*Michigan*
A close family member of mine has recently been charged with 2nd degree murder. I'll call him/her "F" for the remainder of this post. We currently have a court appointed attorney working on the case, but just had a few questions I wanted to ask to check up on what he has been telling us, since I don't necessarily trust court appointed attorneys all that much, LoL.
F was walking down the street near his/her home when an old friend called over from across the street. The old friend, whom F had not seen in several years, was at a house party and asked F to stay for awhile. F was with his/her significant other, but agreed to stay for a few minutes. F was drinking, and was lightly intoxicated.
After being there and chatting for several minutes, F called his/her significant other a ""stupid, crazy bitch", in joking. It might sound like a harsh joke, but is in fact a reference to a well known joke in our circle of friends, taken from a comedy CD we listen to. F's significant other laughed, well aware that the comment was indeed a joke. An older man nearby at the party, however, did not understand the comment was made as a joke and confronted F. F repeatedly tried to assure the man that there was no malice intended, and explain the joke to him, but the man had obviously been drinking and continued to confront F. F held out his/her hand to shake several times and told the angry man "it was just a joke", but he slapped F's hand away repeatedly. He then began to grab and push F lightly as he cursed at him. F and his/her significant other turned around and started to leave, but the man again threatened them and said "don't turn your back on me, bitch, you're liable to get stabbed". It was at this point F turned and hit the man in the head. F hit the man a total of 5 or 6 times, once while he lay on the ground. F then got off the man, but upon seeing several of the man's friends rushing toward him/her, F ran off, leaving his/her significant other behind. The man attempted to get up and make chase, still yelling obscenities, but was too woozy.
Police and an ambulance came, and the man was described at that point as "semi-conscious". On the way to the hospital, the man passed away from head injuries. F turned himself/herself in the following day, and was immediately charged with 2nd degree murder.
Now comes a tricky part.....most of the people at the party were the man's friends and F only knew one or two people. When questioned, several of the man's family members claimed F hit the man 30-40 times. F's significant other, however, even though he/she hadn't talked to F since the incident, gave almost exactly the same recounting of events that F did. Another witness, an aqcuaintance of F's, gave a similar story to F's. Family members of the man claimed he wasn't drinking at all, and that he had simply politely asked F to leave when F went crazy.
It has since been learned that the man had indeed been drinking, and had a blood alcohol level of 4 times the legal limit in our state. It has also been learned the man has recently been in prison, but for what we cannot discern since the police/prosecutor have sealed the man's records pending a court hearing. The house at which the incident took place is also a well known crackhouse, and it is likely there will be other intoxicants beside alcohol found in the man's blood when the full autopsy results are released. I suspect the man has assaults on his record. F has one prior misdemeanor assault on his/her record as well. Preliminary autopsy findings say that the man's death was caused by severe trauma to the back of the head, which would have been caused by falling, further discrediting the family's story of F beating him to death.
F's lawyer has told him/her that there is no difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, so they shouldn't attempt to work out a plea bargain for involuntary manslaughter, since it will be pointless. If there is no difference, I don't see what the problem would be in getting the prosecutor to agree to involuntary manslaughter. The lawyer has only been to see F once in the last month or so**************this was when he waived F's preliminary hearing. Does anyone know if there is a difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, and if so, what that difference is?
The prosecutor has sent F a packet of paperwork asking F to sign it and return it as soon as possible. By signing it, F would be pleading to "Manslaughter" and agreeing to a reccommended sentence of 6 years, plus 3 months boot camp at the end of the 6 years. F's lawyer has not contacted F regarding the paperwork, so obviously F does not plan to sign it. Neither F (nor I) have been able to reach the lawyer since the preliminary hearing a week ago.
I have several questions I was hoping someone could answer for me that I'll detail here:
1) Is there a difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, and if so, what?
2) Does the 6 year + boot camp (manslaughter) deal appear fair given the circumstances?
3) Is the attorney's bahavior in the case normal?
4) Does anyone think there is any possibility of getting the charges pleaded down to something BELOW manslaughter, given the evidence?
5) I would like to get F into a program that would actually benefit F, rather than sending F to some horrible prison with murderers and rapists. Are there any such programs available in Michigan aside from the boot camp, and if so, what are the options?
6) How should I go about asking the judge that eventually does the sentencing (or prosecutor) to send F to a beneficial program rather than Jackson prison?
Any help you can give me in this matter would be GREATLY appreciated. I certainly don't think F deserves 6+ years in prison, since the other man started the altercation. I DO believe F should suffer some sort of penalty, just not that many years and not to rot in a prison with a bunch of scumbags far worse than F, which will undoubtedly just make F worse. Any opinions or answers to my questions will be an immense help. I thank you for your time......
A close family member of mine has recently been charged with 2nd degree murder. I'll call him/her "F" for the remainder of this post. We currently have a court appointed attorney working on the case, but just had a few questions I wanted to ask to check up on what he has been telling us, since I don't necessarily trust court appointed attorneys all that much, LoL.
F was walking down the street near his/her home when an old friend called over from across the street. The old friend, whom F had not seen in several years, was at a house party and asked F to stay for awhile. F was with his/her significant other, but agreed to stay for a few minutes. F was drinking, and was lightly intoxicated.
After being there and chatting for several minutes, F called his/her significant other a ""stupid, crazy bitch", in joking. It might sound like a harsh joke, but is in fact a reference to a well known joke in our circle of friends, taken from a comedy CD we listen to. F's significant other laughed, well aware that the comment was indeed a joke. An older man nearby at the party, however, did not understand the comment was made as a joke and confronted F. F repeatedly tried to assure the man that there was no malice intended, and explain the joke to him, but the man had obviously been drinking and continued to confront F. F held out his/her hand to shake several times and told the angry man "it was just a joke", but he slapped F's hand away repeatedly. He then began to grab and push F lightly as he cursed at him. F and his/her significant other turned around and started to leave, but the man again threatened them and said "don't turn your back on me, bitch, you're liable to get stabbed". It was at this point F turned and hit the man in the head. F hit the man a total of 5 or 6 times, once while he lay on the ground. F then got off the man, but upon seeing several of the man's friends rushing toward him/her, F ran off, leaving his/her significant other behind. The man attempted to get up and make chase, still yelling obscenities, but was too woozy.
Police and an ambulance came, and the man was described at that point as "semi-conscious". On the way to the hospital, the man passed away from head injuries. F turned himself/herself in the following day, and was immediately charged with 2nd degree murder.
Now comes a tricky part.....most of the people at the party were the man's friends and F only knew one or two people. When questioned, several of the man's family members claimed F hit the man 30-40 times. F's significant other, however, even though he/she hadn't talked to F since the incident, gave almost exactly the same recounting of events that F did. Another witness, an aqcuaintance of F's, gave a similar story to F's. Family members of the man claimed he wasn't drinking at all, and that he had simply politely asked F to leave when F went crazy.
It has since been learned that the man had indeed been drinking, and had a blood alcohol level of 4 times the legal limit in our state. It has also been learned the man has recently been in prison, but for what we cannot discern since the police/prosecutor have sealed the man's records pending a court hearing. The house at which the incident took place is also a well known crackhouse, and it is likely there will be other intoxicants beside alcohol found in the man's blood when the full autopsy results are released. I suspect the man has assaults on his record. F has one prior misdemeanor assault on his/her record as well. Preliminary autopsy findings say that the man's death was caused by severe trauma to the back of the head, which would have been caused by falling, further discrediting the family's story of F beating him to death.
F's lawyer has told him/her that there is no difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, so they shouldn't attempt to work out a plea bargain for involuntary manslaughter, since it will be pointless. If there is no difference, I don't see what the problem would be in getting the prosecutor to agree to involuntary manslaughter. The lawyer has only been to see F once in the last month or so**************this was when he waived F's preliminary hearing. Does anyone know if there is a difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, and if so, what that difference is?
The prosecutor has sent F a packet of paperwork asking F to sign it and return it as soon as possible. By signing it, F would be pleading to "Manslaughter" and agreeing to a reccommended sentence of 6 years, plus 3 months boot camp at the end of the 6 years. F's lawyer has not contacted F regarding the paperwork, so obviously F does not plan to sign it. Neither F (nor I) have been able to reach the lawyer since the preliminary hearing a week ago.
I have several questions I was hoping someone could answer for me that I'll detail here:
1) Is there a difference between involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, and if so, what?
2) Does the 6 year + boot camp (manslaughter) deal appear fair given the circumstances?
3) Is the attorney's bahavior in the case normal?
4) Does anyone think there is any possibility of getting the charges pleaded down to something BELOW manslaughter, given the evidence?
5) I would like to get F into a program that would actually benefit F, rather than sending F to some horrible prison with murderers and rapists. Are there any such programs available in Michigan aside from the boot camp, and if so, what are the options?
6) How should I go about asking the judge that eventually does the sentencing (or prosecutor) to send F to a beneficial program rather than Jackson prison?
Any help you can give me in this matter would be GREATLY appreciated. I certainly don't think F deserves 6+ years in prison, since the other man started the altercation. I DO believe F should suffer some sort of penalty, just not that many years and not to rot in a prison with a bunch of scumbags far worse than F, which will undoubtedly just make F worse. Any opinions or answers to my questions will be an immense help. I thank you for your time......