Daily Briefs

Michigan spends $4.6 million to swap parolee ankle bracelets


LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A technology change is forcing Michigan's corrections department to spend about $4.6 million to more than 4,000 parolees and others under state supervision with new ankle monitors.

According to Mlive, Michigan Department of Corrections Public Information Officer Chris Gautz said that it is necessary to swap out the ankle bracelets because Verizon upgraded its network from 3G to 4G, meaning the current 3G-enabled monitors won't work.

Cautz said that the new bracelets arrived early this month and that thus far only about 16 percent of the 4,050 people currently wearing the monitors have had their devices swapped out. He said the replacement process is expected to be completed within 45 days.

 

Former judge sent to jail for committing perjury during divorce
 

BRIGHTON (AP) — A former Michigan judge who was removed from office for unethical conduct was sentenced to six months in jail last Friday for committing perjury during her divorce case.

“I struggle to convey to you my remorse and shame that I feel because of what I’ve done,” Theresa Brennan said. “It was ignorant, foolish and wrong. I’m devastated. I’ve lost my career and I am a felon.”

Brennan was a judge in Livingston County for 14 years until the Michigan Supreme Court removed her last June. She was accused of many ethics violations in how she ran her office as well as for a relationship with a state police detective during a murder trial.

Separately, she pleaded guilty to perjury in December. Brennan was accused of lying during a deposition about erasing data from her iPhone shortly after her husband filed for divorce in 2016.

Defense attorney Britt Cobb asked for probation, but Judge Paul Cusick wasn’t swayed.

“Even though you required others to tell the truth, you decided to lie,” Cusick said last Friday, a reference to Brennan’s work as a judge.

Tom Kizer, who represented Brennan’s former husband in the divorce, attended the court hearing.

“We all make mistakes, people do,” he said. “But when you wait until you get backed into a corner before you start to admit your own culpability, then we have less sympathy.”

 

Macomb County takes steps to create public defender office


MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's third-largest county has taken steps to create a public defender office, which county officials hope will address concerns with representing those who can't afford attorneys.

Macomb County posted an administrator job for the office, which drew 51 applicants, according to The Detroit News.

Interviews were scheduled to begin next month and county officials hoped to fill the position in March. The size of the office was yet to be determined.

Currently, public defenders are assigned through a case manage committee. Attorneys are selected by rotation based on their eligibility and case complexity.


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