Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog

April 7, 2020

UAW Offers Direct Meeting With FBI Amid Corruption Scandal

United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble has offered a direct meeting with federal investigators who are currently in the midst of an investigation of union corruption. This offer comes in response to outspoken criticism from federal prosecutors. The UAW is trying to avoid the government from coming in and taking control of the Union itself due to corruption. The UAW has hired a New York law firm to attempt to police themselves and try to root out whatever corruption exists within the union. The statement from the union described the law firm’s function as “technical assistance with our ethics and compliance reform efforts.”

Original Case Details

The FBI has been investigating possible ties between the UAW president and one of the union’s vendors, with bribery being the main implication. The UAW looks as if they are now intending to cooperate in order to avoid a complete government takeover. The UAW has stated its intention to cooperate by producing any documents and records that investigators ask for and bringing in any witnesses the government wants to speak to. A possible measure that the UAW is proposing to help root out any existing corruption is to allow union members to directly elect union leaders. Multiple UAW and Fiat Chrysler officials have been indicted so far in this wide-reaching probe. A number of these officials who have been charged have agreed to cooperate with the federal government.

April 6, 2020

State Representative Testimony In Doubt

by Grabel & Associates

Michigan State Rep. Larry Inman was tried on 3 different counts in federal court this past December. He was accused of lying to the FBI, extortion, and bribery. The jury acquitted Inman of lying to the FBI, but they were deadlocked on the other two charges and did not come to a decision which led to a mistrial on those charges. Hung juries are incredibly rare, but that is exactly what happened on the extortion and bribery counts for this case. The judge in this case said that in 12 years on the federal bench, he had only presided over one other hung jury.

Inman testified on his own behalf and U.S. Attorneys now claim that two other state representatives now contradict Inman’s testimony, which they believe entitles them to a new trial. Typically, a hung jury results in a mistrial and the case will then be retried in the future. But since the jury acquitted him on one count, there are some concerns whether a new trial would violate double jeopardy. Prosecutors believe they can retry Inman on the remaining charges with any new evidence they obtain. The judge in this case has also expressed a concern that punishing Inman would basically criminalize political fundraising and collecting campaign contributions.

Original Case Details

April 3, 2020

Repeat Embezzler Gets Case Adjourned

by Grabel & Associates

A woman facing embezzlement charges has just gotten another adjournment much to the judge’s chagrin. The judge asked, “what are we doing with this case? This is the ninth adjournment in this case.” While the judge holds the ultimate authority over giving adjournments, there is an interest in working towards a resolution if it is possible. The defense attorney stated that this adjournment was to finalize plea negotiations. Sometimes an adjournment is exactly what is needed, just a little more time. If both the prosecutor and defense attorney are in agreement in asking for an adjournment, it is rarely denied.

Original Case Details

The woman, 64, is accused of embezzling over $20,000 from the Eastpointe chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows. She was hired as secretary to the club back in June 2018. She has been accused of stealing the money over a period of time. Investigators believe that she would write duplicate checks to herself, listing things like “vacation” and “hotel reservation” on the memo lines. Additional, out of numerical order checks were also made out to her totaling over $12,000. This woman’s rap sheet goes back to 1990 where she had her first conviction for a false identification in the use of a financial transaction device. She has been convicted of embezzlement previously in 2015 and in 2008 where she embezzled more than $35,000 between both cases. In 2003, she was convicted of theft for stealing over $20,000.

April 3, 2020

Zoom Hearings: A Danger to the Michigan Legal System?”

by Grabel & Associates

In the wake of COVID-19, many Michigan courts have utilized Zoom as a mechanism to online hearings. At first, this was thought to be a way to handle massive court dockets while preserving a defendant’s constitutional rights. A recent article on NPR has caused great concern in the legal community. Today, we are going to discuss how this technology could harm the Michigan criminal justice system. Let’s first review what Zoom is how it works.

Zoom Video Communications is an American remote conferencing services company headquartered in San Jose, California. The company was founded in 2013 provides a remote conferencing service that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. As of 2020, Zoom is said to have over 1,000,000 users as of 2019, but with the Coronavirus, things changed dramatically.

The COVID-19 Epidemic

April 3, 2020

Criminal Defense Lawyers Raise Civil Rights Concerns with Online Proceedings

by Grabel & Associates

One issue that is gaining traction in the Michigan criminal justice system is the concerns of criminal defense attorneys having a defendant’s constitutional rights violated. The matter has been raised amid COVID-19, and our courts move to many online hearings. To gain insight into this issue, we spoke to several of the top criminal defense lawyers in our state.

Scott Grabel is the founder of Grabel and Associates, which is known as the top criminal defense firm in the state of Michigan. When asked about the concerns of online proceedings, Grabel stated, “There is a lot of constitutional rights being bent right now. There are major limitations to what can be accomplished online and what cannot. There is an outcry from public defenders in New York with in-custody clients, and that has spread directly into our circuit courts. We are definitely in a wait and see the pattern.”

William Amadeo is a partner at McManus and Amadeo in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a Senior Associate for Grabel and Associates. Amadeo is known as the top criminal defense lawyer in Washtenaw County and provided commentary on the subject. Amadeo said, “This is a nightmare for all involved. The defendant may be compromised, and when we are back to business, as usual, we will be busier than ever before. There are severe limitations to what can be accomplished virtually. We certainly cannot do jury trials or preliminary exams this way. We need to work as a team to develop outside of the box solutions. Our court clerks and staff need to be treated with more respect than ever before; they will be the ones to the right the ship when the dust clears.”

April 1, 2020

Man Convicted In Murder For Hire Case To Get Review

by Grabel & Associates

The Michigan Supreme Court made a directive to the state Court of Appeals review the conviction of a man in a murder-for-hire case. This man was convicted despite another man confessing to the killing as a hit man. The 40-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder back in 2005. This decision comes on the heels of a 2018 evidentiary hearing where the person purporting to be the true killer gave recorded testimony that he committed the murder, not the man who was convicted.

Original Case Details

Thelonious Searcy was convicted for the 2004 murder of Jamal Segers back in 2005. Vincent Smothers, who is in prison after confessing to eight different murders, came forward in multiple affidavits that he killed Segers. During an evidentiary hearing in 2018, Smothers made this same confession in court. Smothers testified that the killing happened close to Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport in Detroit. Smothers intended to go to what was called the “Black Party,” which was a fundraiser for the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. This fundraiser was being held inside the airport. Smothers said that the party was attended by multiple drug dealers. On the way to the fundraiser, Smothers saw Segers in congested traffic and decided that was his opportunity to rob him. He parked his car at a gas station and Smothers, along with another man walked towards Segers’ car and shot up the back of the car, killing Segers and another man inside the car. While Smothers and his partner tried to escape, an unmarked police car pulled up. A subsequent crash and shootout happened. But Smothers and his partner escaped from the police on that day.

March 31, 2020

Macomb County Prosecutor Arraigned On Corruption Charges

by Grabel & Associates

Current Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith has been charged with 10 separate criminal corruption offenses relating to the alleged misuse of money forfeited to Macomb County. This money comes from the forfeiture of funds and property of criminal defendants, most typically people accused of drug trafficking. He is charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, five separate counts of embezzlement by a public official, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit forgery, accessory to a crime after the fact, and public office misconduct. There are three other defendants in this case for their alleged acts that contributed to these crimes.

Original Case Details

The main thing at issue here is what Smith did with forfeiture funds that are seized by the police. Forfeiture funds are supposed to be spent on county police departments and the county’s sheriff department. Michigan State Police raided Smith’s office and home in an effort to uncover his alleged misuse of these funds. Investigators estimate that Smith embezzled approximately $600,000 since 2012 relating to the forfeiture funds. This money was allegedly spent on things such as television service to AT&T and DIRECTV to the tune of almost $30,000, retirement and Christmas parties, and nearly $100,000 in credit card charges that were reimbursed for various activities and expenses. Smith’s secretary appears on over 100 checks, where allegedly she would use her own credit card for purchases and Smith would reimburse her with checks that are paid out from forfeiture money. These forfeiture funds are controversial in nature, because they don’t require a conviction for the police to keep the money and property seized. Opponents of forfeiture funds see these accounts as slush funds for police to use how they please. Forfeiture funds are only supposed to be used in a way that enhances public safety and security, not for personal enrichment.

March 30, 2020

United States Supreme Court Rules To Allow States To Bar Insanity Defense

by Grabel & Associates

The United States Supreme Court has recently ruled to limit the rights of people accused of crimes. The Supreme Court declared that states can bar defendants from using the “insanity defense” in criminal cases. This ruling basically allows states to determine what they will allow for defenses in that area. The case at hand is a Kansas murder case where the defendant was convicted and is sentenced to death for killing four members of his family. The man used a rifle to kill his wife, two teenage daughters and his wife’s grandmother. He did not kill his son, who was nine years old at the time of the murders back in 2009. The crimes were committed just after Thanksgiving where the man had lost his job and his wife had filed for divorce.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the state of Kansas did not violate the United States Constitution by eliminating the insanity defense in that state. In Kansas, defendants cannot make the argument that they were insane and not able to form any moral judgement in an effort to excuse them from any criminal responsibility. Kansas law, however, allows defendants to make an argument saying that they did not form the necessary intent to commit the crime due to a mental defect. The state of Kansas, along with Utah, Montana, and Idaho have all removed the traditional insanity defense.

The Law In Michigan

March 27, 2020

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith’s PR Bond Causes Anger in Legal Community

by Grabel & Associates

Eric Smith, the Macomb County Prosecutor, charged with embezzlement, was given a Personal Recognizance (PR) Bond at his arraignment today. Smith and his former chief of operations were given $100,000 personal bonds on numerous criminal charges related to the alleged embezzlement of $600,000 from drug and alcohol forfeiture funds since 2012. The question of whether or not this was fair has led to debate. To gain insight into this issue, we spoke to several leaders of our criminal justice community.

Scott Grabel is the founder of Grabel and Associates and has built a criminal defense firm that is known as the top team in the state of Michigan. When asked about Eric Smith’s case and the bond, Grable stated, “A PR Bond is placing the defendant on the honor code. If the defendant comes to court and fulfills their obligations, they do not have to go into their pocket. As for Eric Smith, he was never the easiest to deal with. The fact that he may have tampered with forfeiture funds is of great concern to the integrity of our just criminal community.”

William Amadeo is a Partner at McManus and Amadeo in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a Senior Associate for Grabel and Associates. Amadeo did work in Macomb County and was reached for comment on the issue. In response, Amadeo said, “Listen, I understand the outrage. Eric Smith is not one of my favorite people, but with that stated, in the wake of COVID-19, jails do not want to detain defendants. This is a time when the jails are living in a state of fear. If a PR has ever been appropriate across the board, it is now as we are living with the Coronavirus.”

March 27, 2020

COVID-19 Reported at Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility

by Grabel & Associates

The Detroit Free Press has reported Michigan the first coronavirus case at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. This brings the number of state prisoners to 24 along with seven Michigan Department of Corrections employees that have tested positive for the disease. What this means to the future of criminal justice in our state is up for debate. To gain insight into the matter, we spoke to three of the top criminal lawyers in our state.

Scott Grabel is the founder of Grabel and Associates and has built a firm that is known as the top criminal defense team in the state of Michigan. Grabel provided commentary when he said, “The biggest concern is that we don’t know where the end will be. Michigan Senator Erika Geiss told the press that Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility had failed women, and the coronavirus intersects with underlying issues. The biggest issue is that inmates cannot stay 6 feet apart from one another. This is a crisis that is growing worse by the day. The criminal justice community needs to come together right now.”

William Amadeo is a partner at McManus and Amadeo in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a Senior Associate for Grabel and Associates in Lansing, Michigan. Amadeo is known as the top criminal defense lawyer in Washtenaw County and provided commentary when he said, “Resolutions, am I the only one that sees the need for this right now? I have been in touch with 18 prosecutors today to try and resolve matters. Four of them answered, and most are in a wait and see mode. I have absolutely no issue going to trial, but this is a time when we need to look outside of the box. I’ll leave the ball in the prosecutor’s court right now.”