Source: Detroit News
“In a case with a potentially far-reaching impact, the Michigan Supreme Court has closed the door on a wave of post-conviction challenges tied to the state’s use of judges as one-person grand juries. In the unanimous opinion issued Feb. 4 and written by Justice Elizabeth Welch, the court said that its 2022 decision restricting the use of one-man grand juries, which curtailed prosecutions in the Flint Water Crisis, does not apply retroactively to cases that are already final. The court held that defendants convicted years ago cannot rely on its earlier ruling in People v. Peeler to reopen their cases simply because they were charged through a one-person grand jury rather than given a preliminary examination. The case before the court involved Todd Douglas Robinson, who was convicted in 2013 of first-degree premeditated murder and felony-firearm in what was allegedly a drug deal gone bad.” (02/07/26)