QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We are pleased that the Court has recognized that false confessions do exist and that the jury will get to hear the science behind that fact," said Heather Nalley, one of Kowalski's attorneys. "We are disappointed that the court has precluded the expert from testifying as to police misconduct in this case. At this time, we are considering our situation and appeal options.”
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STORY: "Judge: False confession expert can testify during Kolwalski murder trial," by Reporter Kayla Daugherty, published by The Livingston Daily on October 6, 2020.
GIST: "An expert on false confessions will be allowed to testify during a new trial for a man convicted of two murders but whose conviction was vacated last year amid the fallout from judicial misconduct proceedings against former judge Theresa Brennan.
Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart ruled expert witness Richard Ofshe could testify about the generalities of false confessions, but cannot testify on any case-specific testimony related to Jerome Kowalski's criminal case.
Kowalski was charged after his sister-in-law and brother, Brenda and Richard Kowalski, were murdered in their home in 2008. He subsequently both confessed and denied committing the crime.
Kowalski's original attorney, Wally Piszczatowski, sought a false confession expert to testify during the first trial. The presiding judge, Brennan, denied the request, a decision that was affirmed on appeal.
Kowalski was convicted of the murders in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison by Brennan.
His conviction was vacated in January of 2019 after the Michigan Supreme Court found Brennan failed to disclose her relationship with the lead investigator in the murders, Michigan State Police Sgt. Sean Furlong.
Jerome Kowalski confessed to the murders in an interview conducted by Furlong in the days following the murders.
Kowalski was also granted a new trial in January of 2019.
“We are pleased that the Court has recognized that false confessions do exist and that the jury will get to hear the science behind that fact," said Heather Nalley, one of Kowalski's attorneys. "We are disappointed that the court has precluded the expert from testifying as to police misconduct in this case. At this time, we are considering our situation and appeal options.”
Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt had opposed Ofshe being allowed to testify. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
False confessions:
Earlier this year Genesee County Circuit Court Judge David Newblatt ruled Ofshe could testify as an expert witness concerning false confessions and police interrogation methods in an unrelated criminal case in that county.
Similar to Stewart's ruling, Ofshe will not be allowed to specifically discuss the confession in that case, which involved a former Genesee County Sheriff’s deputy, charged with sexually assaulting a female in his custody.
In 2012, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled false-confession experts can testify under certain circumstances.
"We hold that because the claim of a false confession is beyond the common knowledge of the ordinary person, expert testimony about this phenomenon is admissible under MRE 702 when it meets the other requirements of MRE 702," the court wrote in its July 2012 opinion. "We caution, however, that like other expert testimony explaining counterintuitive behavior, the admissibility of expert testimony pertaining to false confessions is not without limitations."
Future court dates were not available Tuesday morning.
Kowalski faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged."
The entire story can be read at:
