Prosecutor asks circuit judge to hold district judge in contempt over secret case dismissals
A prosecutor has asked a Michigan circuit court judge to hold a state district court judge in contempt for failing to disclose all of the domestic violence cases he handled.
In a Tuesday complaint, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper says 52nd District Judge Brian W. MacKenzie violated a February circuit court order by failing to disclose 33 cases, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Cooper says sentences in at least 30 of those cases “blatantly violated state law.” the newspaper reports.
Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien ordered MacKenzie to disclose all the cases after determining the district judge had violated sentencing law in other domestic violence cases. MacKenzie reportedly dismissed some of those other cases without a prosecutor being present in the courtroom.
MacKenzie and his lawyer could not immediately be reached by the Free Press for comment concerning Cooper’s contempt motion. Previously, MacKenzie described Cooper’s claims as “false, impertinent and scandalous.”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Prosecutor says judge secretly dismissed cases, seeks court OK for 10-year review”
