Recently, Jesse Anthony Collins’ conviction for delivering 50 to 450 grams of heroin was vacated by the Michigan Court of Appeals, who stated that by allowing the prosecutor to aggregate several small deliveries of heroin (28 grams or less) into one drug crime, the trial court had erred. Collins’ case…
Robert Schwander, son of a Grand Traverse County sheriff’s department deputy, was sentenced to 40 to 70 years in prison by Circuit Judge Thomas Power after being convicted on a charge of second-degree murder. Now, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ordered Power to provide an explanation as to why…
In August of 2011, Junior Lee Beebe Jr. was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, 36-year-old Tonya Howarth, and 30-year-old Amy Henslee, Beebe’s cousin’s wife. He was convicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Howarth, and one count of second-degree murder in the death of Henslee. Now,…
Alfred Harris Jr., a former Spaulding Township man who is now 42 years old, was convicted on 14 counts including three counts of second-degree CSC and eleven counts of first-degree CSC by a jury in August of 2011. Harris was sentenced to 18 years plus in prison. Harris appealed his…
In 1993, Lativia Johnson, who was 8 years old at the time, was shot while getting a glass of milk in her kitchen. The killer remained a mystery until 2011, when Robert Lee Gaines II and Bobby Brown were arrested for the killing. Bobby Brown told police that he had…
On Friday January 11, the Michigan Court of Appeals threw out David Allan’s extortion conviction after it was determined that during Allan’s 2011 trial, the jury was not properly sworn in. According to The Detroit News, Allan’s attorney challenged the conviction for conspiring with his daughter to commit extortion, because…
In February of 2011, 18-year-old Jonathan Dargis died after being stabbed multiple times and struck in the head with a shovel in a wooded area behind his mother’s home in Zeeland Township. Joshua Hambley was charged with first-degree murder in the killing, and sentenced to life in prison without the…
In 2011, three men were convicted on charges of murder in a 2002 drive-by murder in Adrian. The Michigan Court of Appeals has implemented orders that the defendants, Paul and Peter Daniel, 46, and Leonard Dee McGlown, also 46, may bring motions for a new trial following an appeal hearing…
Isaac Decrais Harris was convicted in 2005 by a jury on firearms and armed robbery charges. He recently sought to appeal the conviction, which he is serving a 14 to 30 year prison term for. Harris denied that he was the individual who robbed a Clark gasoline station in Adrian.…
There are countless instances in which criminal defendants in Michigan have been convicted of a crime when in fact they are innocent. In many cases, even someone who is guilty has been penalized far more harshly than necessary. This means that not only does the defendant suffer, his or her…