A Macomb County judge has stopped the Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) process from moving forward, ordering a completely independent expert evaluation before any plea can be accepted in the case of 23-year-old Endi Bala, the man accused of attempting to abduct two girls in August 2024.
According to court records from today’s hearing, Judge Matthew Sabaugh did not accept an NGRI plea. Instead, he issued a directive for an outside specialist — separate from the state’s Forensic Center — to conduct a new evaluation of Bala’s mental state. A full hearing on that independent report has now been scheduled for March 20, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
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This ruling effectively halts the path toward an immediate insanity commitment, pausing the 60-day forensic intake process that would have begun had the judge accepted the plea today.
The criminal case docket was administratively closed following the hearing, a procedural move that reflects the case shifting out of the traditional criminal track and into a court-ordered evaluation phase — not a release, resolution, or final acceptance of an insanity plea.
Wednesday’s action means the court is now seeking verification from its own expert before deciding whether Bala will be committed under Michigan’s strict NGRI statutes or whether the case will return to a standard criminal posture.
Prosecutors and the families involved will reconvene in March when the court reviews the independent findings and determines the next step forward.
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