Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Juvenile And Young Adult Resentencing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wayne County prosecutor urges immediate funding, staff for 410 resentencings after Michigan Supreme Court rulings
Summary
Prosecutor Kim Worthy told the county committee the office must resentence 410 defendants because of recent state high court decisions and asked for temporary hires and funds to meet statutory deadlines she said are impossible to meet with current staff.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy told the county Committee on Public Safety, Judiciary and Homeland Security that recent Michigan Supreme Court decisions require the prosecutor's office to reopen and resentence 410 homicide cases, creating an "impossible" workload under statutory deadlines.
Worthy said the rulings (discussed as People v. Buzarnacki and People v. Taylor in the presentation) extend resentencing obligations to defendants who were ages 18, 19 and 20 at the time of their offenses, adding to earlier resentencing work required after Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery. "We have to resentence all of the going back to even Montgomery, anyone under the age of 17, and now up to 18, 19, and 20," Worthy said. She described the work as resource intensive: investigators to locate and notify family members, paralegals to gather and scan files, and victim advocates to support survivors during the process.
Worthy asked the committee for immediate one-time resources to hire temporary attorneys and support staff. She described preliminary budgeting that estimates staffing and related costs between roughly $2 million and $2.5 million depending on the number of temporary prosecutors (prosecutor-estimated budget), and said she expects to seek additional state funding. "It's impossible. We're not gonna be able to do that," Worthy said of meeting the 180-day statutory timelines cited in the opinion. Commissioners expressed sympathy and urged coordinated advocacy to the state legislature and partners such as the Michigan Association of Counties.
Worthy said the office will not take shortcuts in victims'related work and intends to review each case to determine whether to seek continued life without parole or a term of years. She also said the office will try to recoup any county expenditures from state appropriations if the legislature provides funding, as it did after the earlier Miller/Montgomery resentencings. The committee requested written materials and updates; Worthy said she would provide memos and return with progress reports if needed. No committee vote was held on an appropriation during the meeting.
