By Zachary Gorchow
Executive Editor and Publisher
Posted: April 17, 2022 9:39 PM

A judge placed a bench warrant against Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno for 15 months in 2020-21 over a dispute about whether he and his client, former Rep. Todd Courser, failed to appear at a hearing.

Mr. DePerno, speaking Thursday to Gongwer News Service about the bench warrant and what led to it, said it was an egregious and unsupported action by Washtenaw Circuit Judge Timothy Connors following conflicting communications about whether a January hearing was to take place as scheduled.

The case involved the lawsuit Mr. Courser brought against The Detroit News, which in 2015 broke a story about the attempt by Mr. Courser and fellow former Rep. Cindy Gamrat to cover up their affair through the dissemination of false information. Mr. Courser sued the newspaper for defamation, but Mr. Connors dismissed the case in favor of the News in 2019. Mr. Connors ordered Mr. Courser and Mr. DePerno to pay almost $80,000 in sanctions.

At one of the hearings during the sanctions portion of the case, neither Mr. Courser nor Mr. DePerno appeared. That led to Mr. Connors issuing the bench warrant.

Mr. DePerno said he received a phone call from an attorney for the News saying because of a snowstorm, he was pulling the hearing to avoid driving in bad weather. Mr. DePerno said he and Mr. Courser did not go to court but the attorney for the News showed up anyway.

After Mr. Connors issued bench warrants for Mr. Courser and Mr. DePerno, Mr. DePerno filed a motion to disqualify the judge.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit not long afterward and hearings were then held via Zoom, in which Mr. Courser and Mr. DePerno participated. When the News and Mr. Courser and Mr. DePerno settled the sanctions part of the case for $20,000 in May 2021, Mr. Connors recalled the warrant.

"It's one of those things that looks worse than it ever was," Mr. DePerno said Thursday. "I wish he didn't do it. I've literally never seen a judge in 25 years and never heard of a judge doing what he did in that situation."

Gongwer contacted attorneys listed as having represented the News in the case to see if they could corroborate Mr. DePerno's story about the snowstorm and one of them saying they planned to cancel the hearing but those that could be reached said they were not involved in that portion of the case and had no information on that question.

At one point, Mr. Courser was pulled over for a traffic violation, and the officer mentioned there was a bench warrant for his arrest, Mr. DePerno said. But the officer said there was a notation not to enforce it and so Mr. Courser was not arrested, Mr. DePerno said.

"When I talked to the sheriff and they said they weren't going to enforce it, it became a nonissue," he said. "The issue is we were told not to appear and it was very abusive of (Mr. Connors) to issue a contempt order for failure to appear at a hearing."

The campaign of former House Speaker Tom Leonard did not respond to a request for comment.

The third candidate for attorney general on the Republican side, Rep. Ryan Berman of Commerce Township, said the extended existence of a bench warrant is "very relevant" to the campaign and another reason why Mr. DePerno cannot win a general election against Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.

"The Democrats are going to eat him alive if he gets this nomination," he said.

Mr. Berman said it is rare for an attorney to be sanctioned for a frivolous case and rarer still to have a bench warrant issued against them. He noted this information comes amid Mr. DePerno having two Attorney Grievance Commission cases taking place into him, as well as an investigation from the Department of Attorney General into his actions following the 2020 election and a story in Bridge Michigan about his being forced out of two prior law firms.

"You need to trust but verify. Verify with the court. You should take care of that right away," he said of the snowstorm explanation from Mr. DePerno. "To have it go on for months and months and months until it's finally removed from the record, that doesn't seem like an error. I can't see how any rational person would want to choose this person to hire for their attorney, especially as the attorney general for the state of Michigan."

Mr. Berman said the existence of the bench warrant is more evidence that he represents the party's best hope against Ms. Nessel because he lacks Mr. DePerno's baggage and did not lose to Ms. Nessel, as Mr. Leonard did as the party's 2018 nominee.

The race for the nomination is largely seen as one between Mr. DePerno and Mr. Leonard, though Mr. Berman did show some pockets of strength at Monday's county conventions.

Republicans will gather at an April 23 state convention to issue a formal endorsement for the nomination, likely decisive in signaling who will get the official nomination in August.