Ed White, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - The Theodore Levin United States Courthouse is photographed in Detroit on July 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Michigan jury awards nearly $60M to man who said his rights were violated by prosecutor

August 12, 2025

A jury has awarded nearly $60 million to a man who accused a disgraced Michigan prosecutor and a police officer of violating his rights in filing sexual abuse charges. The criminal case against Sean MacMaster was ultimately dismissed by the state attorney general in 2019. The jury says Brian Kolodziej and state police Lt. David Busacca acted intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth. MacMaster claimed Kolodziej pursued sex charges against him in an effort to impress a girlfriend who was related to MacMaster’s former wife. The MacMasters were in a contentious child custody battle.

Suspect in Michigan Walmart stabbings is charged with a rarely used state terrorism count

July 28, 2025

A Michigan prosecutor has filed a terrorism charge against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart store. The charge has been rarely used in the state’s courts since it was adopted more than 20 years ago during the outrage over 9/11. The prosecutor believes the terrorism charge fits because the attack near Traverse City on Saturday was intended to “put fear in the entire community.” Bradford Gille is also charged with attempted murder. An expert believes the terrorism charge will be hard to pursue because of Gille’s mental health. A not-guilty plea was entered.

This photo provided by the Sanilac County, Mich., Sheriff's Office on Friday, June 13, 2025, shows Chinese scientist Yunqing Jian. (Sanilac County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Lawyers say plea deal is being pursued for Chinese scientist charged in US toxic fungus case

June 17, 2025

A plea deal appears to be in the works for a Chinese scientist who is charged with conspiring to raise a toxic fungus at a University of Michigan lab. A court filing shows lawyers for Yunqing Jian are “engaged in plea negotiations” with federal prosecutors in Detroit. Jian was a researcher at the University of Michigan when she was arrested on June 3. She’s accused of helping her boyfriend, another Chinese scientist, try to work with a pathogen known as Fusarium graminearum. It can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice.

Defense lawyers for Chinese scientist Yunqing Jian, from left, David Duncan, James Gerometta and Norman Zalkind leave federal court in Detroit on June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ed White)

2 Chinese scientists will stay in jail while accused of bringing biological material to US

June 13, 2025

Two Chinese scientists accused of smuggling or shipping biological material into the United States without permits will remain in custody in Michigan. They waived their right to a hearing Friday in federal court. Chengxuan Han was arrested Sunday at the Detroit airport. Yunqing Jian was arrested on June 2 and is charged with conspiring with her boyfriend to bring a toxic fungus into the U.S. Both worked at the same University of Michigan laboratory. The university has not been accused of misconduct. Its statement condemns any actions that “seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.”

No new trials for Michigan school shooter’s parents despite violation by prosecutors, judge rules

June 11, 2025

A judge has turned down requests for new trials by the parents of a Michigan school shooter. The judge says prosecutors willfully failed to disclose agreements with two key witnesses. But she says setting aside the involuntary manslaughter convictions of James and Jennifer Crumbley would be too severe. Defense lawyers didn’t know that two officials at Oxford High School were assured that information given to investigators would not be used against the officials. The Crumbleys were accused of being negligent before the shooting. Four students died in 2021.

US reports the arrest of another Chinese scientist with no permit to send biological material

June 9, 2025

A Chinese scientist has been arrested while arriving in the U.S. in Detroit. It’s the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to members of a laboratory at the University of Michigan. It’s described as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. The FBI says the shipments were intercepted last year and earlier this year and opened by authorities.

US says it broke up effort to bring toxic fungus to Michigan lab from China

June 3, 2025

Two scientists from China have been charged in Michigan in what the FBI says was an effort to bring a toxic fungus to the U.S. Investigators say the pathogen can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice and sicken livestock and people. The scientists are charged with conspiracy, smuggling and other crimes. Only one is still in Michigan. The other was turned away at the Detroit airport last July and sent back to China after red plant material was discovered in his backpack.

Michigan court ends effort to sue Oxford school staff over 2021 mass shooting

May 28, 2025

The Michigan Supreme Court had dismissed appeals by families of students killed or wounded at Oxford High School in 2021. The court’s brief order issued Wednesday ends efforts to hold employees partly responsible for the mass shooting. Under Michigan law, immunity is a high hurdle to overcome in lawsuits against a government body. Ethan Crumbley is serving a life prison sentence for killing four student and wounding seven other people. Oxford staff allowed him to stay in school the day of the shooting, despite his violent drawings.

FILE - Ed Martin speaks at an event hosted by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

US Justice Department pardon lawyer pledges ‘hard look’ at plot to kidnap Michigan governor

May 23, 2025

The U.S. Justice Department’s new pardon attorney says he is going to take a “hard look” at two men who are in prison for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Ed Martin Jr. says, “We can’t leave these guys behind.” Martin spoke on “The Breanna Morello Show.” He likened Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox to the 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. There was no immediate comment from Whitmer’s office.

Former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr sits in court during the second day of his trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Schurr is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant during a traffic stop on April 4, 2022. (WOOD-TV via AP, Pool)

A Michigan police officer who killed a Black motorist won’t face a retrial, prosecutor says

May 22, 2025

A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head after a tumultuous traffic stop will not face a second murder trial. Prosecutor Chris Becker made the announcement Thursday, two weeks after a trial ended without a unanimous verdict. Becker says he doubts there would be a different result in another trial because the case has “split the community.” Christopher Schurr was a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He says he feared for his life and shot Patrick Lyoya because the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant had control of his Taser. Schurr was charged with second-degree murder.

Ed White.