The man accused of committing home invasions around Washtenaw County while out on bond nearly pleaded guilty Monday to all 13 felonies he faces before he reconsidered.
Javare Holmes
Courtesy of WCSO
Javare Holmes, 18, started to accept a deal that would have seen him plead guilty to nine counts of first-degree home invasion and one count each of second-degree home invasion, larceny in a building, receiving and concealing stolen property worth more than $1,000 but less than $20,000 and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. In exchange, prosecutors would have agreed to the sentencing guidelines that Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O'Brien would use.
O’Brien was in the process of reading Holmes his rights when the hearing was passed. When O’Brien asked Holmes if he was forced or coerced by anyone to take the plea deal, a woman in the courtroom began saying, “Say yes! Say yes!” repeatedly. The woman was identified as Holmes’ mother.
O’Brien decided to pass the hearing to allow Holmes to speak with his attorneys. He then decided to seek new counsel and did not accept the deal. Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Brenda Taylor was not pleased and stated the possible consequences of Holmes’ decision.
“That would allow us to have discretionary consecutive sentencing,” Taylor said. The deal originally would have had agreed upon guidelines for Holmes’ sentencing.
She added, “The offer will be the exact same no matter what attorney is hired.”
On each charge of first-degree home invasion, Holmes faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Second-degree home invasion carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. If Holmes is convicted on all counts and is given consecutive sentencing, he could face 208 years in prison.
Holmes was charged in May 2012 with first-degree home invasion and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. He paid $2,000 to bond out of jail on that case and then went on the lam, missing a pretrial hearing. Police believe he committed nine more home invasions during the time frame that he was wanted on a bench warrant.
He was eventually arrested on March 9 after a search warrant was served on a home in the 1400 block of Kirtland Drive in Ann Arbor. Guitars, violins, computers, televisions, GPS units, cellphones, watches, laptops and digital cameras were recovered from the home.
The evidence was linked to home invasions in Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township and the jurisdiction of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
Holmes was given court-appointed lawyers but will now seek private counsel. His current attorneys, Washtenaw County Assistant Public Defender Robin Stephens and Michael Friese, will still be his representatives until his next hearing, at 1:30 p.m. June 3.
Holmes is being held in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $25,000 bond.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.