In about two weeks, Wayne County prosecutors and defense attorneys will argue whether or not the remaining charges against Michael Jackson-Bolanos, the suspect accused of killing Jewish leader and political activist Samantha Woll during a home invasion in Detroit, should be dismissed.
A jury wasn’t convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Jackson-Bolanos was the killer: Last week, after five days of deliberations, the jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder, convicted him of lying to police, but deadlocked on two other charges, felony murder and home invasion.
The prosecution had a week to decide to move forward with a retrial or possibly drop the remaining charges. Meanwhile, defense attorneys for Jackson-Bolanos, who maintain their client's innocence "without a shadow of a doubt," took the rare legal move of starting a petition to convince prosecutors to let their client go.
A pretrial hearing was set for Thursday, where the prosecution was expected to make a decision, but the defense filed a motion to dismiss the remaining charges against Jackson-Bolanos on Wednesday. Third Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten set a court date of Aug. 9 for them to argue the motion.
The high-profile case against Jackson-Bolanos has been both complex and emotional. The trial took five weeks and began in June, with Woll's loved ones present in the courtroom during its entirety.
According to court and police records, motion was last detected in Woll's home at 4:20 a.m. the day she was killed, Oct. 21, 2023. About four minutes later, Jackson-Bolanos was seen on video a quarter-mile away from Woll's home, crossing the Monroe Street bridge over Interstate 375.
Prosecutors allege that Jackson-Bolanos, 29, fatally stabbed Woll eight times after breaking into her home. The prosecution showed during trial numerous videos of Jackson-Bolanos in the area of Woll’s home breaking into cars the night she was killed.
They argued Jackson-Bolanos, who is a habitual offender, had a motive to kill Woll: He knew he was facing 25 years in prison if he got caught for another crime. So, he killed her, the prosecution argued, and then lied to police about it.
The suspect took the rare step of testifying in his own defense during trial, admitting he was breaking into cars when he saw Woll’s body lying on the ground in front of her Detroit home, checked her for a pulse, then fled after realizing she was dead, fearing he would be blamed for her death.
According to police, Jackson-Bolanos was the only one spotted near the crime scene that night. And he admitted to being there and touching Woll's body, but only after lying more than 40 times about his actions that night, the prosecution argued.
But the defense has been extremely adamant about Jackson-Bolanos’ innocence, arguing that it was not "humanly possible" for their client to struggle with Woll, stab her multiple times, and then flee during the time frame of the killing that the prosecution presented in court.
Purna Krishnamoorthy, an attorney for Jackson-Bolanos, argued in her petition that police did not thoroughly investigate Woll’s ex-boyfriend , Jeffery Herbstman, who initially admitted to killing Woll before recanting. Police later determined his testimony was false.
Allison Kriger, Herbstman's attorney, described Krishnamoorthy's argument as "disingenuous and undermined by the record evidence."
"She can and should be an advocate for her client, but she isn't entitled to rewrite the record. That is how wrongful convictions happen," Kriger said.
Kriger pointed to the body of work around false and unreliable confessions; it's not a new concept in criminal proceedings and is powerful in swaying a jury, she said. Juries focus on these confessions, ignoring other evidence presented during a trial, Kriger said.
"I would encourage Ms. Krishnamoorthy, as a criminal defense attorney, to familiarize herself with the well-established social science research relating to unreliable admissions/confessions because perhaps one day one of her clients will find themselves in the position that my client is in," Kriger wrote in a statement to the Free Press.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at asahouri@freepress.com .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Samantha Woll killing: Defense wants charges against Michael Jackson-Bolanos dismissed
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