BAY CITY, MI -- The day before his trial was to begin, a 24-year-old man accused of breaking into a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall at the behest of the voices in his head accepted a plea offer.

Christopher D. Brown on Monday, Nov. 28, appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran and pleaded guilty to one count of breaking and entering-illegal entry without permission. The charge is a 90-day misdemeanor.

In exchange for his plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a felony charge of malicious destruction of a building between $1,000 and $20,000.

Brown's trial was to begin Tuesday, Nov. 29. In accepting the plea, Brown waived his right to assert an insanity defense. A psychiatric evaluation did not exempt him from criminal responsibility.

Bay County Sheriff's deputies responded to a family trouble call on March 20 at a home in the 5300 block of Kasemeyer Road in Monitor Township. The caller said Brown, his son, tore up the family's backyard and started walking south along the road. The father said his son's hands were also bleeding, court records show.

While deputies were on the way, a second person called Bay County Central Dispatch to say that Brown was in the parking lot of the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall at 5435 Kasemeyer Road.

Deputies arrived to find a set of double doors on the building's west side had been opened, with glass broken out of them, court records show. Deputies followed a blood trail inside and found Brown sitting on the floor of the men's restroom, blood on his hands, arms, and face, with his mother beside him, court records show.

Brown told deputies he didn't recall what had happened, but that he had blacked out and heard voices telling him to do it. He added he thinks he has schizophrenia. He has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, court records show.

Brown apologized to deputies, saying he wanted to see God as a reason for why he entered the building, court records show.

Because Brown pleaded to a misdemeanor, Judge Sheeran remanded his case to District Court for sentencing. Judge Mark E. Janer is to impose sentence at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29.