Pontiac — Former Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty and his wife dropped personal protection orders against three ex-friends Wednesday, but legal matters involving a fourth person — Tonya Juhl, 37, of Clawson — are still to be decided.
The 40-year-old retired hockey star and his wife, Sheryl, 37, claim the four have been harassing and threatening them over the past two years because McCarty has tried to distance himself from his past lifestyle of women, booze and drugs.
After about an hour of testimony Wednesday, Oakland Circuit Judge Joan Young stopped proceedings until July 25, leaving the protection order against Juhl — a former girlfriend of Darren McCarty — in effect.
Personal protection orders were dismissed against Kimberley Mitchell, 38, of Clawson; Anne Marie Samulski, 22, of Royal Oak; and Louis Barbato, 40, of Shelby Township. All had come to court to contest information in the orders as either false or exaggerated.
The McCartys and Juhl declined to be interviewed after the proceedings. Their attorneys said they are hopeful matters will be resolved by the next hearing date — if not sooner.
"We resolved three of these today by mutual agreement of attorneys," said the McCartys' attorney Albert Addis.
Darren McCarty, who helped the Wings win four Stanley Cups with his physical play, testified that he ignored things being said about him in private and in public for nearly two years until it involved threats to him, his wife and their six children that left him "looking over my shoulder."
Juhl — who testified she had an intimate relationship with McCarty for about six to eight months that ended in 2010, repeatedly denied under questioning that she ever threatened the McCartys by phone, email or in person. She said she had received threatening emails from Sheryl McCarty, who she suspected broke a passenger window on her car.
Juhl, a cocktail waitress at Greektown Casino, said she filed a police report about her concerns on May 21 — three days after the McCartys filed a police report about concerns for their own safety.
Asked by Juhl's attorney, Andrew Abood, if he was "afraid" of Juhl or her friends, McCarty testified:
"Yes ... I don't know who the Big Bad Wolf is going to be coming around the corner that she knows."
McCarty testified that Juhl had shown up at a radio show and "gave (me) the finger" in front of about 5,000 peopleAbood suggested the protection orders were simply an effort by the McCartys to "cut off" people they didn't want to associate with anymore, rather than a product of genuine fear.
At one point, when Abood asked McCarty how many fights he had been in, the judge interjected: "He's a hockey player."
McCarty and his wife got personal protection orders last month against three Oakland County women and a Macomb County man for stalking and harassment, Oakland Circuit Court records show.
The McCartys accuse the four of trying to get the couple fired from their jobs, threatening both through text messages and phone calls, posting malicious comments on McCarty's work and appearance websites, and threatening violence against them.
The protection orders, issued on May 22, were good for a year, and barred Juhl, Mitchell, Samulski and Barbato from approaching, following or contacting the McCartys or going to their home or workplaces. McCarty works for the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association, and worked in the past year for a Detroit pawn shop; his wife is a nurse at Beaumont Hospital.
In his Wings career, McCarty was known as a brawler, part of the "Grind Line" with Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper.
McCarty spent 13 seasons with Detroit, from 1993-2004 and 2007-09. Fans still talk about how he pummeled Colorado Avalanche star Claude Lemieux during a fight in March 1997.
But behind the glory was a man battling demons. McCarty liked to party and went through alcohol rehab in the 1990s.
He also ran up $185,000 in casino debts and filed for bankruptcy in 2005 to clear more than $6 million in debts. By then, he was divorced from his first wife.
In a letter filed in Oakland Circuit Court, Sheryl McCarty said her husband underwent regular drug and alcohol testing while with the Wings and "basically rebelled" after retiring in 2009.
"Darren started partying and surrounded himself with bad people due to the choices he was making. … Louis Barbato, Kimberly Mitchell, Tonya Juhl and Anne Marie Samulski are four of those people," she wrote.
In her letter, Sheryl McCarty said after her husband cut off contact with them, Mitchell began calling and sending her emails threatening that they were "going to kill me" or "hit me so hard my neck would break."
Questions or Comments? Contact Clinton Van Nocker at clint@aboodlaw.com
The 40-year-old retired hockey star and his wife, Sheryl, 37, claim the four have been harassing and threatening them over the past two years because McCarty has tried to distance himself from his past lifestyle of women, booze and drugs.
After about an hour of testimony Wednesday, Oakland Circuit Judge Joan Young stopped proceedings until July 25, leaving the protection order against Juhl — a former girlfriend of Darren McCarty — in effect.
Personal protection orders were dismissed against Kimberley Mitchell, 38, of Clawson; Anne Marie Samulski, 22, of Royal Oak; and Louis Barbato, 40, of Shelby Township. All had come to court to contest information in the orders as either false or exaggerated.
The McCartys and Juhl declined to be interviewed after the proceedings. Their attorneys said they are hopeful matters will be resolved by the next hearing date — if not sooner.
"We resolved three of these today by mutual agreement of attorneys," said the McCartys' attorney Albert Addis.
Darren McCarty, who helped the Wings win four Stanley Cups with his physical play, testified that he ignored things being said about him in private and in public for nearly two years until it involved threats to him, his wife and their six children that left him "looking over my shoulder."
Juhl — who testified she had an intimate relationship with McCarty for about six to eight months that ended in 2010, repeatedly denied under questioning that she ever threatened the McCartys by phone, email or in person. She said she had received threatening emails from Sheryl McCarty, who she suspected broke a passenger window on her car.
Juhl, a cocktail waitress at Greektown Casino, said she filed a police report about her concerns on May 21 — three days after the McCartys filed a police report about concerns for their own safety.
Asked by Juhl's attorney, Andrew Abood, if he was "afraid" of Juhl or her friends, McCarty testified:
"Yes ... I don't know who the Big Bad Wolf is going to be coming around the corner that she knows."
McCarty testified that Juhl had shown up at a radio show and "gave (me) the finger" in front of about 5,000 peopleAbood suggested the protection orders were simply an effort by the McCartys to "cut off" people they didn't want to associate with anymore, rather than a product of genuine fear.
At one point, when Abood asked McCarty how many fights he had been in, the judge interjected: "He's a hockey player."
McCarty and his wife got personal protection orders last month against three Oakland County women and a Macomb County man for stalking and harassment, Oakland Circuit Court records show.
The McCartys accuse the four of trying to get the couple fired from their jobs, threatening both through text messages and phone calls, posting malicious comments on McCarty's work and appearance websites, and threatening violence against them.
The protection orders, issued on May 22, were good for a year, and barred Juhl, Mitchell, Samulski and Barbato from approaching, following or contacting the McCartys or going to their home or workplaces. McCarty works for the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association, and worked in the past year for a Detroit pawn shop; his wife is a nurse at Beaumont Hospital.
In his Wings career, McCarty was known as a brawler, part of the "Grind Line" with Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper.
McCarty spent 13 seasons with Detroit, from 1993-2004 and 2007-09. Fans still talk about how he pummeled Colorado Avalanche star Claude Lemieux during a fight in March 1997.
But behind the glory was a man battling demons. McCarty liked to party and went through alcohol rehab in the 1990s.
He also ran up $185,000 in casino debts and filed for bankruptcy in 2005 to clear more than $6 million in debts. By then, he was divorced from his first wife.
In a letter filed in Oakland Circuit Court, Sheryl McCarty said her husband underwent regular drug and alcohol testing while with the Wings and "basically rebelled" after retiring in 2009.
"Darren started partying and surrounded himself with bad people due to the choices he was making. … Louis Barbato, Kimberly Mitchell, Tonya Juhl and Anne Marie Samulski are four of those people," she wrote.
In her letter, Sheryl McCarty said after her husband cut off contact with them, Mitchell began calling and sending her emails threatening that they were "going to kill me" or "hit me so hard my neck would break."
Questions or Comments? Contact Clinton Van Nocker at clint@aboodlaw.com
