Blog tagged as Crime

Police officers who suspect someone is doing something criminal, but do not give them an avenue to leave the encounter are violating the suspect's constitutional rights, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Friday in three different but related cases.

An attorney told a federal appellate panel Wednesday that a former Grand Rapids officer charged with murder used permitted methods to subdue a suspect resisting arrest.

Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield and his wife were photographed, fingerprinted and submitted a DNA sample as court-ordered Friday in their criminal case at 54B District Court.

The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear a technical question regarding an appeal filed by Paul Bellar, one of the men convicted in connection with the plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Bellar's appeal will continue, however.

He hasn't looked at the evidence and isn't commenting on the strength or weaknesses of anybody's case, but former House Speaker and attorney Tom Leonard knows one thing about this week's criminal charges against Lee and Stephanie Chatfield: defending against the charges is going to be expensive.