The Michigan Court of Appeals has unanimously overturned the conviction of a Jackson County man found guilty in 2022 for his alleged role in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Joseph Morrison, of Munith, was sentenced to 4-20 years in prison — alongside other members of the militia group “Wolverine Watchmen” — for providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and felony firearm charges.
The Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled to reverse those convictions based upon their finding that “kidnapping is not a violent felony,” and therefore “the charge of kidnapping cannot properly form the basis for [the] defendant’s conviction,” the opinion read.
Further, the opinion stated that the jury instructions provided by the trial court tainted the verdict.
“That error requires reversal because it allowed the jurors to find defendant guilty on an invalid basis,” the judges wrote. “The verdict form asked only whether defendant was guilty (or not) of ‘Providing Material Support for an Act of Terrorism.’ Therefore, we cannot determine the extent to which the jury based its conviction on the underlying felony of kidnapping as opposed to murder or some other offense.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement on Wednesday in response to the ruling, calling it “completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible.”
“For the panel to declare that kidnapping is not a violent felony strains all legal credibility and insults the intelligence of every person in this state,” she wrote. “The Court twists itself into a knot using legal and linguistic gymnastics in order to liberate dangerous criminals using convoluted definitions of the crimes upon which they were convicted. The fact that the ruling comes a mere two days following the argument belies the eagerness to which the Court sought a means to justify this end.”
Back in January, Judge Thomas Wilson of the 4th Circuit Court in Jackson County denied motions for a new trial and resentencing by Morrison. He also denied motions for a new trial and sentencing from Paul Bellar and Pete Musico, the two other men convicted in the alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, Morrison’s case has been vacated and remanded for further proceedings — though Nessel said she intends to appeal the decision.
“My office will not allow this to stand,” she said. “…We will not accept violent threats against our elected leaders, and we will not abide the arbitrary defanging of the criminal statutes that preserve public safety and order in the State of Michigan.”
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