Michigan's Whitmer plot cases stronger after federal convictions, law experts say

[marmar]

OP's Note: I have a digital subscription to the Detroit Free Press so I'm not sure if this article is paywalled or not. If it is paywalled, I apologize in advance.


(Detroit Free Press) Less than a week after a jury convicted two men in federal court of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the nation's highest-profile domestic terror prosecutions, Michigan assistant attorneys general are set to begin making their case in Antrim County against five others charged with related crimes.

Monday's preliminary examination — a proceeding that requires the prosecution to show probable cause in order for the case to go to trial — before 86th District Judge Michael Stepka is expected to preview the arguments for both sides and mirror those made in federal court.

It's unlikely anything said at the hearing will prevent the case from going to trial, but new details about what happened two years ago may emerge, and the recent federal convictions are likely to give the state cases a boost — at least psychologically for the prosecutors and in terms of public perception in Traverse City and Jackson.

In Antrim County, the defendants — twins Michael and William Null, who are 40, and of Plainwell and Shelbyville, respectively; Shawn Fix, 40, of Belleville; Brian Higgins, 53, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and Eric Molitor, 38, of Cadillac — are accused of providing material support for terrorism, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Many northern Michigan residents, including Antrim County Sheriff Dan Bean, are still shocked that such an act of aggression could have taken place in their backyard. ...........(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/08/29/whitmer-kidnap-plot-michigan-antrim-county-trial/7883123001/

[usonian]

1. archive.ph got it.

https://archive.ph/WRP3s