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No. 121189
| The
People of the |
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Nancy
Mullett (269) 969-6980 |
| State of Michigan, |
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Jennifer Kay Clark |
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Plaintiff-Appellant,
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| vs (Appeal
from Ct of Appeals) |
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(Calhoun
-- Garbrecht, J.)
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| Thomas David Cress, |
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David A. Moran (313) 256-9833 |
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Defendant-Appellee.
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Click to view briefs in Adobe format:
Plaintiff-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellee's Brief on Appeal>>
Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan: Amicus
Curiae Brief>>
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan: Amicus
Curiae Brief>>
Background
The body of 17-year-old Patricia Rosansky was found on April 6,
1983, in a wooded ravine in Bedford Township near Battle Creek. Thomas
D. Cress was charged with her murder. In 1985, a jury convicted Cress
of felony murder. Cress is currently serving a mandatory life term in
prison. In 1997, Cress moved for new trial on the basis of newly discovered
evidence. He claimed that a man named Michael Ronning was the real killer
and that Ronning had confessed. Cress also contended that some prosecution
witnesses had recanted their testimony and that another prosecution
witness had admitted testifying falsely. He also asserted that the prosecution
had destroyed physical evidence from the murder scene. In December 1997,
Calhoun County Circuit Judge Allen L. Garbrecht granted Cress' request
for a new trial, but reversed in March 1999, stating that Ronning was
"a false confessor." The Court of Appeals reversed in a 2-1
published opinion. The majority found in part that the trial judge erred
by finding that the newly discovered evidence of Ronning's confession
did not make a different result probable on retrial. The trial judge
also erred by declining to consider the prosecution's alleged bad-faith
destruction of evidence, the majority said. The prosecution appeals.
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