MICHIGAN REPUBLICANS-CONVENTION
Michigan GOP picks candidates with Trump clout on the line
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Two candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump have won Michigan Republicans’ backing for attorney general and secretary of state at a convention, clearing their path to face Democratic incumbents in the fall. Saturday’s meeting of thousands of party delegates was a test of Trump’s clout in the party. His allies — attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno, a lawyer, and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo, a community college instructor — emerged victorious from three-person fields at the “endorsement” event in downtown Grand Rapids. The political newcomers support Trump’s false claims about his 2020 loss in the swing state.
WRONGFUL CONVICTION
Judge delays long-imprisoned Detroit man’s exoneration
DETROIT (AP) — A judge has put on hold the exoneration of a Detroit man who has been in prison for 15 years for kidnapping and sexual assault crimes that prosecutors now say he didn’t commit. A Wayne County judge told prosecutors and defense lawyers for Terance Calhoun on Friday that a Detroit police officer came to her office earlier in the day with material claiming Calhoun had confessed to attacking the two teen girls in 2006. Judge Kelly Ramsey said she did not look at the material but rescheduled Friday’s hearing until Wednesday. The Detroit Police Department said the officer didn’t follow proper procedures and that it was “working to rectify the situation.”
POLICE SHOOTING-MICHIGAN
Sharpton demands name of officer who killed Patrick Lyoya
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton is demanding that authorities release the name of the Michigan officer who killed Patrick Lyoya, a Black man and native of Congo who was fatally shot in the back of the head after a struggle. Sharpton spoke Friday at Lyoya’s funeral and renewed the call for transparency made by Lyoya’s family. He said, “We want his name!” and said authorities cannot set a precedent of withholding the names of officers who kill people unless the officer is charged. The Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids was filled to its capacity of 1,000 for the funeral.
AP-US-SUPREME-COURT-SHACKLING-CASE
High court rules for state in case of man shackled at trial
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says that a federal appeals court was wrong to order Michigan to retry or release a convicted murderer because his rights were violated when he was shackled at trial. In a decision that split the court 6-3 along ideological lines, the court’s conservative majority said the appeals court should have applied two different legal tests, not just one, and that Ervine Davenport’s case didn’t pass the second test. State courts had agreed that shackling him at his trial violated his rights but said the error was harmless because it did not affect the verdict in his case. But a federal appeals court concluded he should be released or retried. The Supreme Court reversed that decision.
THREE DEAD-VERDICTS
Man guilty in Detroit-area slayings of child, 2 adults
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — A jury convicted a Detroit-area man of all 15 criminal counts against him for the slayings of three Warren residents, including a 6-year-old boy. The Macomb County deliberated about three hours before convicting 39-year-old Nicholas Bahri of Bloomfield Hills on three counts each of first-degree premeditated and first-degree felony murder, seven gun charges, arson and mutilation of a body. He was charged in the 2000 shooting deaths of 32-year-old Tukoyo Moore, 32, his 6-year-old son Tai’Raz, and his fiancee, 28-year-old Isis Rimson. The Macomb Daily reports Bahri will be ordered June 15 to serve life in prison without parole. The verdicts were delivered following a six-day trial.
FISHERMAN’S REMAINS IDENTIFIED
Bone found on Michigan beach IDed with genetic genealogy
GANGES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan fisherman who went missing in 2000 has been identified through DNA testing on a jaw bone that washed up on a beach 14 years later. The DNA Doe Project, working with the Michigan State Police, determined the jaw bone belonged to Ronald Wayne Jager of Fruitland Township. The DNA Doe Project is an all-volunteer California-based group. Jager was reported missing the day after he launched his boat in August 2000 in Whitehall. State police said Friday that the boat washed ashore in Wisconsin. Coast Guard searches found no trace of Jager.
WRONGFUL CONVICTION
Man cleared of kidnapping, other charges after 15 years
DETROIT (AP) — A man who has been in prison for 15 years for kidnapping and sexual assault didn’t commit the crimes. A judge will be asked Friday to clear the convictions and exonerate Terance Calhoun at the request of the Wayne County prosecutor. In 2007, Calhoun pleaded no contest to kidnapping and other charges and was sentenced to at least 17 years in prison. Calhoun was identified by two teen victims after a sketch was posted at a Detroit liquor store. But prosecutors say new evidence has resulted in the identification of another man. Calhoun was represented by the State Appellate Defender Office in the exoneration effort.
AP-US-INFRASTRUCTURE-WATER-PROJECTS
Feds award $420M for dam repairs and flood-control projects
Federal officials are spending $420 million to repair hazardous dams and fund flood control projects in numerous states. The projects announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are funded through an infrastructure law signed last year by President Joe Biden. The largest allotment of nearly $96 million will go to Arkansas for 19 flood-control projects, including several in impoverished areas. Georgia will get about $69 million. Some of that will go to repair three high-hazard dams in poor condition that could result in deaths were they to fail. The funding is in addition to $166 million for nationwide projects announced last month by the Agriculture Department.
AP-US-GYM-DOCTOR-SEXUAL-ABUSE
13 Nassar victims seeking $130M from FBI over bungled probe
DETROIT (AP) — Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassar are seeking $10 million each from the FBI. They claim the agency’s bungled investigation led to more abuse by the sports doctor. The Justice Department’s inspector general concluded last year that the FBI made fundamental errors when it became aware of allegations against Nassar. He was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at USA Gymnastics. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts. Under federal law, tort claims must be a filed with a government agency, which then has six months to reply. A lawsuit could follow depending on the FBI’s response. The agency declined to comment Thursday.
MICHIGAN REPUBLICANS-CONVENTION
Trump sways convention races for Michigan AG, elections jobs
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to mold Republicans’ 2022 tickets will be put to the test this weekend in Michigan, where thousands of party activists will endorse candidates including for attorney general and secretary of state. Trump, who continues to levy false claims about his 2020 loss, wants to oust Democratic officials who ensured the results stayed intact and replace them with allies. His preferred slate for the state’s top law enforcement and election jobs is drawing criticism, however, within a wing of the GOP that views the candidates as unelectable in November.
The Associated Press
