Prosecutor Appeals Resentencing

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The re-sentencing of a man convicted of second degree murder in Berrien County nearly 40 years ago is being appealed by Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic. Michael Johnson was 17 when he pleaded guilty to the murder charge in the death of 16-year-old Sue Ellen Machemer. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison in 1980. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down life without parole sentences for juveniles prompted Judge John Donahue last month to order a re-sentencing for Johnson, but Prosecutor Sepic says that ruling didn’t apply to Johnson’s case. He’s appealing to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Sepic writes the “reason this is important to other cases is that the natural extension of Judge Donahue’s decision is that any 17 year old — an adult for criminal law purposes in Michigan — convicted of any crime would have to be sentenced” using factors related to the Supreme Court case. He says “That is not what the United States Supreme Court requires.”