Kowalski retrial postponed after Court of Appeals grants stay

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — The retrial of Jerome Kowalski, slated to start Monday, has been granted a stay by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

“The motion for stay pending appeal is granted, and further proceedings are stayed pending resolution,” the order reads.

More: Did Jerome Kowalski kill his brother and sister-in-law in 2008? A new jury will decide

The application for leave to appeal was filed Sept. 13. The motion to stay the trial was filed Sept. 23.

Details on the appeal were not immediately available, but Kowalski’s legal team earlier sought dismissal of both counts of first-degree murder and both counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony after the judge in his original trial was disbarred and found guilty of perjury. The COA denied the motion in November 2023.

Kowalski, 78, was convicted for the 2008 murders of his brother and sister-in-law and sentenced to life in prison in 2013. When the judge in his case pled guilty to perjury in 2019, those convictions were overturned. Kowalski was awarded a new trial and later granted bond.

Former Livingston County District Judge Theresa Brennan was disbarred and sentenced to six months in jail after ethics and criminal investigations revealed she had a close relationship with Michigan State Police Det. Sean Furlong, who led the investigation into the murders of Richard and Brenda Kowalski.

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Kowalski’s re-trial was originally supposed to take place in January 2022 after COVID delayed proceedings, but was again pushed back while the defense sought dismissals.

— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@livingstondaily.com .

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Kowalski retrial postponed after Court of Appeals grants stay