Here’s my problem. You’re apologizing because you got caught. You were if if those police had not come to your door that day, I still wouldn’t be seeing you. Mr. Cummings, understand this. Your promises are no good to me. Your promises are no good. And if I didn’t have those two gentlemen behind you right now, you’d run off again every time. Yes. That’s what you do.
I can’t run. What? I can’t run. You can’t run. I can’t run. Never. I know because you kept running before and that’s why you’re here right now. We’re about to witness one of the most brutal courtroom reality checks I’ve ever seen. This is Dio Cummings, a repeat probation violator who thinks he can just run whenever consequences show up.
But Judge Simpson, Judge Simpson is not having it today. We’ve got baiffs on standby, a defendant with multiple warrants, and a baby on the way that he’s using as an excuse. But here’s the thing. This Judge Simpson has already given him multiple chances. And guess what Dio did with every single one? He ran. Today, we’re seeing what happens when you push a patient judge too far.
By the end of this video, someone’s going to jail for nearly a full year. And trust me, you’re going to see exactly why this judge had absolutely no choice. Let’s dive into this disaster. Please state your name for the record. Good morning, your honor. Demo Cummings for the record. Please declare on behalf of probation.
Your honor, Mr. Cummings is before the court for a violation of probation hearing. Um Mr. Cummings did have a prior VOP hearing on June 12th. Um at that date, um the court had ordered him to serve 10 days in jail for his violations. To date, Mr. Cummings failed to report to the jail as uh the court ordered him to do that and the bench warrant was issued.
He has been since picked up on the warrant, has been in custody. Um, at this time, Mr. Cummings is still in the same situation he was as he was on June 12th. He still has a balance of,255. He’s made no payments to the court. He failed to complete the level two driver rehab program, failed to complete 100 hours of community service.
Um he has another new pending case since June 12th, an alleged uh RNO, date of offense July 22nd, 2024. He does have a PCC on August 1 in that case. So the court is also aware Mr. Cummings does have another case on 14B. It is a domestic violence case. He goes for sentencing on that on Monday. That is not a violation of this case.
happened prior to his sentencing. However, um he also in that case had a bond violation as he violated the no contact order in that case. That will be addressed at their sentencing hearing as well. Um Mr. Cummings in this case, your honor, it started as a felony case. Um we we did get him sentenced in it.
However, prior to all of that getting him to sentencing in January, um he had multiple failure to appears before this court. Um he’s continued not to follow court order given um that he has demonstrated that he probation. Probation is recommending that he serves 365 days in jail, credit for 85 days that he served to date to serve the balance, that he complete the inj MRT program with the court to consider early release upon his completion with that and that he be discharged from probation without improvement with and waiting remaining terms accepting his financial
obligations. You know, I did have a lengthy conversation with Mr. Cummings yesterday. Um he does admit that he messed up on probation. Um so he admits to these violations. Yes. Except for the the pending cases for obvious reasons. Um he frankly he wants to ask the judge for mercy in this situation.
Um he would like for his probation to be reinstated. um he said he is willing to comply with probation um and get done what he needs to do. Um however, he does want to take responsibility for not doing what he needs to do over the past couple months. So um when I asked him what’s been going on, he kind of give me gave me a litany of things.
Um his he cares for his 5-year-old son um who is going to kindergarten in the fall. Um he also has a baby on the way. um is um to the 14th. Um but really the baby can come any day. Um those two things um as well as his job. He’s working um Amazon night shift 40 40 hours a week um essentially distracted him from taking care of what he needed to do on on this probation.
Um he does live with his mother um and his partner as well as his children, so he does have a support system. Um he um says he can make payments. He is working full-time. Um and he does have some savings that he can put a pretty substantial payment to toward um his fines and costs. He said his mom can come up and pay um $1,000 um before he even is released from jail.
Um he’s he mentioned to me that he has been successful on other probations um and and thinks he can be successful here if the court is willing to give him another chance. How did he get picked up on this warrant? Um the the police came to his your apartment for an unrelated matter and Mr. Cummings would like to make a statement.
He wrote um um did you have something missing to say um when when the police did arrive at the apartment was for an unrelated matter and I do believe that he ran and that’s where the new RL case came from. Go ahead. I know I just I want to start like this and say I got I do got a four-year-old about to be five in October about to start school this fall.
I got a daughter doing any day this month. I was working a night shift at Amazon 40 hours a week, 10 hours and 30 minutes a day. I was laying down on my side. I didn’t look at it as a punishment, but I looked at it as an opportunity to do better and do and be better and get my life together. I I can’t have warrants actually be responsible for my son and get to school every day or even a bus.
Please don’t punish me and revoke my probate pro probation. I think y’all can actually help me do and be better. I signed up for Michigan re-enters to try to get back in school and see what college like. Even though it seemed like I haven’t been trying. That’s I have. That’s something me and my probation officer spoke about.
I can and I’m willing to do extra classes like MRT free and on probation. I pay to start my driving class before I’m even released if if considered. And if you can take thought that I’m on probation for being a victim in a car accident I was in or at fault for. I went to the hospital with bad injuries just as everybody else.
Like please, your honor, I’ve been getting dealt a bad hand. I always have just try to be the best I can and resolve every issue the best way possible. Honestly, I’m not the best but also not the worst. Like please, I beg you. Please can I have one more chance to show y’all I had a bump in the road I had to get over. Please, if you see me again, you can revoke my probation.
give me a year or anything like I really do and truly apologize for the confusion decisions I left y’all left even my probation officer to ponder it with but I really have just been working trying to be there for my son and a mother of my child that’s currently pregnant like please don’t punish me yet but give me one more chance like I’m actually a full-time father and my son stays with me I can’t imagine just leaving my son out the blue like this he miss me as we speak and think I’m on vacation I’m going to be a full-time dad to my
daughter too that’s due this the first time you see me for a reinstatement and the last time possible. I do anything to be there when my daughter is born to put my name birth certificate. I watch my son go off to start his first day at school. Your honor, plead and please I’ll do anything even if it was double my community service, double my restitution and add extra classes.
I do it and complete it all. If you can please consider everything I said and give me a chance. It would be the biggest and best blessing. I know I haven’t paid yet, but I thought I had time to. I had kids, house of life, things to take care of. I haven’t started started my driver class because I supposed to started a month after being released, but I don’t I didn’t have a job or was told that I had to pay to start it after being released.
I know I haven’t started my community service, but I checked into places that that let me serve the community legally to get that out, get this out the way. If I can, please have one more chance to show y’all. You wouldn’t regret it. I promise. But that’s all I have to say. and sub sincerely coming. Here’s my problem.
On September 13th, you were set. Well, before that, I think I took your plea. You were supposed to appear for sentencing. Actually, I didn’t take your plea. It was looks like it was taken by another judge. But anyway, you were supposed to appear for sentencing. You’re supposed to do a PSI with the probation department.
This is back in September 2023. And you don’t do any of that. And I have to issue a bench. Somehow or another. Looks like that may have gotten set aside in January. And then I adjourn your sentencing January 9th. We had to somehow another find you from September to January. And then on January 9th of 2024, I adjourned your sentencing.
Um was journed by probation to January 24th, 2024. You show up on January 24th and they give you a sentence, relatively straightforward sentence. You were in custody at the time. And I laid out everything that you needed to do. That was in January. You really don’t do anything on probation that I ordered you to do.
So then you show up June 12th of this year on a violation of probation hearing and at that time and I think you were on Zoom. You were out. We told you the things that you were supposed to do or hadn’t done and try to get corrected. Um, and at that point I kind of just sent a warning shot to you and told you we got to do these things and I ordered you and ordered only 10 days and Miss Polaro is trying to work with you too.
I mean we didn’t order you served the full time. We said here are the things you haven’t done. You need to get them accomplished. So, u 10 days in jail, gave you a specific date to report to probation on June 24th, 2024. Did you go? I I was in warrant status. I don’t think I could have. Oh, you could have. You’re right. Sure. And then ordered you to become compliant with all the previous terms that I ordered. So, I gave you another shot.
From January to that June day, the 10 days because you were on Zoom, I told you exactly what I would do. I said you to report by 6:00 p.m. that day or I was going to issue a bench for without bond. You must have thought I was kidding. No, you’re not. Then why didn’t you go? I didn’t make it by six.
I knew I the deal could have been off the table, but I definitely was not thinking you was joking. Why did you not turn yourself in then? And I was You want me to give you another chance? Please. And you did nothing. I can complete this probation. I promise. What? I can will complete this probation possibly if possible. You can’t.
You do what you want to do. Speak. When did you get picked up on this one? About July 20th, if I’m not mistaken. July 20th. Okay. So, between June 12th, when I ordered you to report to the jail and that day you got picked up, what were you doing to correct this? Oh snap. Did you hear that devastation? You’re apologizing because you got caught.
This judge just obliterated every excuse this man tried to make. She’s calling him out for what this really is. He wasn’t planning to turn himself in. He got busted. For 45 days after she ordered him to jail, he was running around free. And the only reason he’s here is because police showed up at his door.
This is the moment where all his lies crumble. No more sob stories. No more manipulation. Just cold hard facts. And folks, when a judge starts talking like this, you know someone’s about to get the book thrown at him. The courtroom just got real. I was trying to work make sure I have some money.
So if I had other bonds, but I do apologize and I kind of say this. Jer, here’s my problem. You’re apologizing because you got caught. you were if if those police had not come to your door that day, I still wouldn’t be seeing you. Yeah, I probably would have turned myself in. Still when that was all in the 45 days from the time that I ordered it to the time that you got picked up.
At what point were you going to turn yourself in? soon as I had enough funds to take care of other cases that’s that’s holding me with no bonds and counties like tickets and I was just I was trying to be there for the mother and my child that’s currently pregnant. I would have done my probation this whole time but I had warrant other warrants that stopped me from doing my probation.
I’m not not going yeah I didn’t I’m not going to say I didn’t turn myself in. And I was I was it was other warrants, other cases that stopping me from being best at what I can show y’all and doing my probation. I’ve given you an opportunity to show me. I’m coming up on a year and guess what? What have you done? Nothing.
Nothing. And then you’re going to and I try to give you at least a gentle nudge and you still don’t do anything. Nothing. You tell me one thing on this sentence that I gave you that you’ve done. I was It was my first time. What was Tell me one thing you did. So, I checked in. I tried. I It was hard.
I mean, I did check in through through the non-report. Why is it that you just can’t say, “Judge, I did nothing.” I did nothing. Because I’m looking right at it. You did nothing. You’re right, your honor. You right. Everything with you is an excuse. No excuses as a man. That’s what I was taught. So I don’t try to make excuses. Honestly, you’ve made excuses since the time you first started talking.
Everything that’s come out of your mouth is an excuse. Sit here and I give you a chance to do it. We wait six months. Correct something. Anybody that is on probation in my court if you know and and I feel bad sometimes for Miss Polera, but she doesn’t mind doing it. If you’re having problems, you’ll walk in, you talk to her, but you wouldn’t even do that.
You thought this was a game. You thought when I you look me in the face on Zoom and I told you when to report that I was just kidding. Nothing that comes out of my mouth. Am I kidding? I told you to report. I told you when to be there. And I told you how long you’d be there. And I told you what I would do if you didn’t report.
And so you know there’s a bench warrant out for you cuz at least you took me for real on that that I was going to issue a bench warrant. So then when the police show up, what do you do? You don’t even say at that point, I got to deal with this. You take off running. Allegedly, I guess we’ll say at this point.
And where was that going to get you? got you right here. And after all that, Mr. Cummings, do you want me to believe anything that’s coming out of your mouth that doesn’t resemble an excuse? I don’t got no reason to be trying to have warrant statuses. And you have no reason for any of this. Everything that has happened that’s bad in this case is no one’s fault but yours.
And the problem is had you gotten to your attorneys, had you gone through and you were truly going through doing something, hey, they would have helped you out. There’s no doubt, Miss Perin or Miss P, they would have been all over my coordinator’s email trying to figure out something to do.
Quite frankly, even if you had at that point gotten to Miss Polera, she would have been trying to do so. I didn’t want to be disrespectful. Not Oh. Oh, too late. You disrespected everybody here. So, don’t even play that game with me that you don’t want to be disrespectful. You intentionally were disrespectful. You intentionally thwarted my order.
You intentionally then tried to hide and seclude yourself. You were disrespectful allegedly to the police when they showed up, told you you had a warrant. you take off. Every move you’ve made has been just coded with disrespect to everybody involved in the process. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful calling my probation officer and not coming in to take care of the business.
And I didn’t even talk to the police or anything. They didn’t tell me any Okay. You had a warrant. You knew it. You took off. And if I didn’t have those two gentlemen behind you right now, you’d run off again. Every time. Yes. That’s what you do. I can’t run. What? I can’t run from you. You can’t run. I can’t run. Never.
I know. Because you kept running before. And that’s why you’re here right now. That’s all that you’ve been doing. doing nothing and running. I haven’t had theation because I had other I had warrants for other cases. I would be straight on track if it wasn’t for the other warrants. I promise you. So, you’re telling me you weren’t doing probation cuz you had warrants? Yeah.
Why’d you have warrants? That that that that that’s the reason. Why’d you have warrants? Bomb. Because you hadn’t done what you were supposed to do before. They wanted me to turn my all typos. If I didn’t have other warrants, I’d be straight on track with probation. If I wish, Miss Pier is a good lady. I know you don’t try to be as hard as you you do or want to be, but Oh, I don’t Mr. Cummings.
I do not want to send you, Mr. Cummings. I do not want to send you to jail. I do not like sending people to jail. I try to bend over backwards to give people the opportunity. When you need a nudge and I may have to do a little bit of time, I do a little bit of time trying to at least get your attention, get you back on track.
All of those things, every one of them I’ve tried with you and you done nothing. I don’t even have anything in this sentence. I gave you the beginning of this year. I have nothing that I could point to to say you did or tried to do something. I have nothing. That’s was off paper. I have nothing. You do. I’m sure if it wasn’t You could have No, you Mr.
Cummings, understand this. Your promises are no good to me. Your promises are no good. Can I speak? Can I say one thing? I wouldn’t have this warrant for probation if I didn’t have the other warrants. That’s how my probation and I wasn’t I wasn’t communicating with y’all doing what I supposed to do or should I have been but I that’s not that’s not me.
I’ve completed for sure completed a probation before. I could do and complete this. still got warrants. Everything’s this this is what I had to take care of. If it ain’t a ticket, this is like this is the only things I had to take care of. Your honor, I think he’s referencing the domestic violence case um that he did have a warrant for.
Um, but he he still does have a warn out of 35th and he does have that license. You don’t take care of business. I can’t help you. I really can’t. Anybody that walks through that door that tells me they want to do something, want to follow what we say and try to work hard to try to change things, I’ll help them.
I I No, there’s no two ways about it. And my entire staff, my probation staff, my staff will help you do what you need to do. And I know your attorneys, if you had reached out to them, they would have helped you. You just didn’t. You wanted to do it your way. No. And your way doesn’t work. So now we’re going to do it my way.
And it’s just going to be harsh. Yeah. Chance to show y’all. I will take care of this. I promise you, you will not see me again if it ain’t to be getting released off of probation early or anything. I’m going to wave the remaining terms except the defendant’s financial obligations. I’m going to discharge from probation without improvement.
I’m going to order 365 days county jail credit for the 85 days that you served. Defendant will serve the balance. I will consider early release upon the completion of the MRT MRT jail in jail program. I will consider releasing. I don’t know whether I will release you, but that’s going to be the first step you’re going to have to do.
You don’t want to do it, you got 290 days to figure it out. I’m done. And there you have it. Justice served in the most definitive way possible. DO Cummings received 365 days in Washington County Jail with credit for only 85 days already served, meaning he’s looking at 280 more days behind bars. The judge made it clear that his pattern of non-compliance, failure to report, and flight risk behavior left her with no choice but to revoke his probation entirely.
The key takeaway here is that the justice system will give you chances. This judge gave him multiple opportunities from January through June. But when you consistently disrespect court orders and treat the system like a game, eventually your luck runs out. For Dio, that reality check came in the form of nearly a full year in jail, with his only hope being completion of the MRT program for possible early release.
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