Michigan

Is it illegal to implant a remote-control device in a cockroach? PETA asks AG to nix RoboRoach kit

It may be legal to crush, poison or trap and release a cockroach you find in your home. But that doesn’t mean you should be allowed to implant electrodes into the insect’s brain so that its movements can be controlled with the help of a smartphone application, an animal rights…

Nov 6, 2013 8:25 PM CST

Man faces $100 fine or 10 days for donning hat as he exited courtroom

A Michigan man has learned a hard lesson about the importance of following a court order. Warned by Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Robert Redford not to put his baseball cap back on until he had exited the courtroom, Ryan Cameron Lasenby, 29, donned it again a few steps…

Nov 5, 2013 9:10 PM CST

Defense lawyer and client convicted in perjury conspiracy case, now face maximum life prison terms

A Michigan criminal defense lawyer and his former client were both found guilty by a Detroit jury on Monday in a perjury case that arose out of a murder trial last year. Attorney David Benjamin Dunn, 44, and Andre Demetrius Collins, 24, were accused by the government of conspiring to…

Nov 4, 2013 10:55 PM CST

Angry prospective juror says what he thinks on questionnaire, gets 3 days in jail instead

As a convicted felon, Erick E. Haubenstricker could have been excused from jury duty simply by including this fact on a questionnaire. But the 36-year-old Michigan man took a different tack on the document, adding profanity-laced comments that blasted the system. On Monday, despite apologizing, he was sentenced to three…

Nov 4, 2013 7:25 PM CST

Police arrest two men found with slain law student’s cellphone

Detroit police have arrested two men allegedly found with a slain law student’s cellphone and have asked the Wayne County prosecutor’s office to pursue charges against the pair. However, police don’t believe the suspects were involved in the killing of Wayne State University law student Tiane Brown, and have asked…

Nov 1, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Accomplished law student is slain; her body is found in her SUV

Classmates at a vigil Wednesday evening described slain Wayne State University law student Tiane Brown as a “superwoman.” Brown, 33, had master’s degrees in business administration and biomedical engineering, report the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. She had three children, ages 14, 8 and 1, and sat on…

Oct 31, 2013 11:58 AM CDT

Judge’s girlfriend takes DUI plea; he and kids were in the car with her, and he says she seemed fine

A Michigan judge’s girlfriend has taken a plea in a drunken-driving case initiated by the judge’s ex-wife. Brenda Conway will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty Monday in the 46th District Court in Southfield, the Detroit Free Press reports. Authorities said at the time the case was brought in…

Oct 29, 2013 9:21 PM CDT

Community activist with law degree hid bomb-plot conviction to get US citizenship, indictment says

A suburban Chicago resident, who earned a law degree and is a valued member of a community organization that promotes Arab-American civil rights, was convicted in a terrorist attack decades ago and lied on an immigration application to become a citizen of the U.S., federal officials contend. Rasmieh Yousef Odeh,…

Oct 25, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Former Detroit mayor, an ex-lawyer, gets 28 years in federal corruption case

Convicted of public corruption for operating what the prosecution called a money-making racket out of Detroit’s city hall as the city descended toward bankruptcy, former mayor and ex-lawyer Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced Thursday to a 28-year prison term by a federal judge in Detroit. “The government has asked for a…

Oct 10, 2013 7:29 PM CDT

Judge fines defendant $50 over ringing cellphone ... then has to pay another $50 himself

A Michigan judge who has a sign in his courtroom since May warning visitors they’ll be held in contempt if a cellphone rings, didn’t hesitate to lower the boom on Friday when a defendant being sentenced in a credit card case violated the rule as his lawyer was speaking to…

Oct 9, 2013 11:35 PM CDT

Cooley Law defamation suit against law firm and bloggers critical of its job stats is nixed by judge

A federal judge has nixed a defamation suit filed by Thomas M. Cooley Law School against a law firm and bloggers who criticized the institution’s portrayal of its graduates’ employment statistics. Finding that the law school is, at minimum, a limited-purpose public figure, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker on…

Sep 30, 2013 10:33 PM CDT

Attorney faces ethics hearing over misappropriation from his law firm

A Michigan criminal defense and matrimonial attorney is awaiting the results of a legal ethics hearing last week after admittedly misappropriating funds from the firm in which he was formerly a partner. Shawn P. Davis admitted to his then-partners at Nolan & Nolan & Shafer that he “intentionally misappropriated funds…

Sep 30, 2013 5:20 PM CDT

Law firm sues the Four Tops, claiming unpaid legal fees

A law firm in suburban Detroit has filed a suit against the Four Tops that claims the Motown group owes more than $109,000 in legal fees. The Southfield, Mich., law firm of Sullivan, Ward, Asher & Patton filed the suit against the group and its only original member, Abdul “Duke”…

Sep 27, 2013 5:04 PM CDT

Lawyer won’t be charged for hitting alleged purse snatcher who bit him (see video)

A lawyer who held an alleged purse snatcher on Tuesday until police arrived shouldn’t be charged for hitting the suspect after she bit him, according to a police sergeant who viewed the video. Grand Rapids lawyer Jonathan Damon straddled the suspect, who pleaded with Damon to let her go. “Dude,…

Sep 20, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

‘Infidel’ license plate rejection spurs suit by Army veteran

An Iraq veteran has sued the state of Michigan after it denied him a personalized license plate with a variation of the word “infidel.” Michael Matwyuk, a former Army sergeant, is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) and the Army…

Sep 12, 2013 12:55 PM CDT