Lake woman
A man accused of kidnapping the mother of his children outside the Green Oak Township restaurant where she worked was arraigned on multiple felony charges Monday and was ordered held without bond.
Brandon Jay Smith, 23, faces charges that include kidnapping, torture, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic assault and carrying a concealed weapon.
Brandon Smith
Smith, of Sterling Heights, is accused of kidnapping Courtney Beard at knifepoint outside the Olive Garden restaurant where she worked Friday evening. They have two children together, but the children were not in danger, police said.
Police say Smith, who was on probation for a domestic assault in December involving Beard, cut off his electronic tether and drove Beard to a remote property owned by family in the northern lower part of Michigan.
Antrim County sheriff's deputies found Smith and Beard Saturday morning after following footprints in the snow from their vehicle. Beard was suffering from hypothermia and a severe cut and was inside a travel trailer, police said.
Green Oak Township Deputy Chief Jason Pless said three people watched Smith force Beard into a Chevrolet Malibu Friday, and one of the witnesses, who has a license to carry a concealed weapon, drew his weapon and unsuccessfully tried to stop Smith from fleeing, according to the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.
Smith cut Beard in the lower-right leg and tied her legs and feet in an effort to stop her from leaving the car, Pless said, according to Livingston Daily Press & Argus. The deputy chief also said Smith removed the cell phone batteries from both of their phones.
Smith's half-sister, Brenda Puzio, told the Press & Argus he is enamored with Beard and was crushed when the 21-year-old Whitmore Lake woman told him that they had no future together.
Puzio said Smith took the breakup hard, and the loss of his children "broke his heart," the Press & Argus reported.
Smith, who will get a court-appointed attorney, faces up to life in prison if convicted. He is being prosecuted in Livingston County, and a preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 13.
Editor's Note: AnnArbor.com does not normally name the victims in sexual assault cases. However, the name of the victim in this case is included because her name and photo were widely published after she was kidnapped.
Comments
TFF3
Thu, Jan 7, 2010 : 9:31 a.m.
Why on earth are you happy he didn't discharge his weapon? He may have had good reasons for it (too far of a shot, worried about others in the way, etc) which are reasonable for not shooting. But IF he had a good shot, he should have taken it. These two both nearly died up north, and had they been left much longer they may have. Sure the CPL holder shooting him right there would be tragic, but it would have saved much stress, injury, and living in fear of the unknown for that night. At that point, there is NO good way to end the situation, but some are still better than others. Statistics show once you get (or are put in) a car, your chance of survival drops dramatically. We are lucky Courtney is still with us. And yes, if you are certain an innocent person is in danger of their life or sexual assault, you can shoot.
dexrex
Thu, Jan 7, 2010 : 1:54 a.m.
One comment, one question. Comment: Thank you CPL holder for not discharging your weapon. Although in hindsight, you may have wished you would have, humanity thanks you anyway. Question: Is this an example where deadly force would be deemed appropriate given the circumstances of situation and to limit futher escalation? ADAs, Deputies, Troopers? Livingston and Washtenaw may differ on this.
jasonburns
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 7:17 p.m.
@Barbara Niess. I've had two close friends who went through 15th distict court ann arbor DV program. Both were attacked by their wives and both were victims of domestic violence. In one case I saw my friends face had been split open by a telephone and I had heard his wife screaming at him over the telephone. Both these guys were hard working guys who loved their wives, and both wives were also alcoholics. Both of my friends expressed the fear that if they contacted the police they would be arrested for domestic violence because the police would believe their wives not my friends. I saw this happen when my my one friends wife held a broken beer bottle at his head and said" Go ahead. Call 911. You'll go to jail" To make a long story short. Both of my friends were attacked and both went to jail even though they were were the victims. My one friend was punched by his wife while he was driving causing him to almost crash his car, and he hit her in self defense. My other friend was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver and went to jail after he defended his life. This is the same friend who had his face split open a week earlier. Both these guys pled no contest on their attorneys advice and spent two years in Soviet style batterers reeducation classes at Catholic social services. I could not believe what was going on to my friends so I actually contacted Safehouse in late 2005 about resourses for men, and no, they do not service men and women equally. I attended both my friends final class and was amazed at the anti male bigotry by the staff and the members of the class, most of which were poor, barely literate, drug and alcohol addicted, etc. They had a power and control wheel that basically based all violence on men and fathers. It made me sick. I think both my friends are permantely scarred by their experience with the DV racket. Both of their former wives have since passed away. One drank herself to death. The other froze to death under a bridge in Kentucky. I often think if the real batterrer in my friends case had been arrested and given counseling two more people would be alive. Too many women play the DV card. Having said this it loooks like this guy is going to jail. I read Brighton paper and apparently he kidnapped her at her work, a co worker had a concealed carry permit but he drove off. He tied her up, raped her, and left her in the cold. So my guess would be he is probably getting out in about twenty to forty years. I just don't think this should be a poster example for domestic violence. And since women commit the majority of arrestable DV offenses shouldn't the overwhelmingly arrest rate of men for the same acts be considered a hate crime, since these crimes are commited by bigotry and violence, sponsored by Misandry(the hatred of men)?
TFF3
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 3:56 p.m.
The Beard family are wonderful people and Courtney is nothing but a fantastic mom to her kids. It won't ever go away, but I hope that in time they can all move past this and get back to some sense of 'normal.'
work4justice
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 12:31 p.m.
@Ruth, thank you for speaking out on these important issues. @jasonburns This is Barbara Niess, the Executive Director of SafeHouse Center...and thank you for bringing up the topic of men and our services. We do provide counseling, help line, legal advocacy and shelter services to men. We also believe that any kind of domestic violence is wrong and seek to support those who identify as a victim. Our web site is also www.safehousecenter.org.
Cash
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 6:35 a.m.
Macabre, I wouldn't romanticize this guy. In fact, as I stated in my original post, this should be used as a wake up call to people who critically judge others but look right past their own family and friends who may be potential threats. Fight to get help for them before they do something criminal. A person will be changed by prison. Prison does not rehab folks. When you are abused, taunted, and treated as less than human...generally you will react he same way. And thus the great American prison industry supplies it's own customers. Rare and strong is the man who turns his back on it....and makes his own way. But this guy needs to be institutionalized long term. He won't get the help he needs there, but he will be away from society and can't harm this woman. But then...he will be released. I hope his family is ready to monitor his every move at that point. That will be their burden.
jasonburns
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 3:38 a.m.
@Ruth Kraut...Please give me the examples of services for abused men at Safehouse Center as compared to women and explain Safehouse Center's official policy on women who are accused of domestic violence and in general their opinion on womens violence against men in the home....All independent studies show that women are equal if not greator aggressors in domestic violence although the domestic violence industry continues to ignore this. I talked to a Washtenaw county sherriffs deputy and was informed that SafeHouse center holds regular education seminars for police officers on why women should not be arrested. A talk with a well known defense attorney confirmed this....If a woman attacks a man and the man defends himself the man will go to jail in Ann Arbor. The only defense for a man is to allow the abuse to continue or to leave the home, and often the children...Mandatory arrest policies have led to a clogged judicial system that often arrests batterred men and allows violent offenders such as Brandon Smith to go free and commit heinous acts. Most police officers will acknoweledge this yet it is politically incorrect to discuss such things...An example would be the tiger woods story. Imagine if Tiger had taken a golf club to his cheating wife, smashed out her windshield, broke her nose and chipped her tooth. Would this be a national comedy joked about on SNL or Jay Leno? I think not. Tiger would be facing serious prison time and be crucified in the national media, even worse than he is now, even though he is obviously a victim of domestic violence. Of course, since Tiger was of a certain gender, the police looked the other way and excused the violence, as well as the rest of the media.
Jon P
Wed, Jan 6, 2010 : 1:54 a.m.
I hope he goes away for a long, long time. I went to school with her siblings... a very nice family. I can't imagine what he just put them through.
Ruth Kraut
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 11:11 p.m.
@jasonburns SafeHouse Center will service all survivors of domestic violence, whether they are women or men (and whether their abusers are women or men). @Amalie Nash--thanks!
jasonburns
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 10:57 p.m.
Will SafeHouse service male victims of domestic violence. The answer is no. What if the gender roles were reversed. How are cases in Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor handled where the female sttacks the man. In most cases the man is considered the aggressor and is arrested even though the woman may have struck first. Brandon Smith will probably spend the next twenty or thirty years in prison. Yet if a woman attacks or even kills a man she is still considered a victim. I believe there is a university of MI group that is still trying to free Nancy Seaman and other women who killed their husbands. There is no excuse for violence against women(or men)
Chrysta Cherrie
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 7:47 p.m.
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Macabre Sunset
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 7:37 p.m.
Cash, I understand the success rates are around 30% - that is the number of criminals released from prison who aren't sent back. So "success" in that case is not exactly proof of all that much. No, I don't advocate that every criminal spend life behind bars. And I don't advocate that released felons should spend their lives unemployed. But I won't romanticize people like Brandon Smith, and imagine that they will have an epiphany during a brief incarceration and wind up being better people than those of us who would never kidnap, rape and beat the mother of our children.
Cash
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 7:22 p.m.
Macabre, You think that every person who is ever sent to prison for every offense should stay in prison for life or they should not be employed? You'd rather pay for them on government assistance. It's my hope that the folks who have served their sentence, and are back out in society, can recover from man's inhumanity to man and end up a step above those who seem to enjoy trying to look down at them now. It happens all around you. It just isn't good fodder for media sensationalism. As you stated, you are not interested in the success rates. It seems that the media counts on that attitude.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 6:25 p.m.
But there's no guarantee that someone takes his medicine. And, honestly, I don't think psychiatrists can guarantee that medicine would solve a problem. It's a very controversial theory and there are plenty of anecdotal exceptions to common beliefs. If someone is capable of what this guy did, he has to be judged based on those actions. We can't make medical excuses for him. If he did it, that's what we need lifetime protection from. Cash, I'm really not interested in the minority of "successful" rehabilitations. Most criminals stick with their life of crime. And they shouldn't have the opportunity to mix again with civilized society. The overwhelming benefit of the doubt should go to the person who hasn't committed crimes. Now, if someone has served a fair sentence, paid restitution, and wants to rejoin civilization, then fantastic. If he's willing to start again at the bottom rung and earn his way back the right way, that's success. I don't think it's impossible. But I do think he has to prove it and I don't believe in Morris sentences or parole.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 6:16 p.m.
Right, my fault I was wrong, no border crossed. Jackson it is then.
Ignatz
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 6:01 p.m.
I don't think kidnapping is a Federal crime unless a state border is crossed.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 5:51 p.m.
"I don't see any federal crimes committed." Is kidnapping not a federal crime?
Cash
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 5:36 p.m.
Lokal, I don't see any federal crimes committed. He would go to a state prison if found guilty after trial. And unless you have been in prison, or have a loved one who has, you do not realize that people DO come out of prison and DO lead productive lives. Don't be so fast to lump all people who make a mistake into the same neat bundle. No matter how horribly they are treated inside the walls, there are some who come out and are better people after it all. Movies are made to glorify and horrify and the media produces news to shock and astound. Don't believe everything you read and hear.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 4:53 p.m.
Ha, don't lump me in with people soft on crime, I think he should get a life sentence which would probably end up being 35 years or so. To me, I think that's fair. But believe me if you stuck this savage behind bars until he died I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. If I must play devil's advocate I would say he's obviously an unstable person and perhaps the introduction of psychatric medicine could help...and I think since the victim did not die losing 35 years of your life is alooong time. Of ocurse after being released from federal prison after that long he won't be much use to society anyway.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 4:16 p.m.
I'm not a big fan of "an eye for an eye," but I don't see how this person should ever be allowed out of prison again. Kidnapping, torture and sexual assault? That's not someone who can be rehabilitated. What would you prefer, Lokalisierung? A couple of weeks of treatment at a local spa? Maybe a few weekends picking up McDonald's wrappers on the highway if you want to "get serious?" I know it's expensive to give someone life in prison. But the cost to society of letting him out is far, far greater.
Ruth Kraut
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 3:31 p.m.
Editorial staff--In the same way that you publish information about help for depression and suicide every time you have an article about a suicide, it would be wonderful if you could publish the information for SafeHouse Center and the national Domestic Violence hotline every time you write an article where there is a domestic assault. It might save someone's life.
4 America
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 3:27 p.m.
If the first judge (Oakland or Washtenaw?) gave him the max. of 2 years for him beating Courtney up in December this incident would not have happened!!!
Lokalisierung
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 2:59 p.m.
He'll see his kids again, but not for a long long time. This even makes the "eye for an eye" crowd happy as am sure he will also be the victim of torture, (at least)three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic assault (in a way) and carrying concealed weapons.
Cash
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 2:58 p.m.
djm, I agree. This should be reminder of how people can react to loss of control or to loss in general. We have to fight to get family and/or friends help immediately when we see them going in the wrong direction. And family intervention can never come too soon. Believe me, it is painful to look back and say "why didn't I notice?" or "why didn't I do something?" Don't wait for tragedy. Try to prevent it.
treetowncartel
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 2:49 p.m.
So, we got two counties involved here, Livingston and Antrim, which one is going to handle the matter?
djm12652
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.
We all make choices in our lives, this young kid made the wrong ones...not only will he got to prison, he most likely will never see his children again...so we can only hope that his children will not be seriously affected by this as they grow up without a father. So sad, I'm happy to hear their mother is progessing with her recovery.