Last month, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a jury should decide if two Sturgis police officers, Damon Knapp and Mark Stoneburner, used excessive force against a young man and his mother when entering their home following an alleged shoplifting incident without a warrant. Charles Smith, 20,…
In March of 2006, Ronald Wenman was convicted of felony murder in a case involving Walgreens clerk Patti Jo Morris. Wenman allegedly slashed Morris’ throat while holding up the Walgreens pharmacy in August of 2005. Wenman was sentenced to life in prison, and has had his appeals for relief denied…
In October of 2011 Dallas A. McDade Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder after allegedly shooting and killing 38-year-old Eric Lamont Jenkins in July of 2010, when McDade was just 17 years old. He was sentenced to mandatory life without parole. On Friday June 28, the Michigan Court of Appeals…
In January of 2012, Richard Frank Thomas was convicted of the murder of Elijah Todd Butler, a crime that took place in October of 1971. Butler was a Marine who had married Geraldine Butler just four days earlier. According to a news article at Mlive.com, the man’s dying words, “Gerry,…
On Tuesday June 18, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a decision in a case involving a 25-year-old Bay City man convicted for sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl. David B. Burns’ conviction was overturned in a unanimous 7-0 decision, the justices agreeing with a ruling made by the Michigan Court…
In January of 2012, Donald Martin Zuder was convicted on a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a weapon used in connection with an incident at his home that allegedly occurred with a female acquaintance in 2006. Zuder, who is now 79 years old, will serve out his sentence…
In April of 2008, Miguel and David Vidana allegedly raped a 20-year-old woman at the York Creek Apartment Complex. Both men were convicted of rape in 2011 and sentenced in separate trials to 23 to 45 years in prison by Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Buth. Now, both men…
In a case that is somewhat bizarre, a man believed he was legally married to his wife, and that therefore he had the right to have sexual relations with her regardless of whether it was consensual. Calvin Ford Martz was convicted on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, unlawful imprisonment,…
The convictions of Bryce Sherwood and Michael Heshelman, two men convicted in a $7 million Ponzi scheme in 2009, have been reversed by a federal appeals court after it was determined that the defendants’ “speedy trial” rights were violated when prosecutors took too long to bring the cases to trial.…
In June of 1997, Marvin Gabrion allegedly abducted and killed Rachel Timmerman and her infant daughter, Shannon Verhage. Gabrion is alleged to have killed three others as well. In 2002, he was convicted of the murders in federal court and sentenced to death. Capital punishment was abolished in the state…