Judge Slams 'Adverse Possession' Defense; Trial Gets 'Go-Ahead' For Attorney Accused Of Hijacking Vacant Home In F'closure, Pocketing Rent From Tenant

In Allegan, Michigan, The Allegan County News reports:

• Allegan attorney John Watts has been ordered to stand trial on all the charges against him. Watts, 65, was in Allegan County District Court Friday, Nov. 19, for a preliminary hearing before visiting Judge Richard A. Santoni.

• Watts, of Cheshire Township, was arrested in May and charged with five felonies in three cases including two counts of false pretenses and one count each of embezzlement between $1,000 and $20,000, unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle and passing false title. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

• At the hearing Friday, Santoni heard testimony on one of the false pretense charges. Police and prosecutors allege that in that case, Watts rented a home in Martin that didn’t belong to him and tried to collect rental income from it.

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• [Watts' defense attorney James] Shek [] made an argument regarding the state’s adverse possession laws that in this state it was technically legal to occupy unoccupied property and take ownership if the rightful owner didn’t attempt to eject you over a certain term of years. Shek said this was a “conundrum” of Michigan law.

• Santoni, a Kalamazoo County district judge brought in because both of Allegan County’s district judges recused themselves, didn’t agree with any of those arguments. “Adverse possession is not a defense to a criminal act and I find that legal argument without merit,” he said.

For more, see Watts case moves to circuit court.