Judge tracker
Judge James S. Jamo's record in serious criminal cases
About the judge
Judge, 30th Circuit Court (Ingham County, Mich.)
James S. “Jim” Jamo is an Ingham County Circuit Court judge, first elected in 2012 after 28 years as a civil litigator. He sentenced Marshawn James Curtis to 17.5 to 80 years in the untested-rape-kit case, at the top of the guidelines. He also sits on the state's business court.
Elected
Bench Watch Brief · What the data shows
Bench Watch logs sentences by Judge James S. Jamo of Michigan's Ingham County Circuit Court in serious criminal cases, from Court of Appeals opinions, the Attorney General and news reports. It isn't a complete record. Where the guidelines were reported, five of his sentences were within them and two were above; one of those was vacated because he gave no reasons.
12 entries · select a column to sort
| Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | People v. Douglas Bain Thwaites | Sentence: first-degree criminal sexual conduct and unlawful imprisonment, fourth-offense habitual offender | 40 to 80 years (480 to 960 months) | Guidelines not stated in the opinion; affirmed | Source | |
| 2026 | People v. Maliki Pendergrass | Sentence: safe storage of a firearm resulting in a child's death, possessing a firearm as a prohibited person, and felony-firearm (guilty plea) | Effectively 14 to 32 years as a third-offense habitual offender | Source | ||
| 2025 | People v. Joshua Piland and Rachel Piland | Sentences: second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in an infant's death | 20 to 45 years each | The prosecutor stressed that the parents refused medical care; Joshua Piland asked for leniency | Guidelines not reported | Source |
| 2025 | People v. Walter Jemison | Sentence: assault with intent to murder | 30 to 60 years | The midpoint of the 22.5-to-37.5-year guidelines; affirmed | Source | |
| 2025 | People v. Devon Carl Baldwin | Sentence: second-degree murder, third-offense habitual offender | 50 to 66.7 years (600 to 800 months) | Within the guidelines (365 to 900 months or life); affirmed | Source | |
| 2024Election year | People v. Marshawn James Curtis | Sentence: first-degree criminal sexual conduct (untested rape kit) | 17.5 to 80 years | At the top of the 10.5-to-17.5-year guidelines; affirmed | SourceCase file | |
| 2023 | People v. Damerious Robert Church | Sentence: two counts of second-degree murder and drunk driving causing death | 27 to 50 years (324 to 600 months) | Affirmed | Source | |
| 2022 | An Ingham County man (name withheld to protect a child) | Resentence: second-degree child abuse (third judge to sentence him) | 141 to 240 months | Above the 43-to-129-month guidelines but below two earlier vacated sentences; affirmed | Source | |
| 2022 | People v. Douglas Hill | Sentence: two counts of second-degree murder (guilty plea) | 30 to 50 years | Source | ||
| 2020 | An Ingham County man (name withheld to protect a child) | Resentence: first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving children | 225 months to 55 years | Within the guidelines, after his first sentence was vacated; affirmed | Source | |
| 2018 | An Ingham County man (name withheld to protect a child) | Sentence: first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving children | 25 to 55 years | Above the 135-to-225-month guidelines on three counts with no reasons given; vacated | Source | |
| 2015 | People v. John Coryell Kelsey II | Sentence: fleeing and eluding causing a sheriff's deputy's death | 20 to 45 years, with a habitual-offender enhancement | Within the 84-to-280-month guidelines; kept on remand; affirmed | Source |
How we built this
This tracker counts Judge Jamo's sentences and key rulings in serious criminal cases, meaning homicide, sex crimes and other violent felonies, and major federal crimes, plus rulings in cases Bench Watch follows. The goal is to cover the judge's whole time on the bench, so we log the most recent five years first, then work back, and the “Covers” line shows the years logged so far. Each row links to its source, whether a court record, an appeals opinion, an official release or a news report.
The opinions don't name the trial judge, so Bench Watch relies on the Court of Appeals record, which lists him as the lower-court judge, or on releases and news reports that name him.
This is not a complete record. Michigan doesn't publish sentencing data by judge. Bench Watch adds decisions as it confirms them.
We leave “What each side asked” blank when the source didn't report it. “Compared with the options” sets the decision against what the law allowed, the sentencing guidelines and any joint recommendation, as reported in the source. We don't name victims. When naming a defendant would identify a child victim, we withhold the name.