State attorney general launches Conviction Integrity Unit
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has launched a unit to investigate whether people have been wrongfully convicted of crimes.
Nessel announced Wednesday the Conviction Integrity Unit plans to probe credible claims of innocence. The unit within the AG’s Criminal Appellate Division also seeks to develop efforts to rectify wrongful convictions.
A release says the unit is modeled after one in Wayne County, and officials will work with county prosecutors, law enforcement officials, defense attorneys and innocence clinic projects.
The state unit will be led by Robyn Frankel, an attorney who has been an adjunct professor at Oakland University, University of Michigan and Detroit College of Law.
Nessel says in the release the state has “a duty” to make sure people are guilty of crimes for which they have been convicted.
Court: No money for pre-trial custody for wrongly convicted
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan appeals court says a law compensating people who were wrongly convicted doesn’t cover time spent in pre-trial custody.
Davontae Sanford is seeking money for 198 days spent in a juvenile facility before he was convicted and sentenced for murder in 1988. His convictions were overturned after more than eight years in prison, and he was paid $408,000 .
But the appeals court says state law makes no reference to compensating people for being locked up without bond before trial. The time can be substantial. For Sanford, 198 days would be worth an additional $27,000.
The appeals court says the “plain language of the statute is unambiguous.”
Under a 2016 law, someone who is wrongly convicted can get $50,000 for every year in prison.
Michigan Senate OKs delay to change in teacher evaluations
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Senate has voted unanimously to delay a key change in a state-mandated evaluation system for teachers and school administrators.
Senators on Wednesday passed bills that would keep intact for at least one more year a requirement that school districts and charter schools base at least 25 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on assessment and student growth data. The component is supposed to rise to 40 percent this academic year.
Under the legislation, the 40 percent factor would start in the 2019-20 schools year. The bills will next be considered by the House.
Supporters, including teacher unions, districts and administrators, say it’s difficult to measure student growth and it’s unfair to base more of an educator’s evaluation on standardized test scores.
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