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 state Rep. Mary Waters, like former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, is trying to withdraw a guilty plea for bribery and corruption that she made earlier this year. And like Conyers, it is highly unlikely that a court is going to allow it.
Federal prosecutors filed papers with the court on Monday arguing that it’s too late to withdraw the guilty plea because Waters has already been sentenced. Conyers tried unsuccessfully to withdraw a similar plea on an even more serious charge a few months ago.
Both Waters and Conyers have close ties to Detroit-area political consultant Sam Riddle, Waters being his on-again/off-again girlfriend and Conyers being his boss at one point. Riddle is also facing sentencing on corruption charges in federal court, where he was a co-defendant with Waters, as well as state charges of assault for an altercation with Waters in which he brandished a shotgun at her after she caught him in bed with another woman.
Withdrawing guilty pleas is very difficult, and for good reason. Upon entering a guilty plea, the judge asks the defendant several times if they understand the implications of a guilty plea and if they are entering that plea without coercion or second thoughts. Once they answer in the affirmative, it is very rare that a court allows that plea to be withdrawn unless the defendant can prove some kind of coercion or limitation that would justify the withdrawal.
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