October 16, 2025 • 17 mins
A bizarre story that keeps getting stranger. Following his arrest at the border, “Family Matters” star, 49 year-old Darius McCrary says he was not trying to flee the country, instead he claims he accidentally went to Mexico and wait until you hear why. McCrary reportedly owes $95,000 in child support payments and missed his court hearing on the matter, prompting an arrest warrant. McCrary has an explanation for that too, but his appearance in court yesterday was so strange, even the judge seemed confused.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, folks. It it's Thursday, October sixteenth, and the
former star of a beloved nineties sitcom is sitting in
jail right now, a judge refusing to let him out
of jail all over yes, a family matter. And with that,
(00:22):
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Robes.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
You used that line before. It is literally true. The
former star of Family Matters is sitting in jail, denied
bail right now over a family issue.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Correct. Yes, the Family Matters theme is sticking with him,
but not in a good way. For Darius McCrary, he's
forty nine years old, made his first court appearance yesterday.
This story is bizarre, and his behavior in court was
even more bizarre, I would say concerning it seemed as
(00:57):
if he was not altogether.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, he was trying to represent himself and maybe he
was a little confused about the process. The judge was
confused at times that we could clearly hear. But I
don't think I would have known, first of all, his name,
Darius McCrary with that of immediately.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
No, I would not have known his name. But you
know his face, oh.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Of course, Oh my goodness, it's undmistakable. Still to this day.
All these years later, Jaleel right White, I think a
lot of people know that name immediately arkle from Family
Matters and this show. I didn't realize they had a
great run. Yeah, the show was on for nine seasons,
that's the first five they would get twenty million plus.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Wow and back in the day, right, what.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
The actual help? But this was a big deal of
a sitcom that it features one of the few featured
prominently black cast focused on a middle class black family,
and he was the older brother.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yes, people have said he's kind of like the Malcolm
Jamal Warner of Family Matters. Basically there were people were
making comparisons and he has that look in the same way.
When we heard, of course the tragic news about Malcolm Jamal,
you saw where he was how many years decades later,
and he still had that same smile, that same face.
And truly, Darius McCrary is the same despite all he's facing.
(02:14):
Even his mugshot if you pull it up, is a
big smile on his face, and you recognize that face
from the show Family Matters all those years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
But yes, his name is not the one that jumps out,
I think obviously because of Diehard Reginald Bill Johnson, who
played the dad in that show. Obviously I love that guy,
but this was he ends up getting this show because
of that role in his stardom in Diehard. So all
these things came together to actually give this kid, give
(02:44):
Darius McCrary a pretty wonderful opportunity. And now he has
a place really robes in television and broadcast and sitcom
history because of the role he played.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And unfortunately he's making the kind of news and the
kind of history nobody wants to make. You know, a
lot of people point to child actors in pros and
tough times, and it seems as though one can only
assume he's been in some sort of financial distress because
these charges are back pay for child support payments, and
according to reports, he owes ninety five thousand dollars in
(03:17):
back pay of child support payments. That's significant, yes, and that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Has to accumulate over time if that actually is true.
But that is out of Michigan, he claims. And this
is nowhere we get into and initially we were. You
almost are scratching your head at best, giggling at worst
at some of the reasoning and logic that came up
(03:42):
to what happened, but he was he missed a court
appearance in Michigan, and because of that, the arrest warrant
was issued. So he was picked up and not being
let out now because this was a fugitive they consider
this a felony fugitive arrest when you're wanted and you
don't turn yourself in, and then it appears he's trying
to possibly flee the country. That is why he's sitting
(04:05):
in jail now with no chance of getting out. No bail.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, bail was denied yesterday, and he was apprehended at
the border, at the Mexico border. So he is currently
in San Diego right there, obviously near Tijuana, and there's
all sorts of back and forth and confusion about why
he was in Mexico in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Because he was kind of in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Kind of Tijuana. Well, so he was arrested actually trying
to get back into the United States. That's when he
was arrested, not when he was he claims accidentally across
the border into Mexico. Do you buy that.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I can't make sense of it. It doesn't mean it
didn't happen, doesn't mean it's not true, but he made
the quarter appearance yesterday, but they say he was arrested
on October fifth. So his lawyers and his I guess
his agent people had different and stories here robes, but
the official one he's going with right now is what
(05:05):
was he doing when he was caught.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
So he claims, and by the way, he represented himself
in yesterday's hearing, which was such a mess. The judge
was like, nah, you need to have some legal representation
because you don't know what the hell you're doing or
talking about. And we can get into that because what
he said was bizarre and almost unintelligible at times. But
he said that he was caught at the border because
(05:29):
he was going to Tijuana to build homes for the homeless,
but that he accidentally crossed into Mexico because he couldn't
find the person he was supposed to meet. But his
agent initially said that he was in Tijuana because he
was looking at property in Tijuana. So there are multiple
stories going around, none of which seemed to be correct.
(05:51):
But we don't know for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
But real estate and building homes for the homeless kind
of go together. Maybe those things are related, and somebody
who's got don't have all the details. That's possible.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But the confusing thing is though that he's saying he
didn't mean to go to Mexico. So despite some explanations
as to why he was in Tijuana, now we're hearing
him say he accidentally cross the.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Border because he was supposed to be meeting the guy
in charge of the project and helping build the homes,
and that was confusion about where they were supposed to meet.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Is the story got it? So where is this guy?
Because that could clear a lot of things off. I'm
just saying if we could hear from him, I would
feel better about this version of his story.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So, yeah, you get confused when you confuse about where
to meet somebody. Is it on this side of the
street or is on that side of the street.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You don't accidentally cross into Mexico, Okay, it's a process.
You don't just walk in to Mexico casually cross the border. Whoopsie,
there are border patrol agents. There are actual like aren't there.
Like it's kind of like even I think about an
easy pass station on steroids, Like I haven't crossed the
(07:07):
border actually driving into Mexico. I've crossed the border driving
into Canada, and I know that's a process as well,
So I can't speak to actually having ever driven into Mexico,
so I don't know what that actually is, but I
guarantee you you have to show your passport, you have
to actually talk to an agent, you have to probably
state why you're going. You. They don't just let you
(07:29):
drive in there. You can't accidentally go to Mexico.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
But those are Mexican officials checking your information, right, So
I'm saying an arrest warrant wouldn't have popped up only
on the way back.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Right, although I don't know, like who knows that. I'm
surprised that that didn't pop up. Then if there was
a if he missed a court appearance back in June
and he had an arrest warrant out for him, it
is interesting he was able to get into Mexico without
being flagged at that point, because that was the initial
story that he was apprehended trying to go to Mexico.
But it's been I guess now clarified that he actually
(08:03):
got apprehended coming back into the United States.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So the story, who knows what it is, But why
did he miss a court appearance having to do with
childs support in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Ropes got an explanation for that. So here's the problem. See,
the notice was sent to a PO box and not
to his actual physical home address he claimed that's from.
And then on top of that, he claims he had
COVID and he was really sick and that's why he
hadn't gone to check his pobox. Now, apparently he recovered
well enough to accidentally head to Mexico, but he didn't
(08:35):
swing by his PO box first to get that really
important court appearance notice saying he was wanted in court.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That, I mean, how my question how late? How far
past a court appearance or responding to the court before
they issue a war weren't for your arrest? If you
get a notice to come to court, it's not going
(09:06):
to be a notice that, hey, your court date is tomorrow,
it's going to be in two days, in two weeks,
could be next month.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You usually have ample time to plan around a court
date like that.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Okay, So is it possible he didn't check the PO
box for quite some time?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Is that he must have had what is it called
the long hauler syndrome of COVID, Because I've had COVID
twice that I know of. I was recovered within three
to four days.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Oh well, I am not going to it all make
any assumptions about the level of discomfort he had while
he had COVID. That thing is serious.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
He was able to physically make his way from Michigan
to Tijuana.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It was more important to get to the people, the
homeless who need homes. Okay in Tijuana.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't know, I mean, I don't know they did it?
Was it Endeavor? There was the name of an organization.
I actually thought now, so obviously this is verifiable. So
whatever he's saying, Oh, he's going to have to be
a name, verify it. Oh I didn't see that. Does
that make it different from him?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yes, it does. I didn't know that was official name.
I thought that was a guy's name. They said Rando
that he was trying to find. But that makes.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Perfect Esperanza programs. So this he's this is according to
his representative. She says that he accidentally crossed into Mexico
due to a mix up about where to meet his
partner for the Esperanza program, where he volunteered to build
homes for unhoused individuals. That is exactly what the name
(10:44):
of the organization is that they referenced Esperanza. I'm not
familiar with it.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Housing and benefits assistance in Philadelphia, Esperanza program. Yes, there's
a thing that does something with housing in Tijuana maybe
all over, Yes, for thirty years, the Esperanza program.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
All right, I cannot wait to hear from Esperanza.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I can what if he's listed in the leadership here
something he's not, But yes, it is exactly what it's
what they do. This is interesting. So is it possible
that he legitimately had something to do in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It's just there was a lot of mixed messaging going on,
so it's confusing to know what to believe and what
not to believe. So much so that the judge was like, yeah,
we're going to deny your bail. You're going to need
to be extradited back to Michigan, where then you can
actually go and appear in court for those missed child
support payments, which he says was an accident as well.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, but stay with us here when we come back.
We'll explain what his response to all that that. The
judge says, yeah, we'll tell you what his response was
and why his quote appearance was a bit bizarre and
a bit confusing even to the judge.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And continuing our coverage of a well a developing and
can even it's a story that just gets more and
more bizarre as the days go on. We're talking about
former Family Matters star dealing with some very tricky family
(12:28):
matters right now, and he needs to appear in family court.
In the meantime, though, he has been in a jail
on the border of Mexico and the United States after
he was arrested apparently now trying to cross back into
the country after accidentally going to Mexico. He claims to
help build homes for the homeless. Okay, so if you
(12:49):
think anything that we have said up until now is
strange and puzzling, just wait until you hear how his
bail hearing. His first hearing went yesterday in court where
he attempted to represent himself in this hearing. It didn't
go well.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
No, it was very confusing and he was at times
trying to At one point he cited a case, another
criminal case and trying to make a point about his
own rights being violated. It was you couldn't make sense
really of what he was saying. He was trying to
represent himself. He was also standing behind I guess kind
(13:26):
of in a glass holding cell, trying to talk to
the judge through the window, So that made it all
so awkward. But it was strange and what was this
I'm making a special appearance. That whole back and forth
with the judge as well. He kept repeating I'm making
special appearance. The judge said, what are you saying? Whose
special appearance? What are you? And back and forth to
(13:49):
where she was even trying to get him to say
his name on the record, and he wouldn't say it
because he didn't seem to understand. Not that he was
being hostile, he just didn't seem to understand what.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
It made me actually think he was going for an
insanity defense. I don't think that that's a defense for
not paying child support, but it actually felt like he
was setting up a mentally unstable sort of defense for himself,
because that's how bizarre it was. But specifically, I have
some of the quotes at the beginning of the hearing,
he addressed the judge saying, I'd like to say I'm
(14:21):
here on special appearance. The judge was very confused and
said especially appearing for whom. That was the response, and
then he repeated, I'm here on special appearance. The judge
repeated the question, sir, who are you specially appearing for.
He finally responds, specially appearing for Darius McCrary, I'm here.
(14:46):
I'm here. So it was just bizarre, and it just
kept going on and on to the point where the
judge finally said that you, Darius, are unable to understand
and appreciate the legalities of these proceedings. And that's when
she said, I'm going to assign you a court appointed
lawyer because you need help.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Again, he was trying to do some lawyering and was
making them a claim that his rights were being violated,
and particularly his rights as it comes to due process,
and he said that in court, but he starts signing
the fourth, the fifth, the fourteenth Amendment. He's throwing all
this out, and the judge only heard the voice. I
(15:28):
think it was a woman.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
It seemed like a woman.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yes, I mean she was patient there and indulged him
for a little bit, but she finally got to a
point and say, all right, we need to wrap this up.
Go get a lawyer. We're going to sign you one
right and try this again. I think he has another
court appearance and we can have I think the fourteenth
when did I.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
See, Well, Michigan has thirty days to kick him up
from this jail cell in San Diego to bring him
back to Michigan to face the charges he's facing there.
So yeah, this is just it. It was a strange
story that got stranger and it's look, who knows what's
going on in his life. Who knows what's going on
(16:07):
in his head, but certainly he needs legal help, but
it seemed like he needed even more help than that
after watching him.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
I hate to say, I don't know what's going on
in his personal life, but he certainly don't want to
didn't want to end up where he is. And for
a lot of us who grew up watching, loving, admiring,
looking up to gets like him, you just hate to
see it. But like anybody else, people have issues and
problems in life and try to do the best to
make them right.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It is one of those things where people go through
tough times, but usually not with the spectacle of cameras
and people trying to discern, you know, your lowest point
to know that everybody's watching and listening, and it's not
how you want to be remembered, and it's certainly not
how you want to have your name back in the headlines,
especially when you've been you know, the person he's been
and representing and a show that's been beloved, And it's
(16:56):
just tough when you see people fall on tough times
and have it all out there for everyone to voyeur listed,
voyeur list it. I can't talk today. Go ahead, I
give it one more shot, voyistically Is that right? Okay,
I'm going to just try to say this in another way.
(17:17):
It's just tough when you are now basically the headline
that no one wanted, and certainly not you, and you're
having to deal with that. So anyway, we will continue
to follow this see if there's any new updates, any
new light that could be shed on what possibly was
going on behind the scenes. But for now, thank you
so much for listening to us and just bearing with
(17:38):
me stumbling on that one word that I still am
not going to be able to say. I may be
rebok alongside DJ Holmes. Have a great day, everybody,
Hey there, folks. It it's Thursday, October sixteenth, and the
former star of a beloved nineties sitcom is sitting in
jail right now, a judge refusing to let him out
of jail all over yes, a family matter. And with that,
(00:22):
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Robes.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
You used that line before. It is literally true. The
former star of Family Matters is sitting in jail, denied
bail right now over a family issue.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Correct. Yes, the Family Matters theme is sticking with him,
but not in a good way. For Darius McCrary, he's
forty nine years old, made his first court appearance yesterday.
This story is bizarre, and his behavior in court was
even more bizarre, I would say concerning it seemed as
(00:57):
if he was not altogether.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, he was trying to represent himself and maybe he
was a little confused about the process. The judge was
confused at times that we could clearly hear. But I
don't think I would have known, first of all, his name,
Darius McCrary with that of immediately.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
No, I would not have known his name. But you
know his face, oh.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Of course, Oh my goodness, it's undmistakable. Still to this day.
All these years later, Jaleel right White, I think a
lot of people know that name immediately arkle from Family
Matters and this show. I didn't realize they had a
great run. Yeah, the show was on for nine seasons,
that's the first five they would get twenty million plus.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Wow and back in the day, right, what.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
The actual help? But this was a big deal of
a sitcom that it features one of the few featured
prominently black cast focused on a middle class black family,
and he was the older brother.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yes, people have said he's kind of like the Malcolm
Jamal Warner of Family Matters. Basically there were people were
making comparisons and he has that look in the same way.
When we heard, of course the tragic news about Malcolm Jamal,
you saw where he was how many years decades later,
and he still had that same smile, that same face.
And truly, Darius McCrary is the same despite all he's facing.
(02:14):
Even his mugshot if you pull it up, is a
big smile on his face, and you recognize that face
from the show Family Matters all those years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
But yes, his name is not the one that jumps out,
I think obviously because of Diehard Reginald Bill Johnson, who
played the dad in that show. Obviously I love that guy,
but this was he ends up getting this show because
of that role in his stardom in Diehard. So all
these things came together to actually give this kid, give
(02:44):
Darius McCrary a pretty wonderful opportunity. And now he has
a place really robes in television and broadcast and sitcom
history because of the role he played.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And unfortunately he's making the kind of news and the
kind of history nobody wants to make. You know, a
lot of people point to child actors in pros and
tough times, and it seems as though one can only
assume he's been in some sort of financial distress because
these charges are back pay for child support payments, and
according to reports, he owes ninety five thousand dollars in
(03:17):
back pay of child support payments. That's significant, yes, and that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Has to accumulate over time if that actually is true.
But that is out of Michigan, he claims. And this
is nowhere we get into and initially we were. You
almost are scratching your head at best, giggling at worst
at some of the reasoning and logic that came up
(03:42):
to what happened, but he was he missed a court
appearance in Michigan, and because of that, the arrest warrant
was issued. So he was picked up and not being
let out now because this was a fugitive they consider
this a felony fugitive arrest when you're wanted and you
don't turn yourself in, and then it appears he's trying
to possibly flee the country. That is why he's sitting
(04:05):
in jail now with no chance of getting out. No bail.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, bail was denied yesterday, and he was apprehended at
the border, at the Mexico border. So he is currently
in San Diego right there, obviously near Tijuana, and there's
all sorts of back and forth and confusion about why
he was in Mexico in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Because he was kind of in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Kind of Tijuana. Well, so he was arrested actually trying
to get back into the United States. That's when he
was arrested, not when he was he claims accidentally across
the border into Mexico. Do you buy that.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I can't make sense of it. It doesn't mean it
didn't happen, doesn't mean it's not true, but he made
the quarter appearance yesterday, but they say he was arrested
on October fifth. So his lawyers and his I guess
his agent people had different and stories here robes, but
the official one he's going with right now is what
(05:05):
was he doing when he was caught.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
So he claims, and by the way, he represented himself
in yesterday's hearing, which was such a mess. The judge
was like, nah, you need to have some legal representation
because you don't know what the hell you're doing or
talking about. And we can get into that because what
he said was bizarre and almost unintelligible at times. But
he said that he was caught at the border because
(05:29):
he was going to Tijuana to build homes for the homeless,
but that he accidentally crossed into Mexico because he couldn't
find the person he was supposed to meet. But his
agent initially said that he was in Tijuana because he
was looking at property in Tijuana. So there are multiple
stories going around, none of which seemed to be correct.
(05:51):
But we don't know for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
But real estate and building homes for the homeless kind
of go together. Maybe those things are related, and somebody
who's got don't have all the details. That's possible.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But the confusing thing is though that he's saying he
didn't mean to go to Mexico. So despite some explanations
as to why he was in Tijuana, now we're hearing
him say he accidentally cross the.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Border because he was supposed to be meeting the guy
in charge of the project and helping build the homes,
and that was confusion about where they were supposed to meet.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Is the story got it? So where is this guy?
Because that could clear a lot of things off. I'm
just saying if we could hear from him, I would
feel better about this version of his story.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So, yeah, you get confused when you confuse about where
to meet somebody. Is it on this side of the
street or is on that side of the street.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You don't accidentally cross into Mexico, Okay, it's a process.
You don't just walk in to Mexico casually cross the border. Whoopsie,
there are border patrol agents. There are actual like aren't there.
Like it's kind of like even I think about an
easy pass station on steroids, Like I haven't crossed the
(07:07):
border actually driving into Mexico. I've crossed the border driving
into Canada, and I know that's a process as well,
So I can't speak to actually having ever driven into Mexico,
so I don't know what that actually is, but I
guarantee you you have to show your passport, you have
to actually talk to an agent, you have to probably
state why you're going. You. They don't just let you
(07:29):
drive in there. You can't accidentally go to Mexico.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
But those are Mexican officials checking your information, right, So
I'm saying an arrest warrant wouldn't have popped up only
on the way back.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Right, although I don't know, like who knows that. I'm
surprised that that didn't pop up. Then if there was
a if he missed a court appearance back in June
and he had an arrest warrant out for him, it
is interesting he was able to get into Mexico without
being flagged at that point, because that was the initial
story that he was apprehended trying to go to Mexico.
But it's been I guess now clarified that he actually
(08:03):
got apprehended coming back into the United States.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So the story, who knows what it is, But why
did he miss a court appearance having to do with
childs support in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Ropes got an explanation for that. So here's the problem. See,
the notice was sent to a PO box and not
to his actual physical home address he claimed that's from.
And then on top of that, he claims he had
COVID and he was really sick and that's why he
hadn't gone to check his pobox. Now, apparently he recovered
well enough to accidentally head to Mexico, but he didn't
(08:35):
swing by his PO box first to get that really
important court appearance notice saying he was wanted in court.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That, I mean, how my question how late? How far
past a court appearance or responding to the court before
they issue a war weren't for your arrest? If you
get a notice to come to court, it's not going
(09:06):
to be a notice that, hey, your court date is tomorrow,
it's going to be in two days, in two weeks,
could be next month.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You usually have ample time to plan around a court
date like that.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Okay, So is it possible he didn't check the PO
box for quite some time?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Is that he must have had what is it called
the long hauler syndrome of COVID, Because I've had COVID
twice that I know of. I was recovered within three
to four days.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Oh well, I am not going to it all make
any assumptions about the level of discomfort he had while
he had COVID. That thing is serious.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
He was able to physically make his way from Michigan
to Tijuana.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It was more important to get to the people, the
homeless who need homes. Okay in Tijuana.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't know, I mean, I don't know they did it?
Was it Endeavor? There was the name of an organization.
I actually thought now, so obviously this is verifiable. So
whatever he's saying, Oh, he's going to have to be
a name, verify it. Oh I didn't see that. Does
that make it different from him?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yes, it does. I didn't know that was official name.
I thought that was a guy's name. They said Rando
that he was trying to find. But that makes.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Perfect Esperanza programs. So this he's this is according to
his representative. She says that he accidentally crossed into Mexico
due to a mix up about where to meet his
partner for the Esperanza program, where he volunteered to build
homes for unhoused individuals. That is exactly what the name
(10:44):
of the organization is that they referenced Esperanza. I'm not
familiar with it.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Housing and benefits assistance in Philadelphia, Esperanza program. Yes, there's
a thing that does something with housing in Tijuana maybe
all over, Yes, for thirty years, the Esperanza program.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
All right, I cannot wait to hear from Esperanza.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I can what if he's listed in the leadership here
something he's not, But yes, it is exactly what it's
what they do. This is interesting. So is it possible
that he legitimately had something to do in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It's just there was a lot of mixed messaging going on,
so it's confusing to know what to believe and what
not to believe. So much so that the judge was like, yeah,
we're going to deny your bail. You're going to need
to be extradited back to Michigan, where then you can
actually go and appear in court for those missed child
support payments, which he says was an accident as well.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, but stay with us here when we come back.
We'll explain what his response to all that that. The
judge says, yeah, we'll tell you what his response was
and why his quote appearance was a bit bizarre and
a bit confusing even to the judge.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And continuing our coverage of a well a developing and
can even it's a story that just gets more and
more bizarre as the days go on. We're talking about
former Family Matters star dealing with some very tricky family
(12:28):
matters right now, and he needs to appear in family court.
In the meantime, though, he has been in a jail
on the border of Mexico and the United States after
he was arrested apparently now trying to cross back into
the country after accidentally going to Mexico. He claims to
help build homes for the homeless. Okay, so if you
(12:49):
think anything that we have said up until now is
strange and puzzling, just wait until you hear how his
bail hearing. His first hearing went yesterday in court where
he attempted to represent himself in this hearing. It didn't
go well.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
No, it was very confusing and he was at times
trying to At one point he cited a case, another
criminal case and trying to make a point about his
own rights being violated. It was you couldn't make sense
really of what he was saying. He was trying to
represent himself. He was also standing behind I guess kind
(13:26):
of in a glass holding cell, trying to talk to
the judge through the window, So that made it all
so awkward. But it was strange and what was this
I'm making a special appearance. That whole back and forth
with the judge as well. He kept repeating I'm making
special appearance. The judge said, what are you saying? Whose
special appearance? What are you? And back and forth to
(13:49):
where she was even trying to get him to say
his name on the record, and he wouldn't say it
because he didn't seem to understand. Not that he was
being hostile, he just didn't seem to understand what.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
It made me actually think he was going for an
insanity defense. I don't think that that's a defense for
not paying child support, but it actually felt like he
was setting up a mentally unstable sort of defense for himself,
because that's how bizarre it was. But specifically, I have
some of the quotes at the beginning of the hearing,
he addressed the judge saying, I'd like to say I'm
(14:21):
here on special appearance. The judge was very confused and
said especially appearing for whom. That was the response, and
then he repeated, I'm here on special appearance. The judge
repeated the question, sir, who are you specially appearing for.
He finally responds, specially appearing for Darius McCrary, I'm here.
(14:46):
I'm here. So it was just bizarre, and it just
kept going on and on to the point where the
judge finally said that you, Darius, are unable to understand
and appreciate the legalities of these proceedings. And that's when
she said, I'm going to assign you a court appointed
lawyer because you need help.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Again, he was trying to do some lawyering and was
making them a claim that his rights were being violated,
and particularly his rights as it comes to due process,
and he said that in court, but he starts signing
the fourth, the fifth, the fourteenth Amendment. He's throwing all
this out, and the judge only heard the voice. I
(15:28):
think it was a woman.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
It seemed like a woman.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yes, I mean she was patient there and indulged him
for a little bit, but she finally got to a
point and say, all right, we need to wrap this up.
Go get a lawyer. We're going to sign you one
right and try this again. I think he has another
court appearance and we can have I think the fourteenth
when did I.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
See, Well, Michigan has thirty days to kick him up
from this jail cell in San Diego to bring him
back to Michigan to face the charges he's facing there.
So yeah, this is just it. It was a strange
story that got stranger and it's look, who knows what's
going on in his life. Who knows what's going on
(16:07):
in his head, but certainly he needs legal help, but
it seemed like he needed even more help than that
after watching him.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
I hate to say, I don't know what's going on
in his personal life, but he certainly don't want to
didn't want to end up where he is. And for
a lot of us who grew up watching, loving, admiring,
looking up to gets like him, you just hate to
see it. But like anybody else, people have issues and
problems in life and try to do the best to
make them right.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It is one of those things where people go through
tough times, but usually not with the spectacle of cameras
and people trying to discern, you know, your lowest point
to know that everybody's watching and listening, and it's not
how you want to be remembered, and it's certainly not
how you want to have your name back in the headlines,
especially when you've been you know, the person he's been
and representing and a show that's been beloved, And it's
(16:56):
just tough when you see people fall on tough times
and have it all out there for everyone to voyeur listed,
voyeur list it. I can't talk today. Go ahead, I
give it one more shot, voyistically Is that right? Okay,
I'm going to just try to say this in another way.
(17:17):
It's just tough when you are now basically the headline
that no one wanted, and certainly not you, and you're
having to deal with that. So anyway, we will continue
to follow this see if there's any new updates, any
new light that could be shed on what possibly was
going on behind the scenes. But for now, thank you
so much for listening to us and just bearing with
(17:38):
me stumbling on that one word that I still am
not going to be able to say. I may be
rebok alongside DJ Holmes. Have a great day, everybody,
Hosts And Creators
Amy Robach
T.J. Holmes
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