Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog

July 7, 2020

Michigan Supreme Court Rules Defendants Can Reject Remote Testimony

Original Case Details

A man convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct won a legal victory on a constitutional issue in the Michigan Supreme Court recently. The issue decided by the Michigan Supreme Court was whether a defendant in a criminal case has the ability to decide whether remote testimony can be allowed in a trial. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 6-0 in favor of the man, stating that the remote testimony in his case violated the confrontation clause of both the United States and Michigan Constitutions. This is a blow to prosecutors, who were looking to have remote testimony become more of the norm due to costs and convenience. The Court made it clear that the right to confront accusers in person and the ability to decide to waive that right rested only with defendants, not prosecutors. If an accused agrees that remote testimony can be given against him in a case, then and only then, will it be allowed. The obvious fear from defendants and their attorneys is that when testimony is given remotely, it does not always accurately represent what a witness’s testimony really looks like. A jury in this situation is not given the opportunity to use their abilities to read body language, but most importantly, it flies in the face of what the Sixth Amendment intended, the right to be able to confront your accusers in court, and question them in a public forum. The case will now go back to a lower court who will view the video testimony that was given in the man’s case to determine if a different result would have occurred had the testimony been in person.

The Confrontation Clause

July 6, 2020

Michigan Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case of Man Who Killed Bicyclists

by Scott Grabel

Original Case Details

54-year-old Charles Pickett was convicted back in 2018 of 14 criminal charges in the death of five bicyclists in Kalamazoo County. Pickett’s convictions included five counts of murder in the second degree, five counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, as well as four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. Investigators say that Pickett took various drugs and proceeded to drive his pickup truck into a group of cyclists. Pickett killed five bicyclists and injured four others from a bicycling group known as the “Chain Gang.” Toxicology results showed Pickett to have been under the influence of methamphetamine, muscle relaxers, and pain medication at the time of the accident. In June of 2018, Pickett was sentenced to 40 to 75 years in prison by Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Bridenstine. Pickett won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 90 years old.

The Appeal

July 2, 2020

Man Faces Terrorism Charges for Threat Against Hamtramck Judge

by Scott Grabel

Original Case Details

A man from Hamtramck stands charged with four different felonies for his alleged threats against a Hamtramck Judge who was presiding over the man’s case. The man is alleged to have made death threats through text messages toward Hamtramck District Court Judge Alexis Krot. The text messages were allegedly sent to a third party and not the judge directly. Judge Krot was presiding over an assault case where the man is the defendant. When officers went to apprehend the man, he allegedly fled and committed numerous traffic violations in escaping arrest. Hamtramck Police arrested the man without incident later that day.

Criminal Charges and Potential Penalties

June 30, 2020

Metro Detroit Doctors Charged in Massive Opioid Scheme

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

Prescription drugs that carry a street value of more than $40 million were illegally prescribed by Metro Detroit doctors according to federal prosecutors. Federal agents recently raided nearly two dozen locations that are alleged to be part of a massive scheme to sell almost 2 million prescription pain pills that involved 19 people. The United States Attorney’s Office unsealed a 44-count indictment that charges the individuals with conspiracy to illegally distribute prescription drugs. Those charged include doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, as well as patient recruiters who brought in fake patients to help further the conspiracy. It is alleged that this conspiracy began in September of 2017 where medical professionals wrote prescriptions for fake patients, which has since resulted in nearly 2 million prescription pain pills hitting the black market on the street. It is alleged that some of the pharmacists billed private insurance companies and also billed public insurers such as Medicare and Medicaid in filling these fraudulent prescriptions.

Criminal Charges Involved

June 29, 2020

Ingham County Prosecutors May Require a Review of Body Cam Footage Before Authorizing Resisting Arrest Charges

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

The Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office is facing scrutiny for their policy not requiring assistant prosecutors to watch body camera footage before authorizing criminal charges against people. This issue has come into focus after the Prosecutor’s Office dismissed two counts of resisting arrest that it charged without watching the body camera footage from the East Lansing Police Department of the incident. Prosecutors realized that they made this mistake when the Defendant, Anthony Loggins had filed an excessive force complaint against the arresting officers. This resulted in Loggins being criminally charged with two counts of resisting arrest at the same time he had filed his complaint with the East Lansing Police Department. This caused prosecutors to actually watch the footage of the incident, leading to the dismissal of the charges as well as a promised change in practices and policies by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s office in how they authorize criminal charges in the first place. It is important to note that Loggins was initially pulled over in East Lansing for his failure to use a turn signal and was eventually arrested for driving while license suspended. Before he was arrested, he was ripped out of his vehicle and slammed on the ground. Incredibly, the police officer involved, Andrew Stephenson, knelt on Loggins neck after he was handcuffed. Luckily for everybody involved, Loggins didn’t die from this incident.

Potential Policies Discussed

June 26, 2020

MDOC Probation Officer Files Lawsuit Against Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office Following Dismissal of Perjury Charges

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) probation officer was charged with three felony counts of perjury accusing the officer of lying during a child custody hearing. Disgraced and jailed former Livingston County Judge Theresa Brennan presided over the matter and she took over the questioning of the probation officer during the hearing. The probation officer was not allowed to finish her questions under the fire of Brennan’s questioning, which ultimately led to the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office filing perjury charges against the probation officer for alleged lies during the hearing. The case was bound over for trial by Ingham County District Court Judge Donald Allen, when he found probable cause that a crime was committed by the probation agent. Genesee County Circuity Court Judge Richard Yuille later ruled that Judge Allen abused his discretion in finding probable cause against the probation officer for the crimes of perjury, and ultimately dismissed all the charges. Judge Yuille ruled that the probation officer’s statements were literally true and found that no perjury existed. The officer was suspended for a period of two years while this case was pending, leading to lost wages, as well as a tarnished reputation.

Lawsuit Claims

June 25, 2020

Plan for Statewide Police Misconduct Database Meets Opposition

by Grabel & Associates

The Desire for More Transparent Policing

A Michigan state representative out of Detroit to looking to pass legislation that creates and implements a centralized database of Michigan police officers who have been faced discipline as an officer. This database looks to make officers accountable for their actions and will also prevent police from being able to hide their disciplinary records while seeking employment in other police departments. Critics that support the status quo believe that more laws governing the police actually require additional funding and staff to enforce existing laws that are already in place. Critics also believe that a new database would be difficult to maintain because of the wide-ranging disciplinary issues that would exist on the database, from minor ones to more serious ones.

The representative seeking to create the database, Tyrone Carter, is a veteran of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office who served 25 years as an officer and retired in 2008. He is looking to gain bipartisan support for his proposal to have more accountability within police departments as well as statewide. He notes that he has been through not only the police academy, but also FBI training, and that officers are not trained to act in the way the officers did in the George Floyd murder. Carter does not believe that officers need more training, he believes that officers simply need to be held accountable for their actions.

June 25, 2020

Southfield City Clerk to Face Trial from Felony Charges for Election Fraud

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A city clerk who served the city of Southfield faces felony charges for allegedly altering voter file records during the 2018 elections. The clerk, Sherikia Hawkins is accused of altering 193 voter records that were under her control as a city clerk. The Oakland County Clerk’s Office noticed the irregularities during the 14-day canvass period that followed the 2018 election. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has stressed that all the votes that were made were actually counted, and that Hawkins’ alleged activity did not affect the outcome of the election in any way. When an absentee ballot makes it to the clerk’s office, it is supposed to be logged into the qualified voter file. The clerk is then supposed to check to make sure the entries made are valid and correct. Oakland County Elections Director Joseph Rozell noticed that ballot summary sheets were blank and contacted Hawkins to ask why. After speaking with her, it was his belief that Hawkins switched the original reports with altered reports. Records allegedly indicate that Hawkins’ username and computer were the source of the alterations to the records. Hawkins is the first African American to be elected as Southfield city clerk.

Criminal Charges Involved

June 24, 2020

Roadside Drug Testing Expands to the Rest of the State

by Grabel & Associates

Original Pilot Program

The State of Michigan launched the now-famous roadside drug testing pilot program back in 2017. The roadside drug testing program started out only in 5 counties; Berrien, Delta, Kent, St. Clair, and Washtenaw County. The program started with 31 “Drug Recognition Experts” who were assigned throughout the 12 police agencies between these 5 counties. A Drug Recognition Expert is an officer who has completed 72 hours of classroom study, along with 40 hours of field study before they are certified as “experts” by their respective police departments. These “experts” are not to be confused with expert witnesses, as the designation as a Drug Recognition Expert comes from police agencies and not a court. These Drug Recognition Experts were each given a saliva drug testing device to use if they suspect driving under the influence of drugs. If there was a saliva test that tested positive for the presence of drugs, then that sample would be sent to state lab for confirmation.

Current Changes

June 23, 2020

Newport Man Jailed on Ethnic Intimidation and Assault Charges

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

Lee James Mouat Jr., a resident of the city of Newport in Monroe County, MI is accused of ethnic intimidation and assault charges for allegedly striking a black male in the face with a bicycle chain along with hurling a racial slur at the man. Mouat Jr. is 42 years old and the alleged victim is 18 years old. The attack is being viewed as racially motivated and as such, Mouat Jr. remains in custody pending his next court date. His bond is currently set at $100,000 cash or surety. It is alleged that two groups of people were swimming in the water at the beach at Sterling State Park. One group of people was all white, while the other group was all black. While the groups were leaving the water, they began to exchange insults. As the intensity grew in this situation, Mouat Jr. is alleged to have gone to his car and grabbed a bike lock. He then approached the victim, called him the “N” word, and hit him in the face with the lock. Once that happened, an all-out fight occurred between multiple people. The victim sustained serious injuries that were luckily not life threatening.

Criminal Charges Involved