Tagged: crime

51-year-old David Smith faces one count of failing to disclose his HIV status to a sexual partner.

The Kent County Health Department issued a press release Thursday afternoon that said it’s treating this as “an extremely serious health concern”:

Police say the suspect, 51 year old David Smith from Kent County, made statements that suggested his activities may have included people from outside of the area, including individuals he met over the internet.

2010 was a record year for Flint. The city recorded 66 homicides.

But preliminary data from the FBI released today show a drop in crime rates.

More from Kristin Longley of the Flint Journal:

For the first six months of 2011, the city reported 909 instances of violent crime — a 19 percent decrease from the 1,123 instances reported by the same time last year.

There were 22 homicides, compared to 27 last year; 41 forcible rapes, compared to 51 last year; and 229 robberies, compared to 274 last year, according to the data.

Any decrease in crime is welcome news in a city that was recently dubbed "the Most Dangerous City in America."

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder held meetings in Flint today about public safety.

Flint has the worst violent crime rate in the nation, according to the FBI. As Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reported, gun violence is the main problem.

Kristin Longley of the Flint Journal reported on the Governor's meetings today.

The Governor held two roundtable discussions - one with local law enforcement and government officials and another with community leaders from local churches, foundations, schools, and the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Snyder said crime in Michigan has to be addressed. From the Flint Journal:

“If you look at the most violent crime list, or a number of the crime lists, four communities in Michigan are on that list,” Snyder said. “That’s not acceptable.”

The governor pledged to continue the boosted state police patrols in the city. Currently, four squads are doing directed patrols in the evening and early morning hours, seven days a week.

Since patrols were boosted in June, state police have made more than 3,200 traffic stops and arrested 533 fugitives, according to state police data. State police Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue said the agency’s helicopter patrols have been particularly helpful in the local crime-fighting effort.

Snyder said he's planning to deliver a special message on crime in Michigan's cities sometime next year.

Longley reported some people came to the meetings to voice their disapproval of the state's emergency manager laws.

Flint is currently being run by state-appointed emergency manager Michael Brown. The Mayor and Flint City Council members have been stripped of their power.

Flint NAACP President Frances Gilcreast said the recent takeover by an emergency manager was one topic that wasn't brought up:

“That was the elephant in the room,” she said of the meeting, which was by invitation only and was closed to the media. “How can people effect change if the voice of the people is not being honored?”

The state Court of Appeals has upheld the parole of a convicted murderer over the objections of the judge who sent him to prison.

Phillip Paquette was convicted of stabbing a man to death at a party in the summer of 1994. Paquette maintains to this day he is innocent and acted in self defense. While in prison, Paquette committed a string of infractions, but the pattern of misconduct ended in 2004.

Paquette became eligible for parole last year, and the Michigan Parole Board granted his request to be released.

The judge that sentenced Paquette objected, citing Paquette’s record of misconduct and insistence that he’s innocent. Paquette took his case all the way to the state Supreme Court, which returned the case to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals noted Paquette went six years without a violation, and has expressed sorrow for the killing.

The appeals court reversed the judge and said Paquette is to be paroled.

The state Court of Appeals has upheld the firearms and assault convictions of a prominent Detroit political consultant accused of attacking his girlfriend – a former state lawmaker.

Ex-state Representative Mary Waters returned home to the apartment she shared with Sam Riddle and found him in bed with another woman.

The couple fought.

She left andcalled 9-1-1 after he pointed shotgun at her.

Waters later tried to recant her accusation, but the prosecutor went ahead with the trial and Riddle was convicted.

Riddle challenged the convictions on several grounds – including Waters’ statement that she never actually feared being hurt.

The appeals court said that’s not relevant –what matters is whether a rational person might reasonably have feared the situation.

Riddle is currently in a federal prison serving a simultaneous sentence on bribery and extortion convictions.

Waters has tried to retract her guilty plea to corruption charges.

The state Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial in the case of a man charged with murder during a robbery gone awry.

The court says a detective investigating the case did not violate the man’s Fifth Amendment rights by continuing a conversation after the defendant invoked his right to remain silent.

The detective stopped asking questions once Kadeem Dennis White invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, but the detective continued to try to engage White in a conversation.

During that brief conversation, White blurted out that he never intended to shoot the victim.

The prosecution tried to use that admission against White in court, but the judge ordered the statements could not be used. The court of appeals reversed that decision, and said White knowingly waived his right to remain silent when he spoke to the investigator.

It was a two-to-one split decision by the appeals panel.

One dissenting judge argued that continuing to try to engage White in a conversation was the functional equivalent of an interrogation that should have stopped once the defendant said he would remain silent.

The defense could appeal the case to the Michigan Supreme Court.

COTTRELLVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Federal authorities say they caught a suspected marijuana smuggler after a boat from Canada was spotted on video surveillance making a brief stop in Michigan.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Wednesday that the bust was made Friday.

The agency says the boat was spotted entering U.S. waters on the St. Clair River and landed in St. Clair County's Cottrellville Township, about 40 miles northeast of Detroit. Border Patrol agents then spotted and stopped a van seen leaving the area.

Inside the van they found a hockey bag containing more than 33 pounds of marijuana. One arrest was made.

Federal authorities have video surveillance in operation along the St. Clair River to help monitor water traffic between Canada and the U.S.