I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers got a new attorney for the civil suit filed against her by a substance abuse counselor who claims Conyers got him fired for his involvement in a recall petition against her while she was on the city council. But in the process, Judge Victoria Roberts — the same federal judge hearing the criminal case against the Hutaree 9 — lectured Conyers about her behavior in the case. The Detroit News reports.
Conyers was being represented by a Detroit city attorney in the case, but both she and the attorney, Grant Ha, wanted someone else assigned to the case. Ha claims that Conyers refused to cooperate with him in the case, while Conyers claims that Ha is not qualified to handle the case. That dispute was settled when Krystal Crittendon, the director of the Detroit Law Department, agreed to take over Conyers’ representation herself.
But Judge Roberts pointed out to Conyers that she had no right to refuse a deposition:
She said she didn’t refuse to sit for a deposition but told city attorneys she would only be deposed if two City Council members who work for Mariners Inn are also deposed.
Roberts pointed out that unlike the other people Conyers wants deposed, she is a defendant in the case.
“You can’t condition whether you will sit for a deposition on whether someone else is deposed in this case,” Roberts told Conyers.
This case should not be confused with the federal criminal trial for bribery, in which Conyers initially pleaded guilty. Facing nearly four years in prison, Conyers is now attempting to withdraw that guilty plea.
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