Michigan

Michigan Court of Appeals orders another new sentence in Lenawee County sex abuse case

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2024

Michigan Court of Appeals orders another new sentence in Lenawee County sex abuse case

ADRIAN — A man convicted in 2018 by a Lenawee County Circuit Court jury of engaging in sex acts with the son and daughter of his on-again, off-again girlfriend and wife should have his minimum sentence reduced again, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel has ordered.

David Alan Stevens’ minimum sentence on a conviction for first-degree criminal sexual conduct should be set between six years and nine months and 11 years and three months, Judges Mark J. Cavanagh, Kathleen Jansen and Allie Greenleaf Maldonado said in their opinion. The change is due to a prior conviction in Ohio being incorrectly used as the basis for a habitual offender enhancement.

“The record does not provide a sufficient basis upon which to conclude that the conduct giving rise to defendant’s Ohio conviction would have been a felony in Michigan, and therefore, the trial court erred by sentencing defendant as a habitual offender,” the opinion states.

This will be the second time Stevens, 48, has been resentenced. The new sentence will be about one-third of the original minimum sentence in this case.

Stevens, 48, is currently serving 14 to 75 years in prison after being resentenced in 2022.

First-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to life in prison.

Stevens was convicted in 2018 after a trial in Lenawee County Circuit Court of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Judge Anna Marie Anzalone sentenced him to 21 years and 10 months to 75 years in prison.

The first time he was resentenced, the Court of Appeals found Stevens’ attorney failed to object to faulty jury instructions provided by Anzalone and he failed to request an instruction that would limit how the jury was to consider testimony about other acts that was given during the trial. The Appeals Court vacated the two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and ordered he be resentenced because of how the vacated charges had factored into the scoring for the minimum sentence on the first-degree charge as well as an error in calculating the minimum sentence. Anzalone’s new sentence was 14 to 75 years in prison.

In the latest appeal, a different three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals — Judges Mark J. Cavanagh, Kathleen Jansen and Allie Greenleaf Maldonado — agreed with Stevens’ argument that he had been improperly sentenced as a habitual offender. Stevens had prior convictions in Ohio for possession of criminal tools and nonsupport of dependents. For a prior conviction in another state to be used as a habitual offender enhancement, the offense must have been something that would have been a felony or attempt to commit a felony in Michigan, the opinion said.

Anzalone had determined that the criminal tools conviction would not have been a felony in Michigan. The nonsupport charge is a fifth-degree felony in Ohio, but the appeals judges said how another state classifies its offenses doesn’t matter.

“Establishing that defendant was guilty of a fifth-degree felony in Ohio does nothing to establish that this would have been a felony in Michigan,” the opinion states.

In Michigan’s law regarding nonpayment of child support, the opinion says, someone has to violate a court order to make payments in order to be convicted of a felony.

“The critical difference between these offenses is that the Ohio offense does not necessarily require the failure to provide support to be in violation of a court order whereas the Michigan offense does,” the opinion states. “Because the Ohio crime can be committed without there being a support order in place, it is possible for the same conduct to be a crime in Ohio but not in Michigan. Therefore, the knowledge that defendant was found guilty of this crime is not, on its own, sufficient to conclude that the underlying conduct would have been a felony in Michigan. Accordingly, sentencing defendant as a habitual offender with a violation of this Ohio statute serving as the predicate offense requires the court to ascertain some knowledge of the facts underlying the Ohio conviction.”

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There was no information in the sex-abuse case’s record about the underlying facts in Stevens’ nonsupport conviction, the appeals court said.

“There is nothing in the record suggesting that defendant was ordered to pay any such costs, suggesting that the conviction might not have arisen from the violation of an already-existing support order,” the opinion states. “Because we do not know if defendant’s failure to support a dependent conviction was committed in a violation of a court order, it necessarily follows that we do not know if the conduct giving rise to the Ohio conviction would have been a felony in Michigan.”

The prosecution had time to provide evidence that Stevens had violated a court order for support, the opinion said.

“Indeed, the initial resentencing hearing was adjourned specifically to afford the prosecution the opportunity to adequately address whether defendant’s Ohio conviction for possession of criminal tools would be a felony in Michigan,” the opinion says. “The initial hearing was adjourned in July, and the prosecution had until October to gather the information it needed to meet its burden. During that period, it decided to amend the information to list the nonsupport conviction as the predicate for defendant’s habitual offender status but failed to admit any evidence regarding the underlying facts of the nonsupport conviction.”

Giving the prosecution a second chance to meet its burden of proof would be against the principles of fairness and “implicate double jeopardy concerns because the prosecution’s failure to present sufficient evidence of an equivalent prior conviction is analogous to the reversal of a conviction based on insufficient evidence,” the opinion said.

The appellate panel rejected Stevens’ arguments in the latest appeal that his minimum sentencing guidelines range was not properly calculated.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

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Michigan

Storms move into SE, SW Michigan with low chance of tornado

Published

5 hours ago

April 2, 2026

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Storms move into SE, SW Michigan with low chance of tornado

Severe storms that could potentially produce a tornado are moving through Michigan.

Southeast Barry County and Eaton County are under a severe thunderstorm warning through 9:15 p.m. while nine counties in southwest Michigan are under a tornado watch until 11 p.m.

“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the NWS said. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”

The agency issued tornado warnings for parts of Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, but those warnings have expired.

The storm system moving into southwest Michigan is bringing winds with gust up to 70 mph and a low chance for an isolated tornado west of U.S.-23.

The storm also could bring hail measuring a half-inch in diameter and brief, heavy downpours of rain. Minor flooding is possible in areas with poor drainage.

mreinhart@detroitnews.com

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Michigan

Michigan mobile home water provider, president accused of falsifying water safety tests

Published

18 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Michigan mobile home water provider, president accused of falsifying water safety tests

A water services provider and its president are accused of falsifying water safety and discharge tests for private water systems serving mobile home communities in Michigan, state officials said.

Douglas Environmental is charged with six counts of forgery and one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. The firm’s president, Brian Powell, 57, of Brighton, is also charged with six counts of forgery and seven counts of safe drinking water violations.

According to authorities, Douglas Environmental provided private water systems for several mobile home communities throughout Michigan, including the following communities:

Moon Lake Mobile Home Park in Shiawassee County
Thornapple Lake Estates in Barry County
Fenton Harbor Condominiums in Genesee County
Hickory Hills Mobile Homes in Calhoun County
Green Brook Estates in Livingston County
Western Pines in Kalamazoo County
Victory Gardens in Genesee County
North Bay Mobile Home Park in Genesee County

State prosecutors accuse Douglas Environmental of falsifying water test results at Moon Lake Mobile Home Park, Thornapple Lake Estates and Fenton Harbor Condominiums at least six times in 2023. Between 2020 and 2023, the company is also accused of failing to report water tests that exceeded maximum contaminant levels at Hickory Hills Mobile Homes, Green Brook Estates, North Bay Mobile Home Park, Fenton Harbor, Victory Gardens and Western Pines.

The Michigan DNR investigated Douglas Environmental after the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy discovered data discrepancies between reports and what the company submitted for review, state prosecutors say.

“Safe drinking water relies on honest testing,” said Nessel in a statement. “Falsifying reports jeopardizes the well-being of residents, and I am grateful for EGLE’s and DNR’s work to uncover and investigate these extremely troubling allegations. My office will continue to prosecute those who put Michiganders’ health at risk.”

Authorities say that based on EGLE’s testing, the public was not harmed by the alleged scheme.

“It’s deeply disappointing when individuals choose to falsify test results; they undermine the trust that communities place in the systems designed to safeguard them. Michigan residents deserve complete confidence that the water they rely on is safe,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos.

Powell will appear in the 55th District Court on May 5.

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Michigan

Kyle Whittingham says Michigan freshman is ‘terrific,’ Bryce Underwood is ‘mega talent,’ and two position groups are standing out

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

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Kyle Whittingham says Michigan freshman is ‘terrific,’ Bryce Underwood is ‘mega talent,’ and two position groups are standing out

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Kyle Whittingham helped make Utah a power out west, and is now tasked with getting the Maize and Blue back to ‘Champions Of The West.’

“I’m here to help this football team get to where we believe we can be,” Whittingham said on On3’s Crain And Cone. “I’m not here to change traditions or mess with that. The traditions here and the history is incredible, and it’s just steeped in tradition, this program. So, it’s not my place to meddle with that.

“We’re going to put a physical, tough product on the field. That’s the expectation at Michigan is to be physical and tough. That’s what we’re striving for.”

That process started in January, with Whittingham hiring his strength coach from Utah, Doug Elisaia.

“High-level athletes, like what we have here at Michigan and in Division-I football, seem to thrive on structure and discipline and a routine,” Whittingham said. “And you’ve got to be consistent. You can’t have highs and lows, you can’t be a rollercoaster. Players need to come into the facility every day, know what’s expected, know what’s expected at practice, know what’s expected in the weight room. They seem to thrive in a very structured environment. We certainly have that here.

“The first thing we did was overhaul the strength program, because a lot of the toughness and grit in the football team is developed in the strength program — and we feel we’ve got one of the best in the business in Doug Elisaia running our strength program.”

Bryce Underwood is a ‘mega talent’

The first meeting Whittingham had with a player was with sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood, a 6-foot-4, 228-pound Detroit native who started all 13 games last season. Underwood completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 2,428 yards and 11 touchdowns with 9 interceptions last season, adding 88 carries for 392 yards and 6 scores, including sacks.

Whittingham provided an update on how he’s performed this spring.

“First of all, he is a mega talent — his arm strength, his athleticism,” the Michigan coach said. “He’s 6-4-plus, 230 pounds. The way he runs. It’s incredible, the gifts that he’s been blessed with.

“Obviously, the first order of business is to learn the new scheme. We have a new scheme going in offensively. It’s not a sharp learning curve. It’s pretty user-friendly. But he’s got to get mastery of that. Once he has mastery of that, which he’s on the right track right now and doing a great job, now it’s just refining a few things with his mechanics and making sure that he completely has a grasp of what we’re doing and what we’re expecting.”

Two Michigan position groups standing out

Whittingham was asked which position groups are standing out most this spring, and first pointed to the running backs. There, junior Jordan Marshall is coming off a 150-carry, 932-yard, 10-touchdown season, even while missing time at the end of the year. Freshman Savion Hiter enrolled early and has turned heads, too, a five-star prospect.

“I really love our running back room,” Whittingham said. “We have Jordan Marshall coming back, who’s a proven commodity, and Savion Hiter, who was the top running back in the country in some polls. He’s really lived up to that. He was a mid-year guy, and he has looked terrific through his first six practices. [Senior] Bryson Kuzdzal is another guy in that room. So, we feel like we’ve got a very strong running back situation.”

Michigan’s defensive line is also strong, per Whittingham, despite returning just one starter, senior tackle Trey Pierce.

“Defensively, the front,” Whittingham said. “We feel like we have a good front coming back, and that’s something that is always critical. Your defense starts at the line of scrimmage, and we feel like we’ve got some dudes up front.”

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