Michigan Appeals Court Overturns Morrison Kidnap Conviction

A Michigan appeals court has overturned the convictions of Joseph Morrison, a man found guilty for his role in a 2020 plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that kidnapping does not meet the legal definition of a "violent felony" required to sustain a state terrorism charge, vacating his 2022 convictions.

Morrison, 32, had been serving a prison sentence since his conviction by a Jackson County jury on charges of providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and felony firearm possession. His sentence had been reduced to a minimum of six years. The appellate panel, in a unanimous decision, concluded that the trial judge provided flawed jury instructions based on an outdated version of the state's kidnapping statute. The judges determined that because a 2006 amendment removed references to "force" from the law, kidnapping no longer qualifies as the type of violent felony needed to support the terrorism-related charge. Because his other convictions relied on that underlying terrorism count, all three were overturned.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel condemned the ruling, calling it "completely and irredeemably...