Case Results

The defendant was charged with Negligent Homicide after his boat crashed into another boat killing someone seated in its bow. The jury found the defendant not guilty.

Defendant’s blood alcohol level was far in excess of the legal limit. A jury acquitted the defendant based on contradictions in the description of the defendant’s alleged poor driving given by two police officers which were exposed during cross examination at trial.

Defendant was a member of a motorcycle gang in Muskegon. Law enforcement got a tip that he was armed and carrying drugs. The case was dismissed after the court found that the defendant’s 4^th Amendment Rights had been violated.

The defendant, a middle school Principal, was tried in Kalamazoo County for Criminal Sexual Conduct. The government alleged that he had engaged in a sexual encounter with a student in the presence of two student witnesses who corroborated the Complainant’s version of events. After two weeks of trial the jury rendered a verdict of not guilty; finding none of the student witnesses to be credible.

The defendant arrived at his estranged wife’s home with a backpack filled with duct tape, spray paint, firearms and money. His estranged wife was lying next to her boyfriend on the couch watching television. The defendant broke into the home and shot and killed the boyfriend. He then held the wife captive in the basement for 10 hours after spray painting the basement windows and duct taping her to a chair. A mistrial was declared when the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the Murder charge. All other charges were dismissed by the jury. A favorable plea agreement was ultimately reached where the defendant was sentenced to a term of years allowing him to avoid a mandatory life sentence.

The defendant, a middle school Principal, was indicted by the federal government for Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography. The defendant claimed that his involvement in accessing the child pornography was an experiment conducted in order to enable him to put safeguards in place to protect students from the internet. The case was tried in the federal district court in the Western District of Michigan. After two days of jury deliberations the defendant was acquitted of eleven (11) counts of Receiving Child Pornography and convicted of seven (7) counts of Distribution of Child Pornography. The federal court sentenced the defendant to term substantially below federal guidelines. The defendant successfully completed a short term of probation.