Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog
On December 17, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Rodell Brown, an intake corrections officer at the Ryan Correctional Facility convicted of larceny in a building in connection money taken from detainees at the facility. Brown was responsible for processing parole detainees, and allegedly stole four inmates’ cash when processing their money and property. When the four inmates were transferred to other facilities, they claim to have received their physical property, but not the cash they had turned over to Brown.
In this case, the business office staff at the Ryan Correctional Facility maintained they had not received cash, and that Brown had not signed receipts for the money given to him by the four inmates. Brown’s supervisor questioned him as to why he had not signed the receipts, and Brown said he was paranoid about signing the receipts due to the fact that he was a “correction officer,” and the signature line on receipts stated “receiving clerk.” Brown also claimed to have placed the money received from the first two detainees in the safe. He was ultimately found guilty of four counts of larceny in a building.
Brown appealed his conviction, arguing on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The defendant also contended that he could not be guilty of larceny in a building because the parolees surrendered their funds voluntarily during the intake procedure. He argued that he may have committed extortion or embezzlement instead.
The defendant also argued that he should not have been charged with larceny in a building, saying that the proper route for the victims to have taken would have been to bring a civil suit against the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Ultimately, the Court of Appeals shot down all of Brown’s arguments, affirming his conviction.
Michigan criminal appeal lawyers know winning on appeal is a complicated process which requires the legal support and guidance of an attorney who is highly experienced and skilled in the appeals process. In order for a defendant to have the highest odds of succeeding, it is imperative that he/she has a capable attorney.