Judge Orders Hearing in Sherrone Moore Case After Raising Questions About His Arrest Warrant Process

A judge has granted a hearing in the criminal case involving former Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore, creating a new legal fight over how investigators obtained the warrant that led to his arrest in December.

Washtenaw County Judge J. Cedric Simpson approved the request for an evidentiary hearing and set it for March 2 in Ann Arbor. The hearing will focus on whether key information was left out when police sought a warrant in the case, including the fact that the woman involved worked for Moore as his executive assistant.

Moore, 40, is facing charges of felony home invasion, stalking, and illegal entry after authorities said he entered the woman’s apartment without permission on Dec. 10, the same day Michigan fired him. Investigators allege Moore threatened to kill himself and blamed the woman for losing his job after she spoke with university officials.

At the center of the latest court ruling is the warrant application process. Simpson said he was concerned that a police detective did not tell the magistrate about the employer employee relationship between Moore and the woman before the arrest warrant was authorized. The judge called that omission significant and said it may have affected how the communications between Moore and the woman were interpreted.

“Defendant’s due process may have been violated,” Simpson said. “This was not solely this personal relationship. The magistrate should have been able to look at that.”

Moore’s attorney, Ellen Michaels, has been pushing to dismiss the case and argued in court that the omitted context matters because the communications could have had a legitimate work related purpose. Moore was still preparing his team for a bowl game at the time and, according to the defense, repeated calls and texts to an executive assistant should not automatically be treated as criminal conduct.

“It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose,” Michaels said.

Michaels also accused the woman’s personal attorney of shaping information provided to police in a way that would damage Moore and increase the likelihood of a civil payout tied to the university. She told the court the goal was to “villainize Mr. Moore and maximize the chances of obtaining a large settlement from the deep pockets of the University of Michigan.”

Prosecutors opposed the request for a hearing, arguing it was unnecessary and outside the judge’s discretion at this stage of the case. Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski challenged the defense effort, but Simpson allowed the hearing to proceed anyway. That decision is a procedural win for Moore even though it does not dismiss any charges.

The allegations stem from a turbulent week in December. The woman ended the personal relationship a few days before Moore was fired and did not answer multiple calls or respond to some text messages from him before his dismissal, according to police. Moore was then arrested shortly after Michigan removed him as head coach.

Moore had taken over as Michigan’s head coach after Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL and coached the Wolverines for two seasons. His departure ended a short but high profile tenure that came after the program’s national title run and a period of heavy scrutiny around the football operation. Michigan has since hired Kyle Whittingham as its new coach.

The March 2 hearing will not decide guilt or innocence, but it could become a major turning point. If the judge determines investigators omitted material facts when seeking the warrant, the defense could gain momentum in its effort to suppress evidence or seek dismissal. If the court finds no violation, the criminal case will continue on its current track.

For now, the immediate development is clear: the judge wants the warrant process examined in open court, and Moore’s legal team will get the chance to question police and other witnesses about what was presented and what was left out.

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