With the summer legislative recess set to end, a local lawmaker says she still plans to introduce an impeachment resolution against 53rd District Court Judge Theresa Brennan, who is accused of corruption in office and perjury.

State Representative Lana Theis says the investigation by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission began over 18 months ago but it wasn’t up until roughly two months ago that Brennan finally had her caseload removed and re-assigned to a visiting judge. She says Brennan is now getting paid to sit at home and do nothing while taxpayers are now paying a visiting judge to hear all of her cases.

Theis feels there have been extended delays of justice and says she’s heard from numerous people wanting to know when action will be taken to hold Judge Brennan accountable. "Up until her docket was removed from her, people were being, I believe, harmed in her court because of the decision making process that she went through. I don't believe she was an unbiased observer from the bench. I think there was a real necessity for change and normally that would happen at the ballot box...but when someone has perjured themselves they subject themselves then to the process of impeachment."

The Judicial Tenure Commission complaint stems from Brennan’s relationship with former Michigan State Police Detective Sean Furlong, who served as the chief prosecution witness during the 2013 double murder trial of Jerome Kowalski. Brennan presided over the trial and resulted in Kowalski’s conviction and life sentence. Brennan and Furlong maintain they had a friendship that morphed into an affair but claim it began after the trial. Testimony and documents from Brennan’s 2017 divorce indicate the relationship began long before Kowalski’s trial.

The JTC hearing into its complaint against Brennan will commence October 1st. The case will be heard at the 16th District Court in Livonia, a decision made to ensure there is no conflict of interest. A Michigan State Police criminal investigation also remains active. (JK)