Monday, May 14, 2001

05142001 - Senator David Jaye - Florida DV Charges Dropped; Michigan DV Charges Remain - Macomb County







SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:






















On April 12, 2001, Senator David Jaye was arrested in Florida for assaulting his fiancée. On May 14th, the domestic violence charges were dropped against Jaye.






Jaye fiancée rambles on 911 tape
Transcripts of April call tells of blood, scratches

Detroit Free Press
May 1, 2001 
A transcript of a 911 call placed by state Sen. David Jaye's fiancée the day of their now-legendary Florida spat describes their tussle over her keys, his decision to retrieve his clothes from her house and her accusation that he struck her face. 

In a rambling exchange with a 911 operator, Sonia Kloss, 36, accuses Jaye, 43, of hitting her. She first says she is bleeding and later that she is bruised. Toward the end of the call, she describes her injuries as scratches...
















Assault charges against Michigan State Senator dropped
Northern Michigan 9 & 10 News
May 14, 2001
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=64518
(Undated-AP) -- Battery charges in Florida are being dropped against Michigan Senator David Jaye. The Macomb County Republican had been accused of hitting his fiancée outside her home in Lee County last month. 

Jaye contends he didn't hit Sonia Kloss. 
















Charges dropped against lawmaker
Sen. David Jaye still faces legal problems in Michigan

The Gainesville Sun
May 15, 2001
Lansing, Mich. - Florida officials have decided not to charge state Sen. David Jaye in a domestic battery case.

The Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township spent April 12 in the Lee County Jail in Fort Myers after a dispute earlier in the day at the home of his fiancée there.

He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery, but on Monday the area's state attorney said no formal charges would be filed.

Jaye is facing possible expulsion from the Michigan Senate, in part because of reports he hit fiancée Sonia Kloss in Florida and in Michigan. She repeatedly has denied he hit her.

Jaye scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference in front of the Macomb County Circuit courthouse to discuss the case. A no-contact order that had been in place in Florida between Kloss and Jaye because of the domestic battery charge also was dropped.

"I am thrilled that my fiancée, Sonia, and I can now speak to and visit with each other, and I am free to take her children fishing again," Jaye said in a written statement.

Jaye attorney Philip Thomas said the decision not to formally charge Jaye in Florida undermines the Senate's case against him.

Florida prosecutors said they didn't feel they had a good chance of convicting Jaye.

But Jaye's legal problems could still be far from over.

A Michigan county judge agreed Monday to hear arguments on whether Jaye's probation on drunken driving charges should be revoked, in part on accounts that Jaye dragged Kloss out of a bathroom and struck her at a gas station in November.
















Fla. battery count dropped against Jaye
But Mich. bids to jail, expel senator continue

Detroit Free Press
May 15, 2001
From the controversy that has circled state Sen. David Jaye for four weeks came relief Monday when Florida authorities dropped a domestic violence charge against him. 

"This is the first time in a while that I'm smiling and really grinning from ear to ear," Jaye said. "This is a squabble that got blown way out of proportion." Yet while Jaye celebrated at a media conference outside the Macomb County Courthouse, County...


























David Jaye's fiancée pregnant, won't marry ousted senator
FreeRepulic.com
August 28, 2001
Sonia Kloss, apparently pregnant and feeling abandoned by her fiancée, said Monday she has broken off her engagement with ex- senator David Jaye because she claims Jaye has had affairs with several other women.

Kloss, 36, said she no longer plans to marry Jaye in the spring and will not support him in the upcoming Sept. 11 special election. She accuses Jaye of sexual relations with 10 women since they've been engaged, and she said he's been unfaithful to her numerous times.

"I told him I don't want to have anything to do with him. I'm done with him," Kloss said in a telephone interview from her Fort Myers, Fla., home."
As far as I'm concerned, the engagement is off. I think he's using me. I can't keep putting up with his infidelities. Once he gets his Senate seat back, he'll dump me like a hot potato."
Jaye did not personally return repeated telephone calls for comment.
However, a spokesperson for Jaye, whose running in the Sept. 11 special election was prompted by his Senate expulsion, said the Washington Township Republican was the one who ended the relationship.
Jaye spokeswoman Susan Tabar said that Kloss has falsely accused Jaye of infidelities several times in the past. Jaye, 43, believes Kloss is falsely claiming to be pregnant as a sympathy ploy, Tabar added." He has made several attempts to mitigate the situation and it hasn't worked. Dave has ended the relationship. The damage is done," Tabar said.
The Washington Township Republican said as recently as Aug. 3 that he loved Kloss and would marry her this spring.
But Tabar said Kloss' heavy drinking and her extreme jealousy has taken its toll on the relationship."
She's been rambling on for two years. Whenever something goes wrong, she retaliates with another façade," said Tabar, a member of the political group known as Women Supporting Jaye.
On Monday, Kloss said she is about 2 1/2 months pregnant with Jaye's child and suffering daily from morning sickness. But she said the ex-senator's only interest is winning the September primary and Nov. 6 general election.
"I'm 2 1/2 months pregnant, I'm puking my guts out, and his words to me this morning were, 'Are you sure I'm the father?'" Kloss said. "He doesn't like kids. He doesn't want kids. But he's pro-life. Figure that out."
Kloss' accusations come at a time when a new poll shows Jaye trailing in third place in the Republican primary field, with just 15 percent of the vote. The EPIC/MRA poll indicated that only 10 percent of Republican women in the 12th Senate District will vote for him.
When allegations arose that Jaye had assaulted Kloss in Bay County in November and at her Florida home in April, Kloss said she was standing by her man. She denied Jaye had ever hit her and urged the Senate not to expel him because of the alleged assaults.

After the expulsion, Kloss testified on Jaye's behalf at his August probation hearing. The former lawmaker had never been charged with either assault but he was found guilty of violating his probation in the Florida incident.

When the probation hearing concluded on Aug. 3, Kloss campaigned for Jaye later that day. But she returned to Florida about a day later to be with her two sons and hasn't returned to Michigan since.
Jaye and Kloss announced their engagement in February but Kloss has been telling people that they're engaged since at least September 1999.
Their relationship apparently unraveled last week when Jaye put out a press release announcing that his ex-wife, Sharon Jaye, was endorsing his candidacy. The ex-senator and Kloss had quarreled in the past about Jaye's continued friendship with his former wife.
Kloss admitted Monday that she is upset with Jaye's relationship with his former wife.
Sharon Jaye, however, said she remains friends with her ex-husband.
"I really don't want to lower myself to her (Kloss') level. I am not romantic with David," she said.
A Shelby Township resident, Sharon Jaye filed for divorce in 1998 and the divorce became final in 1999. She said Kloss has placed harassing phone calls to her -- sometimes in the middle of the night -- for nearly two years.

Kloss, who is not a registered voter in Michigan, said she will not support Jaye's bid to win back his Senate seat but will instead back one of Jaye's opponents in the 22-person field. She would not say who will gain her endorsement.
"David was not serious about marrying me," she said. "He was only interested in politics."




Tuesday, May 8, 2001

05082001 - Senator David Jaye - Mistreatment of Senate Staff - Macomb County





SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:





















After Senator David Jaye was arrested for assaulting his fiancée [April 2001], the Senate began an investigation to determine whether Jaye should remain in the Senate.
During the investigation, the Senate investigation committee became aware of "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," complaints from staff of Jaye's verbal abuse towards them; and of naked female photos Jaye had on his Senate-issued laptop computer.






Panel to meet Tuesday on ousting state senator
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
 May 4, 2001
Lansing - A special committee investigating Sen. David Jaye said yesterday it will begin hearing arguments next week on whether to oust the controversial Republican from the Senate, despite pleas for more time from Mr. Jaye's attorneys.

The committee plans to meet Tuesday after the Senate's 10 a.m. session. It defeated, on a 3-3 tie vote, a Democratic move to delay the next hearing until Thursday.

A resolution was released Tuesday listing the reasons to expel Mr. Jaye of Macomb County's Washington Township.

It included three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, his April arrest in Florida on domestic battery charges, "a pattern of verbal abuse," against Senate staff members, and having a sexually explicit photo of his fiancée on his Senate-owned laptop computer where Senate staff members could see it.
 
 

















Michigan senator condemns probe, cites 'Gestapo' tactics
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 13, 2001


Sterling Heights, Mich. - Embattled state Sen. David Jaye lambasted a six-member Senate panel investigating his conduct and said yesterday that a pair of his fellow Senate Republicans are using "KGB, Gestapo-style tactics in their investigation."

The panel is meeting in Lansing to determine whether Mr. jaye should be expelled from office. The Macomb County Republican is accused of breaking the law, verbally abusing Senate staff members, and violating Senate rules.

Mr. Jaye singled out Sen. Thaddeus McCotter [R - Livonia], the committee's chairman, and Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of Port Huron, who has recommended expulsion for Mr. Jaye. Mr. DeGrow is not on the panel. "Obviously these senators have a personal problem with me," Mr. Jaye said at a news conference. "This committee will only allow witnesses to testify about negative claims against me."

Attorneys have wrapped up their case for Mr. Jaye's expulsion.

In Wednesday night testimony, Carol Viventi, secretary of the Senate, said she found about 10 pictures on Mr. Jaye's laptop computer where a woman was topless or scantily clad in public places with men. One of Mr. Jaye's attorneys identified the woman pictured as Mr. Jayee's fiancée, Sonia Kloss.

"It is an outrage that McCotter would even allow private files and private photographs as evidence into the committee record," Mr. Jaye said. "I bet just about every legislator has hard-core porn on their laptop."

Mr. Jaye said he doesn't know how the photographs got on his laptop.

A Macomb County official said Friday that county probation officials expect to ask a judge tomorrow that Mr. Jaye's probation for drunken driving be revoked, based on allegations of assaults against his fiancée. No hearing will be requested until after the Senate hearings conclude.

The bipartisan committee looking into Mr. Jaye's behavior is considering a resolution that cites Mr. Jaye's series of drunken-driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida, and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
 






















Jaye hearing takes break to give lawyers more time
Ludington Daily News
May 17, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - An investigation over whether Sen. David Jaye should be expelled from the Senate is taking a breather until Tuesday to give defense attorneys time to go over documents that surfaced this week.

The secretary of the Senate on Wednesday handed over filed to Jaye that she said contained numerous complaints about Jaye's mistreatment of members of her staff.

But Jaye's attorney said the records also could be used to provide positive testimony about the senator and to undermine arguments he should be expelled.

Jaye referred to the documents as "secret files" and accused Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of withholding the records, having his phone calls monitored and copying files from his laptop computer without his knowledge.

"I never gave permission to the Senate computer department to keep a permanent record of my laptop files," Jaye said in a statement. "It's frightening to know that...state employees' private letters, Valentine's Day cards and private photos on state-owned property can be used against them."

Jaye, 43, is under investigation by a Senate committee for a series of drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit his fiancée and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including having six photos of his topless fiancée on his laptop computer.

The six-member, bipartisan committee is considering a resolution to expel Jaye, an action that would require 26 votes in the 38-member Senate. It also could recommend the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township be censured or reprimanded.

A spokesman for DeGrow denied the Port Huron Republican had ever done anything wrong.

"I don't know where this charge of withholding evidence is coming from, because we have turned over everything that could possibly be related" to Jaye, Aaron Keesler said.