Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog

June 22, 2020

Michigan Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case Involving Statements Made Without a Lawyer Present

Original Case Details

This case arises from a 2016 incident where the Defendant, Laricca Mathews of Wixom, called 911 to report the shooting of her boyfriend, Gabriel Dumas. Mathews was arrested for his murder and taken in for questioning without an attorney present. Before the interrogation began, the police gave Mathews a document that informed her of her constitutional rights. Mathews was interviewed twice and was told that she had a “right to a lawyer.” The police failed to mention specifically that she could have a lawyer present during police questioning, so Mathews spoke to the police without a lawyer present in both interviews. During the first interview, Mathews claimed that she shot her boyfriend Dumas in self-defense. In the second interview she claimed that the shooting took place face to face. Police confronted her statements by telling Mathews that Dumas was shot in the back of the head. Mathews responded by saying that the bullet may have ricocheted before hitting Dumas. Mathews was charged with murder and later filed a motion to suppress the statements made as they were in violation of her right to have a lawyer present during both interviews conducted by the police. Both the Oakland County Circuit Court and The Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Mathews, agreeing that the police violated her Constitutional right to an attorney.

The Fifth and Sixth Amendment

June 19, 2020

Three People Charged in Scheme to Defraud Veterans Program

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

An alleged fraud scheme between three people has led to criminal charges for the theft of nearly $500,000 from both a federal veteran’s program and from the state of Michigan itself. It is alleged that over the course of six years, these individuals created fake names and either obtained or created fake documents, such as birth certificates, to make it look like they were to inherit money from various people who had died. It is alleged that the individuals stole more than $40,000 from the Michigan Department of Treasury and nearly $450,000 from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The defendants have been arraigned on their charges in the 18th District Court in Wayne County.

Criminal Charges Involved

June 18, 2020

Southfield Police Officer Accused of Causing Miscarriage by Using Taser on Pregnant Woman

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A Southfield Woman, Crystal White, was confronted by police when a concerned relative of White had called the Southfield Police Department due to White allegedly acting aggressively while holding a knife. White was attempting to take her daughter, who is six years old, even though her parental rights had been terminated previously. White was 12-weeks pregnant at the time of the incident. The relative who called the police informed them that White suffers from multiple mental illnesses. White did not have a knife in her possession when the police arrived, but apparently did not listen to directions from the police about advancing on them. White’s version of events differs from the police, as she claims that an officer lunged forward to punch her in the face, while another officer pulled his taser and hit her in the stomach. White was tasered two times during the struggle, once in the arm and once in the leg. She was taken into custody after the taser was deployed. About six weeks after the taser was used on White, she miscarried, losing her unborn child. White also suffered cuts and bruises, along with broken and damaged teeth from the incident. White’s lawsuit alleges that she would have been treated differently if she were not black and lived in an affluent area.

George Floyd Fallout

June 15, 2020

Appeals Court to Hear Case of Man Convicted of Shooting at Black Teenager Asking for Directions

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A Rochester Hills man was convicted in 2018 of assault to do great bodily harm less than murder and possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony. The white male was accused of shooting a gun at a black teenager who had come to his door asking directions after he got lost on his way to school. The victim was 14 years old and was luckily not hit by the bullet the man fired. The man testified at trial in his own defense, stating that he and his wife both mistakenly believed the victim to be an adult intruder. In actuality, the victim had missed his bus to school and got lost while trying to walk to school, leading to the victim going to the defendant’s front door to ask for directions. The defendant claimed he went outside holding his gun intending to fire a warning shot but slipped on a wet spot on his porch causing the gun to discharge. A home surveillance video showed who appeared to be the defendant aiming a gun in the direction of the victim and firing as he ran from the porch. When the man was sentenced in November of 2018, the victim’s mother told the judge that she believed that the shooting was racially motivated. The man had a previous conviction for firing a gun in a road rage incident. He was ultimately sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison, a conviction and sentence which he is appealing.

Current Status of the Case

June 12, 2020

Upper Peninsula Man Charged with 125 Wildlife Crimes

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A 56-year man from Pickford in the upper peninsula has been charged with 125 wildlife crimes after investigators uncovered that the man had both harvested and killed endangered and protected species of animals. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced the charges after an investigation done by their Law Enforcement Division. The man is accused of illegally harvesting as many as 18 wolves. Wolves are on the federal endangered species list and are also protected under Michigan state law. The man is also accused of killing and dumping three American bald eagles. Bald eagles are protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act as well as state law. He is also accused of illegal conduct involving deer, turkeys, bears, and bobcats. It appears that there are other suspects with similar conduct that will be charged in the near future as well. Since the animals that he allegedly harvested and killed are also protected under federal law, the man may also face federal charges which would be a separate proceeding from the state cases.

Criminal Charges Involved

June 11, 2020

Officer Charged with Murder in Minneapolis

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

A video surfaced during the last week of May which showed a Minneapolis police officer restraining a man by kneeling on his neck until he lost consciousness and eventually died. Three other officers stood by and prevented anyone else from intervening to try to save the man. The man, George Floyd, is now someone known worldwide and has become the latest victim of unchecked police brutality. Floyd was pinned down for nearly nine minutes, as he called for help and repeatedly told the officer that he couldn’t breathe. The video shows Floyd pinned after he lost consciousness for almost three minutes. The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with third degree murder as well as a manslaughter charge. The other three officers as of this writing still have not been arrested or charged with anything. This incident as well as how it has been handled has sparked worldwide protests and outrage. A search into police records has shown that Minneapolis police officers have used neck restraints on 428 people since 2012, with at least 58 of those people losing consciousness due to the neck restraint. About two thirds of the people put into neck restraints were black, a stark number considering the black population in Minneapolis is less than 20% of the city’s population.

Nationwide Protests

June 10, 2020

Breathalyzer Technicians Charged with Felonies for Faking Records

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

Earlier this year, the Michigan State Police suspended its contract with vendor Intoximeters who issues and calibrates their Datamaster machines. A Datamaster is the breath test you take at the police station if you have been arrested on an alcohol-related offense. The Michigan State Police suspended its contract with Intoximeters due to discrepancies in their maintenance records. This resulted in all 203 statewide Datamasters to be pulled from use to be checked and re-calibrated before going back into use. Upon further investigation, Attorney General Dana Nessel has charged two technicians that work with Intoximeters with felonies for their roles in faking repairs and diagnostic testing on the state’s Datamasters. The technicians, who are both in their 50s, are Andrew Clark of Oxford, and David John of Kalamazoo. Clark faces six felony charges while John faces nine felony charges for allegedly creating fake documents made to show that certain testing and repairs were done to the Datamasters when they actually were not serviced. There are two specific Datamasters in question; one at the Beverly Hills Police Department in Oakland County, and the other at the County Sheriff’s Office in Alpena.

Community Fallout

June 9, 2020

Michigan Woman Convicted of Killing Husband in House Fire Seeks New Trial

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

Linda Stermer, 55, of Van Buren County has spent eight years in prison after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her husband in a house fire. She has spent the past 18 months outside of prison however, after successfully appealing her conviction and getting a new trial granted by a federal District Court judge.

Stermer was found guilty of setting a house fire with her husband inside and hitting him with a van after he escaped the burning house. The prosecution said that she intentionally ran him over while the defense contended that it was accidental as it happened as she was trying to drive to a neighbor for help. She was convicted of felony murder and arson in 2010. It took the prosecution two years to charge Stermer after the death of her husband.

June 8, 2020

Former Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Indicted with Extortion

by Grabel & Associates

Original Case Details

The fallout from alleged corruption in Macomb County continues. Former Macomb County public works commissioner Anthony Marrocco is the latest in a line of officials to be criminally charged for actions while in office. He’s accused of making lavish expenditures on himself using illegal money obtained in an extensive extortion scheme. The alleged scheme involves Marrocco directing his operations manager Dino Bucci and others inside Marrocco’s office to pressure local builders and contractors to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars in tickets to Marrocco political fundraisers. He allegedly kept lists of who bought tickets and who didn’t and would punish those who didn’t by making it difficult for them to obtain permits, payments, and even refusing to award Macomb County work contracts altogether. Bucci has already pled guilty for his role as a “bag man” in what is described as a pay-to-play mafia-type scheme.

Criminal Charges & Allegations

June 5, 2020

Wayne County Circuit Court Trials to Resume in July

by Grabel & Associates

Pandemic Closures

Back on March 11, 2020, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack issued a memo recommending adjournments to all state trial courts. This recommendation to adjourn was later extended to recommend delaying all jury trials until at least June 22, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many courts have closed to the general public, and are only partially open for specific reasons, usually requiring an appointment. Certain services such as court marriage ceremonies have remained suspended throughout the pandemic, while other services such as the city assessor require an appointment to access and file real estate paperwork. The Michigan Supreme Court has already resumed activity, participating in some of the first oral arguments via Zoom with attorneys for a handful of cases. There appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel as the two busiest courts in the city of Detroit appear to be on the path towards reopening.

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