In July of 2012, Thomas Murdock was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2011 death of his girlfriend, who died after being struck by Murdock’s vehicle as he backed it up so that Lisa Hardwick, the victim, could mow the lawn. While found not guilty on that…
As highly qualified Michigan criminal appeal attorneys, we are occasionally asked by defendants whether they can appeal a conviction based on the fact the defendant felt his or her defense lawyer was ineffective or incompetent. There are occasions on which a defendant may feel that had his or her attorney…
In 2010, Jimmie Allen Nelson was convicted of a murder which occurred some 30 years ago. Nelson was found guilty in the 1980 murder of Cherita Thomas, who was 20 years old at the time. Authorities believe Nelson killed Thomas, and then buried her body after picking her up in…
In December of 2012, former U of M student Jeffrey Pyne was convicted on charges of second degree murder in the death of his mentally ill mother. He was sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison. Now, Pyne’s appeal lawyer has filed an appeal of the defendant’s conviction, said…
In June of 2012, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed convictions on eight felony charges against Charles H. Arthur, who was convicted on numerous charges including robbery and murder stemming from incidents going back to 2002. In 2010, Arthur was convicted of carjacking, kidnapping, robbing, shooting, and extorting a man…
In the state of Michigan, there are some instances in which a defendant who loses at trial may overturn the lower court’s ruling by petitioning to a higher court. This is true of criminal cases as well; a conviction may be appealed, or the sentencing portion only when a judge…
Steven Stewart, a former Stanton resident, was sentenced to up to 50 years in prison in June of 2011 for planting an acid explosive which allegedly maimed his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. The attack occurred in September of 2008; the judge in the case, Montcalm County Circuit Judge Suzanne Hoseth Kreeger,…
In 2006, four people were convicted in an e-mail scandal in Clio after allegedly hacking into thousands of e-mails belonging to Clio schools Superintendent Fay Latture. The four individuals who allegedly accessed Latture’s e-mail account in 2005 without authorization include Diane Reed, Larry Emmerling, Rebecca Freifeld, and Julia Keyes. In…
Raogo Ouedraogo of Philadelphia was convicted by a jury on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and kidnapping resulting in death in the 2007 death of Donald Dietz of Saranac. Dietz disappeared in 2007, his body never found. Ouedraogo was sentenced to life in prison.…
On Monday September 9, 21-year-old Kesean Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery in an October 2012 incident in which he allegedly used a gun to rob a credit union in Jackson. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson on October 31,…