DETROIT, AP — An appeals court has overturned a Michigan man’s second-degree murder conviction in 2019, determining that the man’s attorney ignored his wish to admit he had pressed the trigger.
In a ruling last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals said Reinaldo Jamison, 28, wanted to argue in court that he killed Andre Fort in 2018 in self-defense, but that the attorney David Cripps decided to argue that Jamison was not the shooter.
The three-member court panel said in its opinion that Cripps “did not even consider investigating the theory advocated by the defendant and supported, at least in part, by independent evidence,” The Detroit reported. News.
The appeals court panel also clarified that it did not believe Cripps’ testimony in a 2021 hearing that ended with Macomb County Circuit Judge Joseph Toia dismissing the Jamison’s motion for a new trial.
According to the ruling, the judge “clearly erred in accepting the defense attorney’s patently incredible testimony on the matter.”
The court was also concerned about Cripps’ claim that he could not remember if he had ever seen threatening text messages, contradicting Jamison’s testimony that his brother had shown the messages to Cripps.
The court said that even if Cripps was to be believed, he should have been aware of the messages, pointing out that “a police report summarizing the investigation included a description of the text messages.”
Macomb County prosecutors have 56 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court, retry the case or drop the charges. A spokeswoman for Macomb County District Attorney Peter Lucido told the newspaper on Friday the case was being reviewed.
Jamison remains in custody, serving a 23- to 50-year sentence following his 2019 jury conviction for murder.
A lawyer in Cripps’ office said Cripps would not be available for comment until Monday.
The Associated Press