Judge Won't Dismiss Charges Before Whitmer Kidnap Plot Trial

DETROIT: A judge rejected claims of entrapment Tuesday and declined to dismiss charges ahead of a March trial against five men accused of trying to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker ruled that the defendants, who claim they were illegally influenced by rogue agents and informants, failed to meet a heavy burden to have the case dismissed at this point. He said they must show evidence of inducement and their own clear absence of interest in targeting Whitmer.

Defendants fail to carry their burden because the evidence on both issues is decidedly disputed as it almost inevitably is at this stage of the case, the judge said in a six-page opinion.

Jonker said a jury will have to decide who’s credible.

The men Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are accused of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, and plotting to snatch her at a second home in northern Michigan, because of their disgust over COVID-19 restrictions. Some are also facing weapons charges. They were arrested in October 2020.

A sixth defendant, Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to slightly more than six years in prison. Prosecutors said he will be a star witness at the March 8 trial in federal court in Grand Rapids.

The government will present substantial evidence that the plot was hatched by two men and that others joined voluntarily, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in a court filing.

The evidence includes secretly recorded conversations. Kessler quoted Fox as allegedly telling an informant: I want to have the governor hog-tied, laid out on a table while we all pose around like we just made the world’s biggest drug bust.

When the kidnapping case was filed in 2020, it added even more heat to the final weeks of a tumultuous election season.

Whitmer pinned some blame on then-President Donald Trump, saying his refusal to denounce far-right groups had inspired extremists across the U.S. Trump had earlier urged supporters to LIBERATE Michigan from stay-at-home mandates.

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Read all the Latest News here