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Criminal Appellate & Parole Appeals Division
The Criminal Appellate & Parole Appeals Division performs the following functions:
- Division attorneys respond to federal habeas petitions filed by prisoners held by the Michigan Department of Corrections and its Wardens who are challenging the federal constitutionality of their state convictions and/or sentences. This involves briefing (and often oral argument and/or evidentiary hearings) in Michigan’s federal district courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
- Division attorneys respond to state court appeals of felony jury or bench convictions obtained by fifty-six (56) of Michigan’s counties, and this involves briefing and oral argument in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court.
- Division attorneys respond to appeals of convictions obtained by the Department of Attorney General’s (DAG) Criminal Trials Division which again involves briefing and oral argument in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court.
- Where directed by the Attorney General or her Executive staff, division attorneys assist DAG trial attorneys with trial court motion practice, any necessary interlocutory appeal practice arising from cases being prosecuted by the DAG, and other matters (including research and training projects) as determined by the Attorney General or her Executive staff.
- Division attorneys, in the appropriate cases, work with victims of crime who are seeking assistance in arguing against the parole of convicted offenders and, when deemed appropriate, file appeals in the state trial courts (and, if necessary, in the state appellate courts) from decisions of the Parole Board releasing dangerous convicted offenders on parole.