Josh Furman found not guilty on all three counts.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
Good.....but LINK???
April 26th, 2012 at 12:11 PM ^
no link yet. believe it is being reported by freep and aanews reporters in the courtroom.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:12 PM ^
Angelique Chengelis posted it on twitter FWIW.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^
I do see that it's also being reported by Scout, behind their paywall.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^
I hope Josh takes the next step this off-season. I thought he could be a player for us after watching his high school film.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^
LOL at prosecutors who rejected the defense's plea bargain.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:34 PM ^
Here is a tweet from Snyder on why Furman rejected the prosecuters plea bargain:
Freep Wolverines @freepwolverines
Because of the UM FB assault policy, Furman rejected a plea and asked for the trial, so he had a chance to remain on the team.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:51 PM ^
I thought Furman's attorney previously said that it was the DA who rejected the offer. In fact, Furman's attorney couldn't make the offer if his client hadn't previously approved. Sounds like there were two offers--one from the prosecutor and one from Furman. Furman's for illegal entry, prosecutor's for assault. In the end, the DA still looking stupid.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^
Okay--the Prosecutor is looking plain silly here. Especially since she passed up a plea offer. What a waste of resources.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
My tax dollars at work.
Separate the fact that he's a Michigan football player and I don't mind it as much. Prosecuters don't make d-ck for money and I'd rather them at least make it somewhat painful for people that make others feel unsafe/threatened. I'm glad he got off assuming he was not guilty but I'd rather the DA err on the side of protecting "victims" than not just because they could potentially lose. Know what I mean?
From all the evidence that should have been available before the trial, it looks to me like Furman—and the woman who was the subject of the original texts—were the only real victims. Certainly not the asshole cowering in the closet, nor the women who were yanking on Josh's hair who said they did not feel threatened.
As a resident of Washtenaw County, I'd much rather the prosecutors prosecute cases where there are clear-cut victims and obvious criminals. There's no lack of those.
That's why I put victims in quotations. I was mostly speaking in general terms about tax dollars being spent. The DA obviously has to pick battles intelligently and appears to not have done so here but I'm not all that concerned about a ADA losing a trial if it makes the defendant think twice about being in whatever situation he/she was again.
In essence, we're saying the same thing - that there is too much work to go around and the ADAs are so underpaid for the generally good they do to protect society. Its one thing to get an arrest and a completely other thing to get a conviction.
There are a whole lot of people who need to think twice about whatever situation they're in, and the cost of a DA, a trial, and everything that goes with it should go to situations like that, and not something like this. This had losing outcome and waste of time on it from day one. At the very least it should have been plead out if she felt so strongly about it, because she certainly wasn't going to win. Her attitude in her reaction tells me she was motivated by something other than protecting the community in this case. There's a whole lot of things Ann Arbor could use money on, particularly in law enforcement...and this wasn't close to one of them. If she had gotten a conviction, I would have felt no safer in this town. There are a lot of other things they could be doing that would help. This town have boondoggle projects all over the place, while ignoring the necessities of government. And it's not helping the case when the necessities are going to stupid stuff like this.
I have to plead ignorance about the particulars in Ann Arbor, unfortunately (I'd love to live there again). And I agree, in cases where there's less than,say, a 60% chance of conviction I say divert those funds otherwise earmarked for the trial to law enforcment costs (if that were, in fact, possible).
Just prosecute cases that are really necessary in a court system that is backlogged everywhere, and settle or dismiss this silliness. Even in department, I'd rather the money be going to investigate and try and get a conviction on, well, criminals, rather than personal disputes that should have ended with a police officer saying "go home, or else", and use those resources on anything from serial rapists to unending graffitti in town. Either end of the spectrum it's still more worthwhile than victimless "crimes". I can't see a reason for a case like this even if it did end up in actual "illegal entry" that should end up in a trial. Settle it. He wasn't walking in an open front door and grabbing a laptop.
And if you have to go to trial because the person insists he's innocent, and your witnesses are backing him up....swallow your pride and call it a wash.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
This was the only resolution.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
Why, why, why would you ever go to trial on a case like this? Good job, DA!
April 26th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
Sounds like it all was just blown out of proportion. Glad to hear the news. Now grow the dreads back and nothing like this will ever happen again!
April 26th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
Good for Josh. I bet he's got a big smile on his face and a load off his shoulders.
She must be a sparty. That is the only reason why this would go to trial in the first place.
She went to Wayne State for law school and Michigan for physics before that. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/patricia-reiser/12/667/4b6
April 26th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^
To give the prosecutor the benefit of the doubt, it is possible they felt dismissing the charges might subject them to charges of favoritism to a UM football player, and better to let the jury (or judge if a bench trial) just acquit the guy. Based on reports of the testimony, however, it sure sounded as if the charges should simply have been dismissed. In any event, an acquittal is better for Furman than a plea deal.
How about cowardice?
April 26th, 2012 at 12:40 PM ^
Another embarrasment for overzealous prosecutors determined to convict rather than get to the truth.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^
Too bad they face no consequences even if they are way out of line.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
The only time I can think of a prosecutor getting in trouble is the Duke lacrosse case. There was the DA in Savannah, GA that was profiled in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," that manipulating tons of evidence in a capital murder case, neglected to provide the defense with facts, and yet was never reprimended.
There is a case in Louisana where the defense (after the guy has spent years on Death Row) found that the police and the prosecutor had tossed switched his DNA sample with the one foudn at the scene, thus implicating him...and the Supreme Court ruled that they shouldn't be punished.....rant over.
But cases like this show that to get into trouble a prosecutor has to do something exceedingly stupid and public, otherwise it isn't a big deal. The only thing that this prosecutor will likely face is a little public ridicule and it may inhibit the ability to get a job somewhere else, but likely this will be forgotten by the prosecutor's office within a month. Meanwhile, Mr. Furman is stuck with a likely hefty legal bill and even though he has been declared not guilty by the court, this will remain on his record whenever someone Google's him. God help him if he is ever accused of anything ever again.
Unless things have changed in the last six years, UofM students should still be getting a pro bono rep. He should be fine $$.
I don't know what the criminal statutes are like in Michigan, but this might come up on his arrest record. In Illinois, I believe it comes up when doing background searches, although it should indicate that he was found not guilty (not sure about this entirely since I just volunteer at an expungement desk). Still makes finding a job very difficult, especially for minorities and lower income individuals looking for jobs that have an flood of applications. This type of stuff, although seemingly trivial can have impacts on people's lives.
The whole tough on crime that seems to come with the job for most DA's tends to be executed to the overall detriment of society. Pointless prosecutions, arrests and sentences for people who really should not be in jail, etc. The whole send people to jail as rehabilitation is bullshit. More of get these people away from us mentality that really just helps perpetuate problems in lower income areas. Arrests and prison time makes it tougher to get jobs, pursue education, and leaves families, particularly children out in the street. Also leads to networking opportunities. But if someone wants to go somewhere from the DA spot (other political position since it is often a jump start position) you have to look "Tough on Crime" because if he isn't tough on crime then he isn't willing to fight for the innocent, serve the righteous citizens, yada yada yada. Too bad "Striving to Understand the Plight Lower Income Individuals Face, the Social and Economic Inequities Perpetuating Cycles of Further Poverty and Crime, and Working to Rectify These Structural Inequities" doesn't work as well as a political ad. Maybe its because it has too many words. Printing can cost lots of money.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^
*cough cough* Nancy Grace *cough cough*
In this case, it was an Assistant Prosecutor. She has a boss. Generally, DAs don't like their subordinates to lose at trial. My guess is that this didn't help her career any.
April 26th, 2012 at 11:07 PM ^
Very informative. My only problem is that for the rest of his life, when he applies for a job, he has to check the "yes" box next to whether he's been arrested and explain that he was tried and found not guilty. He's going to have to explain it to every girlfriend's parents if they decide to look up his record. He made a mistake. I don't know how big a mistake--I wasn't there--but I'm not sure it was so bad as to deserve this. Prosecutors should not have their discretion to drop a case taken away.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^
April 26th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
I'm happy for him. Hope he comes out this fall with a chip on his shoulder.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:52 PM ^
Sadly, I feel that he is going to be a marked man by the police. If he jaywalks he might get arrested, the authorities don't like to be embarrased, no one does, but the authories have the ability to do something about their embarrasement. I hope that he stays in the straight and narrow and is productive for his remainder in A2.
Does anyone know if he will be reinstated onto the football team?
To your first point, any DA/prosecutor who takes something this minor personally will never get re-elected/should be fired. He is not a marked man.
As to your second point, this came out an hour ago. Patience.
We joined the Wolverines because we wanted to live our lives by a certain code, and we found it in the Team. Now you're asking us to sign a piece of paper that says we have no honor. You're asking us to say we're not Wolverines. If a court decides that what we did was wrong, then I'll accept whatever punishment they give. But I believe I was right sir, I believe I did my job, and I will not dishonor myself, my unit, or the Team so I can go home in six months... Sir.
Or something like that.....
Excellent movie reference! Double points for how it was done.
How will missing Spring football affect Furman? I'm assuming he will be reinstated to the team. Missing practice the last month doesn't help his prospects. I would guess he is too old to redshirt, but unless something radical happens, I doubt Furman sees the field, other than perhaps on special teams. Still, the fact that he went to trial (so as to have a chance to stay on the team) shows that Furman really WANTS to be part of Michigan football. That's the kind of attitude you want.
I believe he already took his RS. Isn't he a RS freshman or a RS sophomore? He has time to make it back and definitely make an impact on special teams this year. Might hurt his ability to backup Thomas Gordon (assume he is still penciled in as a FS, but if he isn't he won't be passing Marvin Robinson as backup SS), but if he puts in the time he most likely can pass Jarrod Wilson as he will need to do some physical developing.