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Erick Haubenstricker at his sentencing hearing, Monday, Nov. 4, 2013. Cole Waterman | MLive

Erick Haubenstricker

BAY CITY, MI — A Bay City man who wrote a vulgarity-laden rant on a jury questionnaire form is heading to jail for the next few days, despite apologizing to the Bay County Circuit Court.

Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran on Monday, Nov. 4, sentenced Erick E. Haubenstricker, 36, to three days in jail.

“I just want to apologize to the court and the men in uniform here for the rant that I put on the paper,” Haubenstricker said. “For me to be here right now is really embarrassing. I’ve gotten several calls from family members saying I really took it out of line.

“There are certain things in my life I’m working through right now,” the defendant continued. “A lot of emotion was going through me at the time.”

Haubenstricker in October pleaded guilty to a 93-day misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt. In June, he signed and submitted a juror questionnaire form on which he wrote “(expletive) Off Dirty Judges” and “Leave me alone!! Please. Die in Hell Pigs/Judges/DAs,” among other things.

Haubenstricker’s attorney, Paul F. Beggs, asked the judge to be lenient and not give him a sentence that would jeopardize his positive attributes — being a father, having a job and owning a home.

“Not for a moment am I going to suggest what he did was appropriate,” Beggs said. “This issue was made public, his picture was posted, and he’s tremendously sorrowful for what happened. He didn’t intend to offend anyone — he did of course — but I don’t think that was ever his intention.”

Beggs said his client filled out the questionnaire on or near the anniversary of his brother’s death and that he “took it upon himself to express his anger on a sheet of paper.”

Beggs went on to say that a possible silver lining to the incident and its resulting publicity was a dialogue on the limits of free speech started by MLive commenters.

“Most people saw this as stupid rather than criminal,” Beggs said.

Sheeran did not agree.

“Your comments on the jury questionnaire were so over the top and done in such a manner that when I referred you to the probation department to report, my main concern was to see if you were suffering from a mental illness,” the judge told Haubenstricker. “You’re not (ill). You were just angry and the people who work in this court have difficult jobs to do and they don’t deserve to be treated as you treated them.”

About a decade ago, Haubenstricker served seven years in prison, Beggs said, though he didn’t specify the nature of his conviction.

“As a convicted felon,” Sheeran continued. “All you had to do was fill out the form properly and you wouldn’t be serving as a juror anyway. You needlessly created a lot of trouble for yourself.”