Tag: Michigan

Can the Defense Attorney Make the Court Believe This??

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

https://www.yahoo.com/news/defense-attorney-james-crumbley-never-141408691.html

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/prosecution-releases-james-crumbleys-threatening-jail-calls-against-karen-mcdonald/ar-BB1l2eNP

Let me lead with a quote from the Yahoo News story listed above: (The MSN story is the source of several listed quotes.)

When James Crumbley hurled profanity toward the Oakland County prosecutor in jailhouse phone calls, called her a “whore” and warned, “Your ass is going down and you better be f—— scared,” he wasn’t physically threatening her, his lawyer says. He was just venting, his attorney argues, and expressing his hopes that Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald would lose her law license over her handling of his unprecedented case.

Let me summarize. So, when Crumbley said, “Your ass is going down and you better be f—— scared,” he was merely suggesting that the other members of the bar would look at her trial performance in a negative light and eventually disbar or otherwise discipline her in its due process. I have a law degree. I’ve read dozens of cases and heard more than a few stories. And …

I suspect that the court may have trouble with this line of reasoning.

Let me add some additional quotes to give you fuller look at Crumbleys’ remarks.

Crumbley was “just venting” at greater length. “Well, she’s going to be f—— sucking on a f—— hot rock down in hell soon,” he said in a Dec. 6, 2022, jail call — more than a year before his trial.

And how about this little gem: “I am f—— on a rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald. Your ass is going down and you better be f—— scared,” he said in a Jan. 3 jail phone call, just months before he went to trial.

So, what do you think? Does the phrase “I am f——on a rampage, Karen … ” mean that Crumbley is patiently waiting for a state bar disciplinary committee to act?

I’m sure you’re thinking that I am being critical of the attorney but the fact is my heart goes out to the poor individual stuck with this client. There is no where to go legally that is more viable than this. James Crumbley needs to show remorse or some level of responsibility and that has not happened and it is not going to happen.

But it might have been a hair more effective to point out that prosecutors get a lot of abuse and Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley believe that histrionics is always called for when an issue gets to a certain size. And from there point out that he is an overblown braggart and fool.

You can definitely sell that and that is where I would have gone. But my argument would have flown only a few inches further than the one made so no big deal.

James Crumbley will be sentenced soon and I’m predicting that he will receive the maximum or close to the maximum possible. This will be justice.

Author’s note: There has been a lot of speculation that the prosecution of the parents in this case opens doors to every kind of case being brought when children commit crimes. I just don’t see it. This is truly an extraordinary case. A neglected child cries out for help and instead of getting counseling or working with the school to deal with their child’s emotional difficulties the parent buy him a Sig Sauer 9mm and get him some practice on the range so he’ll have some skills with it. Just how many times have you seen parental judgment collapse to that level?? We may never see another case like this.

MCOA rules that MERS lacks standing to foreclose by advertisement (via Great Lakes Law Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I’ve been a consistent critic of MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. I consider incredible that the mortgage industry could set up this monstrosity which was in violation of state laws across the nation without trying to get some legislation from somebody somewhere to at least give it some iota of legality. Instead they just adopted it with an ethical sense very similar to listing your five grey tabby cats as children on your income tax. As far as I’m concerned, MERS is a semi-sorta legal device used to evade paying state registration fees and avoiding the basic work of transferring title by paper and all this so that these mortgages could be used as chips in global speculation.

This is an excellent brief discussion of MERS and the court system in Michigan.

James Pilant

In my introduction to MERS post, I indicated that a lot of litigation revolved around whether the Michigan Electronic Registration System (MERS) has standing as a party.  On April 21, 2011, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided that it did not in Residential Funding Co v Saurman.  The court said that MERS is not a party with an interest in the mortgage and cannot foreclose by advertisement.  MERS, as mortgagee, only holds an interest in the prope … Read More

via Great Lakes Law Blog

Michigan Kills Democracy, FDA Kills Babies (via Consciously Evolving Our Planet)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Anger and a lot of it.

I’ve been watching it now for years. But I’ve noticed changes in the past few weeks. Generally, I would see tea partiers or the like raging against the government. Now I’m seeing regular bloggers more and more often. They are outraged. They are disgusted. They want something to change.

We’re crossing some kind of line here in America. I don’t understand what’s happening. I can’t help but believe that something is.

This article is well written and thoughtful. You should read it.

James Pilant

In the three years of the Great Recession, more than 5 million families have lost their American Dream. Through foreclosure or short sale, another 6 million face the same fate during the next 3 years. As more than 10% of us endure this particular type of “homelessness”, with its anxiety, shame, and loss, no one has gone to jail. The few who protest openly are mocked or ignored. Corporate profits are at record levels, driven primarily by the incre … Read More

via Consciously Evolving Our Planet

Prep-Star-Hits-Game-Winning-Shot-for-Perfect-Season, Falls and Dies (via Yahoo Sports)

On By southwerkIn ethics

From Yahoo Sports –

Making matters even more disorienting for Fennville fans were the events that transpired just before (Wes) Leonard’s death. The junior — who was also the quarterback of the school’s football team this fall — not only hit the winning shot in the team’s final regular season game, but by doing so he also ensured that the Blackhawks would finish with a perfect, 20-0 record.

“It’s tough to take in,” Leonard’s teammate Shane Bale, told The Sentinel. “It’s like somebody from your family, you know?”

Opposing coaches and their teams were also still trying to come to grips with the teen’s passing. Bangor (Mich.) coach Rocky Johnson said that he was completely stunned by the death.

“It’s hard to stomach,” Johnson told MLive.com. “We are all hurting now.

This is not my usual turf but I wanted to call attention to the funeral passage in Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans –

“Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?” he said, addressing
himself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty clay retained the
faculties of the animated man; “thy time has been like that of the sun
when in the trees; thy glory brighter than his light at noonday. Thou
art gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the
briers from thy path to the world of the spirits. Who that saw thee in
battle would believe that thou couldst die? Who before thee has ever
shown Uttawa the way into the fight? Thy feet were like the wings of
eagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine; and
thy voice like the Manitou when He speaks in the clouds. The tongue of
Uttawa is weak,” he added, looking about him with a melancholy gaze,
“and his heart exceeding heavy. Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou
left us?”

Maybe that’s appropriate.

James Pilant