Murder Conviction Overturned - Stolen Tapes

What can happen to a trial that is tape recorded? Here is an example of a system gone bad and seemingly it's only going to get worse.

The majority of our everyday tax paying people of this country are probably not aware of the changes taking place inside courtrooms as the audio/video companies who manufacture products for installation into courtrooms and cut cozy deals with court administrators.

What we need rather than ineffective video cameras or audio recording equipment are people to populate our courtrooms, a judge, a bailiff, a clerk, and a "qualified court reporter." Although it is unclear, it would seem in this instance the court reporter was an "audio" court reporter.

~ The Beagle

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Friday, February 29, 2008
Detroit
Murder conviction overturned after trial tape theft
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The Michigan Court of Appeals has overturned a murder conviction because the trial transcript of the convicted killer, Elroy Lucky Jones, was reported stolen from a court reporter's car in Detroit.

The appeals court also ordered a review of the court reporting license of Glenda J. Merritt, whose car was reportedly burglarized, and her "character and fitness as a court reporter."

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office had no immediate comment Thursday on the order issued Wednesday that Jones -- sentenced to life in prison in January in connection with a 2006 Detroit murder -- get a new trial.

Craig Tank, a Macomb Township lawyer representing the 28-year-old Jones, said he will seek bond for his client. "It's certainly an extraordinary situation," Tank said Thursday. "I'm really not cognizant of many other cases like it."

Merritt told Detroit police last March that her briefcase containing tapes from the Jones trial and other cases was stolen from her vehicle while the auto was parked outside a drugstore at East Jefferson and Walker. "I don't care to talk about it," Merritt said Thursday before hanging up the phone.

At the time of the theft, Tank was planning to appeal the Jones case, which was handled by Wayne Circuit Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway. The loss of the transcripts made the appeal impossible.

Prosecutors said at the time of the theft that up to four cases could be affected by the missing tapes. It wasn't clear Thursday whether any other convictions had been overturned.

Jones' mother, Beverly Jones, said Jones' father named him Lucky after the notorious gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano. "He liked watching gangster movies," she said of Jones' father.

At the time of the theft, court officials said that they were investigating whether Merritt violated the court's rules regarding the number of tapes she was transporting at one time.

You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com.