SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:
In November 2000, while Senator Jaye was on probation for his March 05, 2000 drunk driving conviction, he reportedly assaulted his fiancée in a Bay County gas station. The assault was witnessed by an employee. Part of the assault was captured on the gas station's surveillance cam.
After this incident, Jaye was pulled over and arrested by the police for driving on a restricted driver's license - a violation of his probation.
After this incident, Jaye was pulled over and arrested by the police for driving on a restricted driver's license - a violation of his probation.
Warrant issued for Jaye
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
December 19, 2000
BAY CITY -- Bay County officials have issued an arrest warrant for state Sen. David Jaye that accuses him of violating his restricted drivers license to go deer hunting.
Jaye has had a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, now can drive only to work, medical visits and counseling sessions.
On Nov. 19, Michigan State Police pulled over a vehicle driven by Jaye on Int. 75, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said. Jaye told police he was returning home from a northern deer camp.
Jaye told The Associated Press on Monday that he was driving back from a legislative meeting.
Jaye, 42, faces up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.
Jaye was driving on business, attorney says
The Argus-Press
Owosso, Michigan
December 20, 2000
Bay City, Mich. - State Sen. David Jaye might have gone deer hunting but did not violate his restricted driver's license when State Police stopped him because he was on legislative business, his lawyer said.
Jaye has been driving on a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, now can drive only to work, medical visit and counseling sessions.
Attorney Robert Huth Jr. said Jaye was on his way back from discussing lawsuits and regulatory concerns with members of the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in Atlanta, Mich. , when his vehicle was pulled over Nov. 19.
Jaye, 42, was chairman of the senate's Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee until his conviction.
"Even if David Jaye was hunting while on the trip, it was incidental to the reason and legislative purpose for him appearing at the meeting," Huth wrote in his request to drop the 90-day misdemeanor charge of violating a restricted license. "My suspicion is that the State Police officers that spoke to Mr. Jaye reached the same conclusion. Surely, they had a copy of his restrictions at the time of the stop."
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said the arrested was justified.
The Argus-Press
Owosso, Michigan
December 20, 2000
Bay City, Mich. - State Sen. David Jaye might have gone deer hunting but did not violate his restricted driver's license when State Police stopped him because he was on legislative business, his lawyer said.
Jaye has been driving on a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, now can drive only to work, medical visit and counseling sessions.
Attorney Robert Huth Jr. said Jaye was on his way back from discussing lawsuits and regulatory concerns with members of the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in Atlanta, Mich. , when his vehicle was pulled over Nov. 19.
Jaye, 42, was chairman of the senate's Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee until his conviction.
"Even if David Jaye was hunting while on the trip, it was incidental to the reason and legislative purpose for him appearing at the meeting," Huth wrote in his request to drop the 90-day misdemeanor charge of violating a restricted license. "My suspicion is that the State Police officers that spoke to Mr. Jaye reached the same conclusion. Surely, they had a copy of his restrictions at the time of the stop."
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said the arrested was justified.
Police: Jaye stopped after assault report
A witness at a gas station said he saw the state senator slap and kick his girlfriend, a police report says Jaye was soon pulled over on Int. 75
December 20, 2000
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
BAY CITY -- State troopers "had reason to believe that a life-threatening felony was being committed" by Sen. David Jaye and his brother Joseph when they detained the men on Int. 75 Nov. 19, according to a police report.
A man pumping gas at a service station told police that he saw a man -- later identified as Jaye -- slap and kick a woman before pushing her into his vehicle and speeding off, said the report.
Bay County officials filed an arrest warrant for Jaye, R-Washington Township, on Dec. 12, charging him with violating restrictions placed on his driver's license. The restrictions were from previous drunken driving convictions.
"Based on all the information provided to me, I do not believe that any other charge could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said this morning.
Michigan State Police this morning provided a copy of the police report on the incident to The Bay City Times, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request for it on Monday.
The names and phone numbers of the witness who called police and the alleged victim were blocked out.
According to the report, a customer at the Mobil gas station at Int. 75 and Beaver Road in Monitor Township called police at 6:08 p.m. on Nov. 19, a Sunday.
The caller told police he had observed a man beat a woman before throwing her into his red Plymouth Sundance and heading south on the highway.
Once troopers pulled his vehicle over, Jaye told police that the woman -- whom he claimed was his fiancee -- had been taking too long in the women's rest room. He said he was returning to his Macomb County home after deer hunting and needed to get to the airport.
Jaye said he yelled at the woman and ordered her into the car, but that he didn't touch her.
The woman said she had been in the men's rest room at the gas station with two men and attempted to stand on the toilet seat and hide when Jaye entered the rest room.
Jaye became jealous when he saw her boots underneath a stall door, the woman said. She denied that he had physically assaulted her and stated that she just wanted to leave.
Troopers searched Jaye's 1989 vehicle with his consent, according to the report. They advised Jaye to place two long guns that were in the passenger compartment into his trunk.
"Due to the lack of cooperation by all parties involved, they were released," the trooper wrote.
The report says that Jaye told them he was on his way home from deer camp. When told that was a violation of his license restrictions, "Jaye stated that he was not in violation and that he had given a speech at Turtle Lake," a Montmorency County resort.
But Jaye produced no proof of being at Turtle Lake or of giving a speech, according to police.
Attorney Robert Huth Jr. said this morning that Jaye "has not done anything improper with respect to his driving," and that he had a sworn statement from organizers of the hunting meeting where Jaye spoke.
As far as the other allegations, Huth said, "I'm inclined to think that if there's any merit to it there would have been charges brought."
Jaye has waived arraignment and Huth said he expects his client to be found innocent or to have the case dismissed.
While a state representative in 1993, Jaye spent 10 days in jail after a drunken-driving conviction. Jaye was arrested March 5 in Macomb Township on his second drunken-driving offense. He was sentenced to 45 days but was released after 35 days in the St. Clair County Jail after being given time off for good behavior.
His restricted driver's license allowed him to drive only for work-related travel, medical and counseling appointments and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Jaye says he didn't violate restrictions
Detroit News, The (MI)
December 20, 2000
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- State Sen. David Jaye did not violate restrictions on his driver's license when he visited a deer camp Nov. 19, says an affidavit filed with the Bay County Prosecutor's Office.
On Monday, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran filed a misdemeanor arrest warrant charging Jaye, R-Washington Township, with violating the restrictions imposed for a March 5 drunk driving conviction.
James O'Toole states in the affidavit that Jaye had addressed landowners in Atlanta on hunting issues, development and the environment, before driving home.
"Senator Jaye's committee assignments ... focus upon and have significant impact upon the activities conducted on my clients' premises," O'Toole said.
Jaye was stopped on Interstate 75 by state troopers who said that Jaye told them he was returning from a hunting camp.
Troopers stopped Jaye because of a phone tip, which turned out to be unsubstantiated.
Jaye and his attorney, Robert Huth, have denied Jaye violated his driving restrictions.
"He has done nothing wrong," Huth said. "Even if David Jaye was hunting while on the trip, it was incidental to the reason and legislative purpose for him appearing at the meeting."
Huth wants the case dismissed. Sheeran could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Charges against Sen. Jaye to remain
Detroit News
December 21, 2000
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said Wednesday he will not drop misdemeanor charges against state Sen. David Jaye, despite Jaye's claim that he did nothing wrong when stopped by state police and charged with driving on a restricted license.
Sheeran released a copy of the police report of the Nov. 19 traffic stop along Interstate 75 in Bay County, which showed troopers were responding to a call about a possible abduction of a woman by a man who later turned out to be Jaye.
"I don't normally give out these kinds of details," Sheeran said. "But I feel I owe it to the public to respond to some of the statements I've heard the last few days from Sen. Jaye and his allies."
Jaye, 42, R-Washington Township, told The Associated Press that he didn't know why he was stopped.
According to the police report, a witness at a Mobil gas station off Interstate 75 said he saw a man arguing with a woman. The man then slapped her with an open hand three or four times, kicked her twice in her legs, pushed her into his 1989 Plymouth Sundance and drove onto southbound I-75.
When troopers pulled over the car, the driver told them he was a state senator. "I advised him it did not matter at this time," Trooper Brad Cox wrote in his report.
Jaye's brother, Joseph, 34, of Warren, was a passenger in the rear of the car. The two men were handcuffed "until we could figure out what was going on," Cox wrote.
The woman in the car was Jameela Kloss, 36, of Ft. Myers, Fla. Jaye identified her to police as his girlfriend for the past two years. David Jaye and Kloss denied that he struck her.
Kloss told police that at the service station, David Jaye "began yelling at her for using the men's restroom," according to the report.
She said the women's restroom was full, so she went into the men's room, although two men were in there at the time. David Jaye told police he became upset because "he was running late and needed to get to the airport."
Kloss displayed no visible signs of injuries, police said.
The senator's lawyer, Robert Huth, denied that Jaye had assaulted Kloss.
"You have one witness saying an assault took place, but two other witnesses (David Jaye and Kloss) who say nothing happened," Huth said.
In a statement released Wednesday, Jaye said: "Couples occasionally have squabbles and it is unfortunate that this happened to occur in public."
Police found two long guns in the passenger compartment of the car. David Jaye said he had been hunting deer. The Jayes were released after being told to put the guns in their trunk.
David Jaye, who was convicted March 5 of drunken driving, was charged Monday with violating restrictions on his license. He is limited to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings, a probation office, community service and school.
An affidavit filed with the Bay County Prosecutor's Office says Jaye went to a deer camp near Atlanta, Mich., in mid-November to address landowners on hunting issues and the environment. That address makes the trip work-related, according to the affidavit.
Lawyer denies Jaye assaulted girlfriend before traffic stop
Grand Rapids Press
December 21, 2000
LANSING -- A tip that a man was assaulting a woman at a gas station led police to pull over state Sen. David Jaye, which then led to a charge that Jaye was driving on a restricted license, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Jaye's lawyer disputed the report, cited in a Bay City Times article Wednesday. Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said he does not plan to press any other charges.
The police report said a man pumping gas at a service station told police he saw a man -- later identified as Jaye -- slap and kick a woman before pushing her into his vehicle and speeding off.
Jaye attorney Rob Huth said the senator and his girlfriend were arguing, but no assault took place.
The incident took place Nov. 19 as Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was returning from the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in Atlanta. Police stopped Jaye on Int. 75 after receiving a tip from the man at the service station.
Huth said police did not file charges.
Because Jaye told police he was returning to his home from a northern deer camp, Bay County officials filed an arrest warrant for him on Dec. 12, charging Jaye with violating restrictions placed on his driver's license.
Jaye has had a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge. He now is allowed to drive only to work, medical visits and counseling sessions.
Huth said Jaye might have gone deer hunting while at the hunt club but did not violate his restricted driver's license because he was on legislative business, discussing lawsuits and regulatory concerns with club members.
Sen. Jaye will not face traffic charges
Arresting officer did not inform lawmaker of Miranda Rights
Detroit News
March 22, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- State Sen. David Jaye, known as much for his run-ins with the law as his controversial viewpoints, is off the hook after his latest encounter with police.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran on Wednesday dropped charges against the Washington Township senator for driving on a restricted license because a state trooper failed to read Jaye his Miranda rights last November.
Sheeran said without statements Jaye made to police -- which a Bay County District Court judge suppressed last week -- the case couldn't proceed. A trial was scheduled to start today.
"Without this evidence, I would not be able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," Sheeran said.
Jaye was convicted March 5, 2000, of drunken driving. It was his second offense, and he served 35 days in jail. In 1993, he was jailed for 10 days for a similar offense.
His license was restricted last June, limiting him to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings and community service and school.
The 42-year-old Republican maintains he was on state business when he was stopped in November in Monitor Township near Bay City after a motorist notified police about a man kicking and slapping a woman at a nearby rest stop. Police pulled over Jaye, who was then handcuffed and questioned for 40 minutes.
Jaye's fiancee has denied being assaulted. Attorney Rob Huth said Jaye was on his way back from official business at the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in northern Michigan.
Jaye, a gun advocate, blamed Sheeran's anti-gun politics for his arrest.
"He apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me, and filed baseless charges for driving outside of the former restrictions permitted on my driver's license," Jaye said Wednesday.
Said Sheeran: "I'm a fair prosecutor that makes decision based on the facts of the law," Sheeran said.
Charges dropped against Jaye
Grand Rapids Press
March 22, 2001
LANSING -- Sen. David Jaye was cleared Wednesday of charges he was driving on a restricted license, a day before the case was scheduled for trial.
The charges stemmed from a Nov. 19 Bay County traffic stop. County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he had to dismiss the charges after 74th District Judge Scott Newcombe ruled Jaye's statements couldn't be used because state police didn't read his Miranda rights at the scene.
Jaye said Wednesday that the charges were "baseless" and suggested they were meant to persecute him for his pro-gun activities. Jaye pointed out that Sheeran had testified against one of Jaye's gun bills in a legislative hearing.
"(Sheeran) apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me," Jaye said. "Fortunately, Judge Newcombe of Bay County... does not let politics interfere with justice."
Sheeran said that wasn't his intent. "It would be very wrong for any prosecutor to prosecute someone for their beliefs. That's not the case here," Sheeran said. "I frankly think if he's embarrassed, it's more of a result of his own actions."
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, had a restricted license after pleading guilty to drunken driving on June 12, 2000. The license allowed him to drive only to work, counseling or medical appointments.
On Nov. 19, state police in Bay County pulled Jaye over after a witness called to report that he was hitting and kicking a woman at a gas station. Jaye and his girlfriend, Sonia Kloss, said they had a fight, but no assault charges were ever filed.
Hearings to resume whether Sen. Jaye should be expelled
The Argus-Press
May 9, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - A police officer from Florida, where state Sen. David Jaye is accused of hitting his fiancée, testified that the woman was cut and still bleeding when he arrived at the scene.
"She said he's hit her in the past," Corp. Robert Macarelli of the Lee County sheriff's office said Tuesday. "She said she wanted him to stop beating her."
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida after a dispute with Sonia Kloss and spent the night in the Lee County Jail. Jaye denied he struck Kloss, and she has recanted any accusations against him.
The officer's comments came as a special state Senate committee held its first full hearing on Jaye's right to remain in the Senate. The hearing was to resume Wednesday.
Jaye attended the committee hearing with three attorneys but didn't comment. He issued a letter Tuesday complaining that the hearing violated his civil rights and right to due process.
When it concludes its investigation, the six-member bipartisan committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
In the letter he issued, Jaye argued that he hadn't had enough time to prepare and complained about "capricious and arbitrary committee rules" that would prevent discussion of their legislators' conduct besides his own.
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye said in his letter that he is owed a presumption of innocence on the domestic battery charge. He promised Sunday to resign if the Florida court convicts him, but he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
At the hearing Tuesday, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he may resurrect the charges stemming for a dispute last Nov. 19 at a Bay County gas station between Jaye and Kloss.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was never charged with assault in the Bay County incident. Prosecutors did charge him with violating the restrictions placed on his driver's license, but the charge was later dropped because Jaye had not been read his Miranda rights.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge on Tuesday delayed Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charge for one week to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses.
Tony Schall, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Florida, said the hearing is now scheduled for May 15. On that date, prosecutors will decide whether to retain the domestic violence charge, amend the charge or drop it, Schall said.
The Argus-Press
May 9, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - A police officer from Florida, where state Sen. David Jaye is accused of hitting his fiancée, testified that the woman was cut and still bleeding when he arrived at the scene.
"She said he's hit her in the past," Corp. Robert Macarelli of the Lee County sheriff's office said Tuesday. "She said she wanted him to stop beating her."
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida after a dispute with Sonia Kloss and spent the night in the Lee County Jail. Jaye denied he struck Kloss, and she has recanted any accusations against him.
The officer's comments came as a special state Senate committee held its first full hearing on Jaye's right to remain in the Senate. The hearing was to resume Wednesday.
Jaye attended the committee hearing with three attorneys but didn't comment. He issued a letter Tuesday complaining that the hearing violated his civil rights and right to due process.
When it concludes its investigation, the six-member bipartisan committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
In the letter he issued, Jaye argued that he hadn't had enough time to prepare and complained about "capricious and arbitrary committee rules" that would prevent discussion of their legislators' conduct besides his own.
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye said in his letter that he is owed a presumption of innocence on the domestic battery charge. He promised Sunday to resign if the Florida court convicts him, but he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
At the hearing Tuesday, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he may resurrect the charges stemming for a dispute last Nov. 19 at a Bay County gas station between Jaye and Kloss.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was never charged with assault in the Bay County incident. Prosecutors did charge him with violating the restrictions placed on his driver's license, but the charge was later dropped because Jaye had not been read his Miranda rights.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge on Tuesday delayed Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charge for one week to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses.
Tony Schall, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Florida, said the hearing is now scheduled for May 15. On that date, prosecutors will decide whether to retain the domestic violence charge, amend the charge or drop it, Schall said.
Jaye Failed to convince fellow senators he had come clean
The Argus Press
May 25, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - Sen. David Jaye might still be sitting in the Senate next week if he's convinced his fellow senators he's come clean.
Several of the 33 senators who voted Thursday to expel the Macomb County Republican said the outcome might have been different if they hadn't thought he was lying about striking his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
They pointed to the police testimony saying Kloss had bruises on her face after an April 12 dispute with Jaye outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla.
They brought up the eyewitness account of an 18-year-old clerk at a Bay County gas station who took a day off school to tell a Senate investigating committee he saw Jaye strike Kloss as the two were leaving the station's mini-mart last November.
They didn't buy Kloss' comments that Jaye had never struck her, or Jaye's argument that because Florida authorities decided not to bring formal charges against him and he'd never been charged in six months for the Bay County incident, he should be left off the hook.
For Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow and many others, the evidence added up to one thing: Jaye had hit his fiancee.
"Once it was clear he did, it was over," DeGrow said after the vote. "He continues to deny it. He'll probably always deny it. But it [his denial] isn't true."
DeGrow, R- Port Huron, said the outcome may have been different if Jaye had walked into his office the week after his April 12 Florida arrest, admitted he'd hit Kloss twice and asked for help straigtening out his life.
Instead, Jaye insisted to his fellow Senate Republicans during an April 17 meeting that he had not struck Kloss.
During the Senate investigation, his lawyers showed an interview they'd taped with Kloss in which she said she had been hit in the face by a garment bag the two had been tussling over in Florida, not by Jaye.
They also showed a tape from the service station's surveillance system on which Jaye can be seen propelling Kloss out of the men's bathroom in the station's mini-mart, but not striking or kicking her.
Jaye insisted those were enough to prove his innocence, and that his other transgressions - three drunk driving convictions, verbal abuse of staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancess on his Senate-issued laptop computer didn't deserve expulsion.
But his fellow senators weren't looking for proof that Jaye hadn't erred. They wanted him to admit he'd done something wrong and get professional help.
"Things that used to be acceptable in harassment are not acceptable anymore," said Sen. Joanne Emmons, R-Big Rapids. "When I became convinced he hit her and lied, that crossed the line for me."
DeGrow has walked a delicate line of his own with Jaye ever since the brash, in-you-face state representative won a Senate special election in 1997. He kept private his letters admonishing Jaye and restored the committee assignments Jaye lost when he had to serve jail time last summer for his third drunk driving conviction.
But while Jaye's political stances didn't differ that much from his predecessor; the late Doug Carl, he didn't seem to fit very well into the smaller; more dignified world of the 38-member Senate.
Where he was just one colorful character among several in the 100-member House, Jaye's often caustic behavior toward Senate staff and other senators wasn't as easily overlooked in the Capitol's south wing.
That became even more truer as Jaye, under the spotlight of a six-member, bipartisan committee investigating his behavior, accused DeGrow of trying to shove him out of office in a political witch hunt.
When Jaye began insisting the 18-year-old clerk was a liar, most senators had heard enough.
"It drove home the drastic reality of what the pattern here was," said Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry of Clio. Instead of coming clean, he said, Jaye lied. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he tried to blame others.
Still, no one looked triumphant as the first vote to expel a senator in Michigan history passed 33-2.
"This was not a happy vote," said Livonia Republican Thaddeus McCotter, who headed the investigating committee. "This was not a vote somebody won."
Jaye didn't hit me, fiancée tells court
She doesn't recall what she said to police
The Blade
August 3, 2001
Shelby Township, Mich. - David Jaye's fiancée testified yesterday that the former state senator did not hit her during the two incidents that prosecutors point to as violations of Mr. Jaye's probation on a drunken driving conviction.
Sonia Kloss testified as part of Mr. Jaye's probation violation trial, which got under way yesterday.
He was expelled from the Senate in May after most of his fellow senators said he no longer deserved to serve, in part because of three drunken driving convictions and allegations he hit Ms. Kloss.
The trial in Macomb County Circuit Court could decide whether Mr. Jaye of Washington Township must run for his old seat with a probation conviction on his record. If Judge Douglas Shepherd determines Mr. Jaye violated his probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction, Mr. Jaye might have to finish serving his sentence.
That could mean spending 10 1/2 months in jail. Mr. Jaye, who insists he hasn't violated his probation, has filed to run for the Sept. 11 special election to determine his successor in the Senate.
Mr. Jaye called yesterday's proceedings "double jepordy" because he was subjected to Senate hearings over the alleged incidents.
Yesterday Ms. Kloss appeared confused and upset through much of her testimony. Her hands shook as she looked at transcripts. She had to take two breaks while testifying.
Although she denied Mr. Jaye hit her during an April 12 incident in Florida or during a Nov. 19 incident at a Bay County, Michigan gas station, she admitted she had been drinking heavily before both events.
When asked if she told police that Mr. Jaye hit her after the November incident, she said: "I was up for 36 hours. I was drinking all night and partying. I don't know what I said." She said Mr. Jaye did pull her to the car but did not hit or kick her. "He yelled and screamed. He wanted to get me in the car," Ms. Kloss said.
Proceedings were to resume Friday morning."
Ex-senator guilty of probation violation
Ludington Daily News
August 3, 2001
Shelby Township, Mich. [AP] - Former state Sen. David Jaye was found guilty Friday of violating his probation.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail or a $500 fine. He also was ordered by Macomb County District Judge Douglas Shepherd to attend anger management classes and his probation is continued.
"Frankly, Mr. Jaye, it would be easy for me to put you in jail for the full 10-and-a-half months, but I don't that would be the right thing for me to do," Shepherd said.
Jaye could have been ordered to spend up to 10 1/2 months in jail for violating his probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction.
Prosecutors claimed Jaye assaulted his fiancée on two separate occasions, in Florida and in Bay County and that he violated restrictions placed on his driver's license by driving to northern Michigan for a hunting trip.
Shepherd found Jaye guilty of violating his probation as to the alleged incident in Florida and the driving allegation, but innocent as to the alleged Bay County incident.
Jaye said that he planned to testify in his own defense, but those plans never came to be as his attorney rested without calling him to the stand.
The Argus Press
May 25, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - Sen. David Jaye might still be sitting in the Senate next week if he's convinced his fellow senators he's come clean.
Several of the 33 senators who voted Thursday to expel the Macomb County Republican said the outcome might have been different if they hadn't thought he was lying about striking his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
They pointed to the police testimony saying Kloss had bruises on her face after an April 12 dispute with Jaye outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla.
They brought up the eyewitness account of an 18-year-old clerk at a Bay County gas station who took a day off school to tell a Senate investigating committee he saw Jaye strike Kloss as the two were leaving the station's mini-mart last November.
They didn't buy Kloss' comments that Jaye had never struck her, or Jaye's argument that because Florida authorities decided not to bring formal charges against him and he'd never been charged in six months for the Bay County incident, he should be left off the hook.
For Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow and many others, the evidence added up to one thing: Jaye had hit his fiancee.
"Once it was clear he did, it was over," DeGrow said after the vote. "He continues to deny it. He'll probably always deny it. But it [his denial] isn't true."
DeGrow, R- Port Huron, said the outcome may have been different if Jaye had walked into his office the week after his April 12 Florida arrest, admitted he'd hit Kloss twice and asked for help straigtening out his life.
Instead, Jaye insisted to his fellow Senate Republicans during an April 17 meeting that he had not struck Kloss.
During the Senate investigation, his lawyers showed an interview they'd taped with Kloss in which she said she had been hit in the face by a garment bag the two had been tussling over in Florida, not by Jaye.
They also showed a tape from the service station's surveillance system on which Jaye can be seen propelling Kloss out of the men's bathroom in the station's mini-mart, but not striking or kicking her.
Jaye insisted those were enough to prove his innocence, and that his other transgressions - three drunk driving convictions, verbal abuse of staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancess on his Senate-issued laptop computer didn't deserve expulsion.
But his fellow senators weren't looking for proof that Jaye hadn't erred. They wanted him to admit he'd done something wrong and get professional help.
"Things that used to be acceptable in harassment are not acceptable anymore," said Sen. Joanne Emmons, R-Big Rapids. "When I became convinced he hit her and lied, that crossed the line for me."
DeGrow has walked a delicate line of his own with Jaye ever since the brash, in-you-face state representative won a Senate special election in 1997. He kept private his letters admonishing Jaye and restored the committee assignments Jaye lost when he had to serve jail time last summer for his third drunk driving conviction.
But while Jaye's political stances didn't differ that much from his predecessor; the late Doug Carl, he didn't seem to fit very well into the smaller; more dignified world of the 38-member Senate.
Where he was just one colorful character among several in the 100-member House, Jaye's often caustic behavior toward Senate staff and other senators wasn't as easily overlooked in the Capitol's south wing.
That became even more truer as Jaye, under the spotlight of a six-member, bipartisan committee investigating his behavior, accused DeGrow of trying to shove him out of office in a political witch hunt.
When Jaye began insisting the 18-year-old clerk was a liar, most senators had heard enough.
"It drove home the drastic reality of what the pattern here was," said Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry of Clio. Instead of coming clean, he said, Jaye lied. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he tried to blame others.
Still, no one looked triumphant as the first vote to expel a senator in Michigan history passed 33-2.
"This was not a happy vote," said Livonia Republican Thaddeus McCotter, who headed the investigating committee. "This was not a vote somebody won."
She doesn't recall what she said to police
The Blade
August 3, 2001
Shelby Township, Mich. - David Jaye's fiancée testified yesterday that the former state senator did not hit her during the two incidents that prosecutors point to as violations of Mr. Jaye's probation on a drunken driving conviction.
Sonia Kloss testified as part of Mr. Jaye's probation violation trial, which got under way yesterday.
He was expelled from the Senate in May after most of his fellow senators said he no longer deserved to serve, in part because of three drunken driving convictions and allegations he hit Ms. Kloss.
The trial in Macomb County Circuit Court could decide whether Mr. Jaye of Washington Township must run for his old seat with a probation conviction on his record. If Judge Douglas Shepherd determines Mr. Jaye violated his probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction, Mr. Jaye might have to finish serving his sentence.
That could mean spending 10 1/2 months in jail. Mr. Jaye, who insists he hasn't violated his probation, has filed to run for the Sept. 11 special election to determine his successor in the Senate.
Mr. Jaye called yesterday's proceedings "double jepordy" because he was subjected to Senate hearings over the alleged incidents.
Yesterday Ms. Kloss appeared confused and upset through much of her testimony. Her hands shook as she looked at transcripts. She had to take two breaks while testifying.
Although she denied Mr. Jaye hit her during an April 12 incident in Florida or during a Nov. 19 incident at a Bay County, Michigan gas station, she admitted she had been drinking heavily before both events.
When asked if she told police that Mr. Jaye hit her after the November incident, she said: "I was up for 36 hours. I was drinking all night and partying. I don't know what I said." She said Mr. Jaye did pull her to the car but did not hit or kick her. "He yelled and screamed. He wanted to get me in the car," Ms. Kloss said.
Proceedings were to resume Friday morning."
Ludington Daily News
August 3, 2001
Shelby Township, Mich. [AP] - Former state Sen. David Jaye was found guilty Friday of violating his probation.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail or a $500 fine. He also was ordered by Macomb County District Judge Douglas Shepherd to attend anger management classes and his probation is continued.
"Frankly, Mr. Jaye, it would be easy for me to put you in jail for the full 10-and-a-half months, but I don't that would be the right thing for me to do," Shepherd said.
Jaye could have been ordered to spend up to 10 1/2 months in jail for violating his probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction.
Prosecutors claimed Jaye assaulted his fiancée on two separate occasions, in Florida and in Bay County and that he violated restrictions placed on his driver's license by driving to northern Michigan for a hunting trip.
Shepherd found Jaye guilty of violating his probation as to the alleged incident in Florida and the driving allegation, but innocent as to the alleged Bay County incident.
Jaye said that he planned to testify in his own defense, but those plans never came to be as his attorney rested without calling him to the stand.
