1. Volume 82, Number 218 Troy, Michigan Monday, November 2, 2009, ONE DOLLAR
■ Kellogg Earnings
Strong brand loyalty brings a
3rd quarter profit for Kellogg.
Page Two
■ Dental Drama
State sued for cutting off
adult dental benefits.
Page Three
■ Hedge Fund Lawsuit
Delphi reaches settlement in lawsuit
over collapsed deal with Appaloosa.
Page Three
SHORT
TAKES
Oakland County Legal News
Serving the Oakland County Legal Community Since 1927
www.legalnews.com/oakland
The Association of Defense Trial Counsel
(ADTC) will conduct its November Member-
ship Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10, beginning
at 5:30 p.m. at Sindbad’s at the River in
Detroit.
The speakers for the evening include
Macomb County 16th Circuit Court Judge
Diane M. Druzinski, Third Judicial Circuit of
Michigan Judge Amy P. Hathaway, and Mon-
roe County 38th Circuit Court Judge Michael
W. LaBeau.
The cost to attend is $30 for ADTC mem-
bers and $35 for non-ADTC members. Law
students only pay only $20. The fee is payable
at the door.
To confirm attendance, contact Diane Hir-
shey at (313) 237-0610. Reservations must be
made by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
The art of
advocacy and
the prosecutor
THERE IS NO
On Monday, Nov. 9, Oakland County Com-
missioners Eric Coleman, Helaine Zack and
Janet Jackson in conjunction with the Oak-
land County Community & Home Improve-
ment Division, Lighthouse Community
Development and Oakland Livingston Human
Service Agency have teamed up to educate
area residents on how they can retain their
homes at the My Home, My Future seminar.
The seminar will be held at the City of
Southfield Public Library, located at 26300
Evergreen Road beginning at 6:30 p.m. This
free seminar on home ownership retention
will help residents protect their most valuable
assets—their homes—in troubled times.
Topics will include budgeting, credit,
mortgage modifications, steps to stop the
foreclosure process, the Making Homes
Affordable Program, and how to find assis-
tance.
The My Home, My Future foreclosure
intervention and prevention seminars have
been initiated by Oakland County Executive
L. Brooks Patterson and are supported by the
County Board of Commissioners.
Oakland County Commissioner Eric Cole-
man encourages county residents to attend the
meeting to learn more about county and com-
munity organizations that focus on mortgage
and financial matters by stating, “I hope that
people will take advantage of this great
opportunity to learn more about their rights
when dealing with lending institutions.
He continued to say, “It is imperative that
they become familiar with the legitimate ser-
vices that are available to assist them. This
seminar will shed light on that.”
For additional information about the event
hosted by members of the Oakland County
Board of Commissioners, contact the Oakland
County Housing Counseling Office at 1-888-
350-0900 ext. 85402.
Volunteers from the law firm of Pepper
Hamilton prepared a dinner for the
guests staying at the Ronald McDonald
House in the Detroit Medical Center
adjacent to Children’s Hospital of Michi-
gan on Saturday, Oct. 17. Helping out in
the kitchen were (left to right) Anne
Marie Stevenson, Michelle Makulski,
David Stevenson, Nicole Sodko, Denise
Champion, John Shelley, and Jan Beyer.
This is one of multiple meals that Pep-
per is sponsoring as part of celebrating
its 30th anniversary in Detroit’s Renais-
sance Center.
Photo by John Meiu
Volunteers serve
Ronald McDonald
House guests
BY ROBERTA M. GUBBINS
Legal News
“Even before the forensic science crime
shows became popular, there was always a
need in some people’s minds for forensic evi-
dence,” said Lisa D. Lindsey, Wayne County
assistant prosecutor, speaking at Cooley Law
School’s Law Review Symposium. “But when
you look at our cases in Wayne county, most
of them are a known perpetrator with a known
victim. I think at some point as the shows
became more popular, there was a knee-jerk
reaction on the part of the prosecutors to bring
in forensic experts to prove something you
didn’t have to prove.
“We started to point out why forensic evi-
dence such as fingerprints or DNA was not
important. I think we started to think our
jurors were stupid—you have to give your
jurors credit for having common sense. Exam-
ple, we had a case where the defense attorney
told the jury in his opening that the prosecutor
did not have ‘DNA evidence.’ This is a rob-
bery case-they come in, point a gun at the
clerk and clean out the register.
“I put the clerk on the stand and asked her,
‘did the robber spit on you?’”
“No”
No was the answer to all the other ques-
tions regarding any exchange of bodily fluids.
“Then I put my officer on and asked, ‘In order
to get DNA, do you have to find bodily flu-
ids?’ By this time the jury is laughing because
they see that DNA does not apply in this case.
“The main impact seen in Wayne County
(of the CSI effect) is that criminals are doing
things to mar their identity such as burning
off their fingerprints. But,” she noted, “we are
not catching criminals through scientific evi-
dence. We are catching them the old-fash-
ioned way—through anonymous tips or wit-
ness accounts. Forensic evidence is important
only to the extent we use it to prove things in
court-it is not being used to find the perpetra-
tor.
“We are trying our cases without guns or
ballistics. What it boils down to is the testimo-
ny of witnesses and art of advocacy. If you are
not an advocate, all the evidence in the world
will not win the case.” Lindsey went on to say
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BY ROBERTA M. GUBBINS
Legal News
“In recent years, the media representation
in courtroom drama is often based on actual
cases or fictionalization of actual cases. The
most popular shows are the ones that use
forensic science. ‘CSI’ has been called the
most popular television show in the world,”
said Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge
Donald E. Shelton, speaker at the Thomas
M. Cooley Law Review Fall Symposium
titled “CSI Effect, Juror Expectations for
Forensic Science: Does Reality Meet the
Standard?”
“Prosecutors complain that the TV shows
make jurors expect too much from them. A
juror told me that the ‘Government had been
pretty sloppy. They didn’t even dust the lawn
for fingerprints.’”
The media called this expectation of foren-
sic evidence in all criminal cases like that
seen on TV by the jurors the “CSI Effect.”
But, does it exist? Shelton with the help of
Eastern Michigan University professors,
decided to test this assumption. Surveys of
jurors were conducted seeking answers to
such questions as:
• Do jurors expect prosecutors to present
scientific evidence?
• Will they demand scientific evidence as a
condition for a guilty verdict?
• Are these juror expectations and demands
for scientific evidence related to watching law
related television shows?
“We have completed two surveys of juror
attitudes toward scientific evidence—one in
Washtenaw County in 2006 and a study of
more than 1,200 jurors in Wayne County in
2009,” he said looking out at the large audi-
ence of lawyers, law students, professors, and
the general public assembled to listen to Shel-
ton, Gregoire Michaud, Michigan State Police,
Frank Reynolds, defense attorney, and Lisa D.
Lindsey, assistant prosecutor, on the evening
of October 14th in Lansing.
“In each study, we administered the survey
prior to jury selection. We asked them what
programs do you watch? How often? And do
you believe they are true?
“Next, we tried to determine what they
expected to see in term of the prosecutor’s
case. We gave them case scenarios and asked
what do you expect of the prosecutor in every
case? Then we asked them what types of evi-
dence they expected the prosecutor to present
for each type of cases. We asked about scien-
tific and non-scientific evidence.
“We wanted to know if jurors needed to see
scientific evidence to find a person guilty. For
example, we would ask ‘In any criminal case,
if the prosecutor presents circumstantial evi-
dence but doesn’t present scientific evidence,
what do you do? Or a case of murder, if the
prosecutor presents an eye-witness but does
not present scientific evidence, what would
you do?’”
Juror expectations that they would see sci-
entific evidence were high in both studies.
• Sixty percent expected some kind of sci-
entific evidence in every criminal case.
• Seventy-five percent expected DNA evi-
dence in murder case.
Judge presents results of juror studies
Speaking at Cooley’s Law Review Fall in Lansing were
(left to right) Frank Reynolds with Foster, Swift, Collins &
Smith; Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Donald E.
Shelton; Lisa D. Lindsey, assistant prosecutor, Wayne
County; Cooley Professor Ron Bretz; and Gregoire
Michaud, assistant division commander, Michigan State
Police, Forensic Science Division.
Photo by Roberta M. Gubbins
Law week attorney Barton W. Morris Jr., founder of Bank-
ruptcy Rescue, announced his team of bankruptcy lawyers will
select one local family touched by breast cancer and facing
financial crisis, to receive free Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing ser-
vices from essays submitted online at www.mybankruptcyres-
cue.com/breastcancer before Monday, Nov. 30.
The growing rate of bankruptcies caused by medical bills
prompted Morris to participate in the American Bar Associa-
tion (ABA) Pro Bono Celebration Week, October 24-31. The
ABA designated the event to encourage lawyers across the
country to honor those in the legal profession who provide
free legal help to improve the lives of the needy. By award-
ing full bankruptcy filing services to a person in need during
October, also national Breast Cancer Awareness Month,
Morris hopes to raise awareness of the stress financial prob-
lems brought upon breast cancer sufferers and inform people
about the benefits of contracting an attorney for filing bank-
ruptcy. Selection of recipient will be announced on Thurs-
day, Dec. 10.
Every three minutes someone new in this country is diag-
nosed with breast cancer—7,100 Michigan residents hear that
grim news each year. More than 40 thousand people in South-
east Michigan filed for personal bankruptcy in 2008. Many of
these faces are the same as those who struggle with breast can-
cer. The effects of cancer treatment coupled with the emotional
strife from mounting medical bills create fear, unhealthy stress
and a sense of deep hopelessness.
“Studies have shown that high stress levels can hinder a
patient’s healing and no one should endure the additional fear,
uncertainty and doubt of mounting financial problems while
battling this ugly disease,” said Morris. “There is nothing more
satisfying for me than feeling the appreciation for guiding peo-
ple through their problems.”
Bankruptcy Rescue is located in Farmington Hills. For addi-
tional information call (248) 888-55 RESCUE (557-3728) or
visit www.mybankruptcyrescue.com.
Breast cancer patients can apply for free bankruptcy rescue services
(See PROSECUTOR, Page 2)(See CSI EFFECT, Page 2)
“Like the unicorn and
the mermaid, the CSI
Effect is a myth.”
—JUDGE DONALD E. SHELTON
Three circuit court
judges to address ADTC
Organizations provide
seminar on retaining
homes, November 9th
COURTS CLOSED
The Oakland County Circuit and Probate
Courts will be closed on Wednesday, Nov.
11, in observance of Veteran’s Day.
• • •
All offices of the United States District
Court and the United States Bankruptcy
Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
will be closed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in
observance of Veteran’s Day. In case of
emergency, call (313) 234-5656.
• • •
The Michigan Supreme Court, Court of
Appeals, and State Court Administrative
Office will be closed on Wednesday, Nov.
11, in observance of Veterans Day.
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