Michigan

At First Suspended, Retired Detroit Prosecutor Is Disbarred on Reconsideration for Allowing Perjury

After initially only having her law license lifted for two years, a controversial former chief drug prosecutor in the Detroit area has been disbarred. Reconsidering the penalty for retired Wayne County assistant prosecutor Karen Plants, the Attorney Discipline Board said a harsher penalty was mandated by her “lack of reflection”…

Mar 22, 2012 10:54 PM CDT

Defense Attorney, Unlike Prosecutor, Was Publicly Arrested and Jailed in False Testimony Case

When a top drug prosecutor in Detroit was accused of engineering testimony in a cocaine case, she stayed on the job for months, with pay. The criminal justice system did eventually catch up with her, years after questions were raised, but at that point she took an early retirement and…

Mar 21, 2012 4:57 PM CDT

Arrested in Court Yesterday, Attorney David Dunn Gets Personal Bond Today in Perjury Conspiracy Case

A criminal defense lawyer who started the day in a Michigan court yesterday expecting to represent a client in a murder trial spent the night in jail after being arrested on perjury and conspiracy charges. However, David Dunn was released on $500,000 personal bond today after appearing on video in…

Mar 20, 2012 10:38 PM CDT

Defense Lawyer Arrested in Open Court in Perjury Conspiracy Probe; Murder Case Is Delayed

Updated: A Michigan criminal defense lawyer was arrested in open court Monday and taken to a Wayne County Circuit Court holding area, as a hearing in his client’s capital murder trial was about to begin before Judge Timothy Kenny. Only minutes into today’s session, a Wayne County prosecutor told the…

Mar 19, 2012 7:07 PM CDT

Mich. Judge Pays 12-Year-Old Parking Ticket

After a local newspaper reporter told him last week that he had an unpaid $50 parking ticket from 12 years previously in Flint district court, a Michigan judge immediately anted up. Genesee Circuit Chief Judge Archie Hayman paid the ticket within an hour, the Flint Journal reports. He said he…

Mar 19, 2012 4:52 PM CDT

Federal Court Dismisses Former Cooley Law Student’s Suit Over Being Kicked Out of School

After being accused of changing an exam answer during an appeal of his grade, a student at Thomas M. Cooley Law School refused to accept a one-term suspension. Amit Ghoshal’s internal appeal resulted in a three-member review board’s determination that he had violated the school’s honor code and a recommendation…

Mar 10, 2012 12:45 AM CST

Lawyer Honored for Saving Sons in Michigan Car Bombing

A lawyer whose life changed as he was taking his sons to football practice in Monroe, Mich., was honored as an “everyday hero” Thursday evening. Erik Chappell and his two sons were injured in September when the lawyer’s Volvo station wagon exploded in an apparent bombing. Chappell carried his sons…

Mar 9, 2012 1:49 PM CST

Movie Fan Sues over Theater’s High Snack Prices and Ban on Outside Food

A class-action lawsuit filed by a movie fan in Michigan claims the snack prices at AMC Theaters are so high that they violate price-gouging provisions of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. Lawyer Kerry Morgan of Wyandotte filed the suit last week on behalf of Joshua Thompson, who is a “20-something…

Mar 6, 2012 12:44 PM CST

Judge Refuses Teen’s Bid to Withdraw Guilty Plea to Quadruple Murder Hit Man Says He Committed

A Detroit judge refused Tuesday to allow a learning disabled teenager to withdraw his guilty plea to a quadruple murder that an admitted hit man has confessed to committing. Wayne County Judge Brian Sullivan said the admitted hit man’s confession “does not automatically exonerate” Davontae Sanford from having any role…

Feb 29, 2012 8:29 PM CST

Banned from Campus Over ‘Hot for Teacher’ Essay, College Student Hires Lawyer to Fight for Return

A 56-year-old Michigan college student has retained a lawyer to help him fight a ban against returning to the Oakland University campus after he was determined by a hearing committee to have engaged in intimidating conduct. Joseph Corlett crossed the line, according to the school, by writing an essay for…

Feb 16, 2012 2:42 PM CST

Ticket-Fixing, Disrobed Mich. Judge Now Faces Criminal Charges

A Michigan judge, booted off the bench last month by the state supreme court for a slew of transgressions, was charged this week with four felonies for some of those actions. Former Jackson County district judge James Justin now faces as much as 20 years in prison and $40,000 in…

Feb 9, 2012 9:22 PM CST

Oops. Filing Lawyer Thought Was Under Seal Reveals Details of Civil Rights Leader Rosa Parks Estate

An ongoing dispute over how the estate of famed civil rights leader Rosa Parks should be handled has hit the news again, after a lawyer filed what he thought was a confidential copy of a 2007 settlement agreement with the Michigan Supreme Court. Attorney Alan May, who had himself previously…

Feb 6, 2012 4:38 PM CST

Federal Judge OKs Suit by Ex-Associate and Counterclaim by Mayer Brown

A federal judge has given a green light both to a race discrimination suit filed against Mayer Brown by a fired former associate and a counterclaim in which the law firm accuses her of improperly accessing documents while her termination was pending. Finding that it is a question of fact…

Jan 31, 2012 9:38 PM CST

Suspended Judge Blames Political ‘War’ for Ethics Case re Parade Float Donation, Other Alleged Costs

Testifying today for the first time as a legal ethics case against her enters its second week, a Michigan judge and her counsel blamed the trial on a claimed effort by an Inkster government official to get revenge after she opposed his campaign to revise the city charter to increase…

Jan 30, 2012 7:07 PM CST

Checks Show Suspended Judge Spent Court Money on Payments to Employees, Sister’s $100 Pound Cake

A suspended Michigan judge wearily spent hours on the witness stand today during a legal ethics trial, answering questions about hundreds of checks showing questionable expenditures ranging from “independent contractor” payments to court workers to high school cheerleader uniforms and a $100 purchase of pound cake from the jurist’s sister…

Jan 25, 2012 11:07 PM CST