Berrien shooter faced life in prison on kidnapping, sex charges

(Photo: Michigan Department of Correcitons) BERRIEN COUNTY — A jail inmate who fatally shot two bailiffs, injuring two more people at a courthouse  before he was killed in an escape attempt Monday, faced sexually assault and kidnapping charges carrying up to life in prison, according to state records. Larry Darnell Gordon, 44, of Coloma was charged in April with armed first-degree […]

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Kwame Kilpatrick appeal

Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press (Photo: Amy Leang Detroit Free Press) WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s appeal of a public corruption conviction, ending his bid to overturn a decision that sent him to prison for 28 years. The court announced its decision not to review the […]

Prosecutor: Suspect in fatal Kalamazoo bike crash drove while high

Andrew Krietz, WZZM 12:33 p.m. EDT June 22, 2016 (Photo: Kalamazoo Sheriff’s Department, Associated Press) KALAMAZOO — The man accused of hitting nine bicyclists with his truck, killing five people, faces new charges — five counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death. Charles Pickett Jr. was under the influence of a drug, but Kalamazoo County […]

Conditional approval of court-appointed attorney standards

There are currently no statewide standards for court-appointed attorneys LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Supreme Court has OK’d the state’s first standards for court-appointed attorneys — but only if the state legislature makes some changes to the commission that recommended them. The standards were put forth by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. Thursday, the […]

Editorial: Opioid abuse legislation a right start

The Detroit News 11:57 p.m. EDT June 6, 2016 (Photo: TNS) Addiction to opioid drugs has hit critical levels throughout the nation, prompting action from members of Congress, the White House and our own Legislature. The national effort to combat addiction to opioid painkillers, which often leads to dependence on common street heroin, can’t come […]

Court puts the lid on medical marijuana dispensaries

State Court of Appeals decided medical marijuans act doesn’t protect dispensaries Barton Deiters woodtv.com GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It looks like the state Court of Appeals has pounded another nail into the coffin of marijuana dispensaries in Michigan. A pair of West Michigan men who faced little to no jail time after they reached […]

Amber Alert: Boy, 13, pulled into car in Detroit

Robert Allen, Detroit Free Press 9:16 a.m. EDT June 1, 2016 (Photo: Detroit Police Department) An active Amber Alert is underway for a 13-year-old Detroit boy last seen Tuesday night, who was possibly kidnapped on the city’s east side, police said. Deontae Mitchell’s cousin told police the boy was grabbed by a man and held […]