The owner of the Briarwood 1 building wants another day in court as he fights to stay out of jail.
Jackson Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Reynolds ordered building owner Mike Kohan to demolish the building after he held a trial in absentia on January 10 as the New York resident did not appear in court. The prosecutor said she mailed a notice to Mr. Kohen, spoke to him on the phone, and emailed the notice to him at his direction. Earlier post.
The Court found the building suffered from severe sanitation problems, drainage problems. pervasive mold, water "everywhere", and electrical wiring exposed to water. A multitude of residency-challenged individuals inhabited the building, committing more destruction of the property as broken windows and graffiti mushroomed throughout the premises.
Judge Reynolds ruled the building was "dangerous" to the citizens of Jackson and ordered it demolished if it was not brought up to the code to the reasonable satisfaction of the Court. The Court suspended a six-month jail sentence for Mr. New York pending demolition of the building.
Appealing the order might be costly for the defendant. Mr. New York must post a secured appearance bond of $1 million as the Court called him a "demonstrated flight risk" since he lives in New York. Judge Reynolds stated high demolition costs justified the million-dollar bond.
Kohan filed an emergency motion to vacate the judgment or in the alternative, reduce the appeal bond. The defendant claims he never received the citation for the "alleged charges" against him. He claims the only citation was "issued to an attorney in Cleveland who has no ownership interest in the property nor is the registered agent for Kohan's company, Briarwood Realty Holding, LLC. The attorney, Joseph Saponaro, represents Briarwood Realty.
The motion asks the Court to vacate the judgement and hold another hearing. Kohen said he can not "reasonably obtain a bond in the amount set by the Court."
Attorney John P. Martin of Canton represents Kohan. A hearing will be held on February 14 in Jackson Municipal Court. Rohan also filed a notice of appeal in Hinds County Court.
37 comments:
More time for continuing rot and decay-
It's a damn shame that the attorney for the City of Jackson doesn't know how to serve process on a defendant in litigation.
All that has occurred is for naught
This building is emblematic of the state of things in Jackson right now. It was built in the 80's and was a very nice property until just a VERY short few years ago. However, almost immediately after it became unoccupied, "Jacksonians" took it over (criminally, of course) and completely destroyed it.
What better scenario could you pick to illustrate how Jackson has gone?
Quick.
Destroyed.
Criminally.
"residency-challenged individuals"
Is that what the kids are calling themselves nowadays?
3:20, Looks to me like this one also falls on the court administrator, who can't seem to be bothered to answer phone calls or respond to emails.
I would love to meet one of these ruthless NYC landlords. What crazy person buys a giant office property in Jackson? Obviously someone who's never been there before!
4:24 PM
Exactly. When I worked at DOR a guy I knew was considering doing a side hustle of being a home inspector. He ended up talking to some people at one of the big firms like Remax and had to explain to them that the cost of a house is usually less than the suburbs.
If he filed an appeal to the county court, then the city court no longer has jurisdiction. You don't get to be in two courts at the same time.
I love it! The iron is absolutely delicious!
The Lumumba’s and the Kohan’s of the world absolutely deserve this dystopia of their creation!
Jeff is a municipal judge yet he's done more to clean up Jackson's blight than anyone else I know.
Looks like a teardown to me!
This sounds like a situation where one of Chowke's pals wants to build there but doesn't want to spend the money to tear down the building.
It’s not valid service. Shit for brains city.
Question criminal defense lawyer. How can an individual be charged with anything since an LLC owns the property?
M-Bar should relocate to this building. For $8,000,000 (the anticipated cost to construct some cheap ass gazebos and install corn hole boards), this building would serve a real purpose for Choker’s Pals. But, his days are numbered and he’ll never be able to get another job around here, unless it’s on the Election Commission.
5:33, I'm not going to bother to look it up right now to make sure, but I believe a party can seek relief from a judgment under Rule 62(b) while the judgment is on appeal.
"residency challenged individuals"
KF - I believe the correct term is "residency fluid individuals." They may identify at different points on the residency spectrum.
I am by no means a lawyer or claim to have any real knowledge on the subject but could the city not just have the building torn down and bill the owner? If the courts have already given him a time frame to bring it to code or tear it down, obviously he isnt going to bring it to code. Why cant the city tear it down and bill him?
The property taxes have not been paid in two years. They should go to a tax sale this fall. At that point, the guy will probably walk. Unless some idiot buys the building at a tax sale without doing their due diligence, it will revert to the State of Mississippi.
1 building is coming down, 500 remaining abandoned buildings.
'Mr. New York' is obviously thumbing his nose at Jackson. He must think Jackson is some third world country without competent residents and leadership, or something.
9:27 the city can not afford to tear it down as they don't have the money. If they could, I doubt they would ever get it even after legal actions. My guess is this building will remain a 5 Star "HOMELESS INN" for a long time.
How on earth does the city sue the wrong individual? This level of incompetence in incomprehensible.
I drove through the parking lot about two months ago. My brother worked in that building at one time. It’s sad what it has become. Kudos to the judge trying to get it cleaned up.
Jackson continues to get worse while the mayor, council, and many residents have their heads in the sand. Leadership is needed so badly in so many areas. Leadership among the elected, leadership among the hired department heads, leadership everywhere in the city is lacking. Nobody has the ability to work on improvements. I think “work” is a profane word in that town.
Crime, water, sewer, streets, garbage, have all been allowed to fall apart into dysfunction. I remember the days when I was the engineer on a site plan for a commercial building and Charles Williams (drainage engineer before he got a doctorate) tried to tell me to move the stormwater detention area to the other corner of the site. I had to explain that his chosen location was the highest ground on the site and rainwater doesn’t flow up hill. He just couldn’t understand that. And City engineer Chan Burns sat in his office and did private engineering and surveying for paying clients while on the clock. It’s been a clusterf**k at least 30 years that I can swear to.
This reminds me of the struck ordinance the City of Madison has but doesn’t enforce. Take a ride to the intersection of Hoy Road and Rice Road! Can someone explain how this property as an old cars, boats, tractors and a bunch of other junk in the yard? Talk about Jackson and trash but this property tops them all. Worth the drive.
Undocumented dwelling residents.
What seems to be the problem? That property looks about the same as many other properties around Jackson. For the same amount of work the city could clean up many other smaller homes. Many of them owned by people living in Jackson.
@ 9:57 A little south of the intersection would be Mr. Joe Rice, as in Rice rd. Joe and his "collection" have been there longer than the city, so he is grandfathered in. Mary tried many years ago to get it cleaned up, and lost. I think the city even put the fence up. Joe don't like people lookin' at his junk. So stop.
10:32. Mayor M never lost a fight. It is a damn good collection of crap!!
Correction: I meant to type 60(b), not 62(b).
-1:54 a.m.
@10:32am - When the city moves to the country. Same thing happening in the outskirts of Gluckstadt. Folks buying 1/4 acre lot houses clear cut out of the woods then bitching on NextDoor about the gunfire and hunting on the 300 acre lot next to them that’s been doing it for decades. People are just stupid.
Not a surprise. Kohan is well known in the area of dead malls for buying them cheaply, not putting a dime in them, then selling them off for fire sales. He does not pay local taxes for the dead mall properties either. He is well known for playing with his money in courtrooms rather than spend it on the properties. I will be surprised if J-town can actually get action from him.
Mr. Rice's property is actually zoned agricultural. No agricultural use is made of this property. Any elected official with half a brain should move to rezone it. Grandfather him if you like, but any future owner would not be allowed to keep or add to this junk pile.
Prior to and following incorporation of Madison, The City, half the acreage in what is now the city was in agricultural use and zoned accordingly. This particular property is the city's only junk-yard.
The fence installed by the city is an unkempt joke that hides nothing. Imagine the rodents and other wild animals living, breeding and reproducing there, presenting a health hazard for the entire surrounding area.
February 11, 2023 at 8:11 AM that’s funny! And your point well made!
Why doesn’t mr New York just do like every one else and donate the property to a church?
@1:14 PM - Exactly! It's like the people (Karens) who bought homes adjacent to the Madison Airport and frequently complain on Nextdoor about the airplane and helicopter noise.
I am all for tearing the mess down, but I would love to know how this one eyesore was selected out of the many contenders.
Any progress would be welcome, though it appears this is far from being removed.
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