Judge Ends Murder Case in Synagogue Leader's Death

Jury acquitted on one charge, another is dismissed because of Supreme Court ruling
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 10, 2024 3:40 PM CDT
Judge Dismisses Murder Case in Synagogue Leader's Death
Defendant Michael Jackson-Bolanos, on trial for the murder of Samantha Woll, testifies in his defense on July 3 at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.   (Clarence Tabb, Jr./Detroit News via AP)

The case against a man accused of killing of a Detroit synagogue leader collapsed as a judge dismissed a remaining murder charge, three weeks after a jury cleared him of a similar but separate charge. Judge Margaret Van Houten said Friday that putting Michael Jackson-Bolanos on trial again for murder would be unconstitutional "double jeopardy." Jackson-Bolanos maintains his innocence in the fatal stabbing of Samantha Woll, 40, who was found dead outside her home in October. Prosecutors acknowledged that the pending murder charge probably had to be dismissed, the AP reports.

A jury in July acquitted Jackson-Bolanos of first-degree premediated murder. But it couldn't reach a unanimous verdict on a separate charge of felony murder, which in Michigan is murder committed during another crime. In this case, prosecutors alleged a home invasion. The judge ruled out a second trial Friday, based on a 2009 US Supreme Court decision involving partial jury verdicts. Van Houten said that it was a "poor decision" but that she had to apply it to Jackson-Bolanos. She dismissed the remaining murder and home invasion charges. Prosecutors pledged to appeal. Van Houten then sentenced Jackson-Bolanos to 18 months in prison for lying to police during the investigation—his only trial conviction. Defense attorney Brian Brown asked for probation.

"If lying was an Olympic sport, you would get a gold medal, sir," the judge told Jackson-Bolanos. Jackson-Bolanos testified in his own defense, insisting that he had no role but admitting that he touched Woll's body when he found it while in the neighborhood. Blood spots were on his coat. "I'm a Black guy in the middle of the night breaking into cars, and I found myself standing in front of a dead white woman. That doesn't look good at all," Jackson-Bolanos said when asked why he didn't call police. Investigators first arrested a former boyfriend who made a hysterical call to 911 and said he might have killed Woll but couldn't remember. He blamed an adverse reaction to medication for the claim and was not charged.

(More Detroit stories.)

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