Above: Lillian Diallo, Board Member of Wayne Co. Criminal Defense Attys. Assn: “It’s Done!” explains why other Bolanos-Jackson charges must be dismissed, decries “use immunity” given to Samantha Woll’s ex-boyfriend
Michael Jackson-Bolanos attorneys file for dismissal of remaining murder and home invasion charges after acquittal of 1st and 2nd degree murder
Cite “Double Jeopardy” outlawed by U.S., Michigan Constitutions
Hearing on motion, sentencing on “concealing facts and misleading police” charge set for Friday, August 9
By Diane Bukowski, VOD Editor
July 31, 2024
Petition · Stop the retrial of Michael Jackson Bolanos and release him from incarceration – Detroit, United States · Change.org
Michael Jackson-Bolanos with co-counsel Purna Krishnamoorthy
DETROIT — When a jury acquitted Michael Jackson-Bolanos of First-Degree Premeditated Murder July 18, they acquitted him of all murder charges, say his attorneys Brian Brown and Purna Krishnamoorthy.
On July 23, they filed a motion to dismiss the remaining felony murder and home invasion charges on double jeopardy grounds.
Third Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten will hear the defense motion Friday, Aug. 9. She said she needed the time to research applicable law in the case.
On the same day, she plans to sentence Jackson-Bolanos for “concealing facts and misleading the police, the jury’s only guilty verdict.
“The acquittal followed a jury trial at which the jury acquitted Mr. Jackson-Bolanos of 1st degree premeditated murder and the lesser included offense of second-degree murder, but asserted that it could reach no verdict on the charge of first-degree felony-murder and the lesser included second-degree murder and first-degree home invasion,” says the motion.
“Given the jury’s verdict, any felony murder charges and home invasion charges must be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. *US Const. Ams V, XIV; Const 1963, Art. 1, Sec. 15, Arizona v. Washington 434 US 437 (1978); People v. Lett, 466 Mich 206 (2002).” Lett is a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that says in part:
Screenshot of Michael Jackson-Bolanos jury verdict form rendered July 18, 2024
See complete defense motion and statement of facts: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/jackon-bolanos-double-jeopardy-motion-and-statement-of-facts-July-23-24.pdf
Samantha Woll, Pres. Downtown Detroit Isaac Agree Synagogue
Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Jackson-Bolanos with the murder of Samantha Woll, president of the Downtown Detroit Isaac Agree Synagogue, on December 13, 2024.
“This is an extraordinarily sad and tragic case,” Worthy said. “Since October 21st, the date that Samantha Woll was killed, there has been painstaking, diligent, and tireless work done by the Detroit Police Department and my office. Investigations like this take time and we do our best to never rush to judgment.”
After those charges were filed, before any legal proceedings, the family 0f Samantha Woll profusely thanked the prosecution and police for identifying her killer.
Understandably aggrieved at her heinous, brutal murder, they sat through every day of the pre-trial and trial proceedings.
Samantha Woll family members at Jackson-Bolanos trial. Photo/Detroit News
However, when the jury acquitted Bolanos-Jackson of first-degree murder July 18, they said in a joint statement, “We are stunned and deeply saddened by the outcome of this trial, as there is overwhelming evidence that Michael Jackson-Bolanos took our beloved Samantha’s life.”
But Jackson-Bolanos’ jury, his attorneys, and three legal experts who appeared on CBS News Detroit saw the case differently. Lillian Diallo, a board member of the Wayne Co. Criminal Defense Attorneys Bar Association (video at top), Rick Convertino, who has been both a prosecution and defense attorney, and Gino Vicci each appeared on CBS News, adamantly challenging the prosecution’s case.
Judge Van Houten
Convertino called it “the weakest prosecution case he has ever seen,” and predicted an eventual acquittal.
The Woll family, in their statement, said they do not believe that the race of Michael Jackson-Bolanos should be an issue in his arrest and conviction, but to many Detroiters and others who are Black, the issue is glaringly apparent.
Jackson-Bolanos is being tried in front of Judge Margaret van Houten, who is white, and served on the Dearborn Heights City Council for 14 years before her tenure. She was appointed to the Circuit Court by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and ran for election in 2014. She was a law clerk for former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra, an active member of the right-wing Federalist Society
His Asst. Prosecutor, Ryan Elsey, is white and lives in Livonia, where the population is 80 percent white and only 4 percent Black. Wayne Co. Chief Prosecutor Kym Worthy is Black, but her record on behalf of Wayne County’s Black population, particularly its youth, is abysmal.
Davontae Sanford (l) WC Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Worthy has vehemently fought to maintain juvenile life without parole sentences, outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), throughout her tenure on the bench. She still denies that Davontae Sanford, 14 in 2009 when he was charged with the murders of four adults, is innocent, despite the subsequent dismissal of his charges and a $7.9 million settlement of his wrongful conviction.
Jeffrey Herbstman in 2022 with Samantha Woll.
Samantha Woll’s white, well-to-do ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Herbstman fled to Kalamazoo from Detroit, and confessed to police there that he had killed her. He was released with little investigation, claiming he was delusional when he confessed. No psychiatrist or other medical expert testified at the Jackson-Bolanos trial to back up his claims.
Herbtsman testified at length for AP Ryan Elsey and then was cross-examined by defense attorney Brian Brown. No psychiatrist or other medical expert was called by the prosecution to back up his claims. He was granted “use immunity” to testify at the Jackson-B0lanos trial, a practice which Attorney Lillian Diallo questioned in her interview with CBS News (above).
CBS News expert Gino Vicci commented on Herbstman’s testimony below.
Defense Attorney Brian Brown, who is Black, put the issue of race front-and-center during his cross-exam of Herbstman, noting that Elsey appeared to act as a defense attorney as he questioned Herbstman.
Petition · Stop the retrial of Michael Jackson Bolanos and release him from incarceration – Detroit, United States · Change.org
Related:
MICHAEL JACKSON-BOLANOS TESTIFIES AT WOLL MURDER TRIAL; DEFENSE GIVES STUNNING CLOSING ARGUMENTS.
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