DETROIT (WWJ) A Clinton Township woman, who filed a civil lawsuit against a judge after he handcuffed and jailed her teen daughter when she fell asleep in his courtroom during a summertime field trip, is facing charges.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Latoreya Till, 41, with Assault and Battery for allegedly assaulting her own aunt, a 71-year-old Detroit woman, while drunk.
Prosecutors said Till physically assaulted her aunt at her aunt's Detroit home on Duchess at Whittier, near Moross and I-94, in the evening of December 10th. No further details were released about the circumstances leading up to the assault.
It's not clear how badly her aunt was injured.
This comes just months after the lawsuit, brought by Fieger Law, claimed 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King handcuffed Till's 15-year-old daughter, Eva Goodman, put her in jail garb, jailed her, and made her stand in front of her peers after the teen fell asleep in his courtroom on August 13th.
The over 50 page lawsuit claims the girl was jailed and held against her will through a "fake trial" involving threats of ongoing youth home detention. Her attorneys say she suffered severe 'emotional pain and suffering, mental anguish, severe emotional distress, humiliation and mortification.'
The lawsuit also accused King of "publicly punish(ing) and demean(ing) her by broadcasting his own rendition of 'Scared Straight,'" a reality show set inside a prison. The ordeal was streamed on the judge's YouTube Channel.
However, Judge King told the Detroit Free Press he "wasn't trying to punish (Goodman)" and was "trying to serve as a deterrence" by showing her court proceedings "were not a joke."
Till said her daughter, who aspires to be a cardio-thoracic surgeon, did not need such a lesson.
She also told the news outlet her daughter was extra tired because they did not have a permanent home to sleep in at that time.
According to the Free Press, the field trip to the courtroom was organized by the Greening Project, a nonprofit that strives to improve the "green infrastructure" of the city. Goodman was involved with the organization, but did not know about the field trip until that morning.
King was pulled from the bench to undergo sensitivity training—he has since returned, as a traffic court judge. He was also removed from two classes he was slated to teach at Wayne State University this fall.
For the alleged assault of her aunt; Till was arraigned on Friday, December 13th, in 36th District Court. She was given a $5,000 bond.
She is due back in court on December 20th.
