TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - After hearing arguments, the Michigan Supreme Court won't intervene in the case of a Traverse City-area man who wasn't warned that a trial could lead to a life sentence with no parole.
The court released an order Saturday.
There's no dispute that prosecutors, Alan Trowbridge's lawyer and the judge didn't know that a conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct would bring a mandatory life sentence because of Trowbridge's past record.
He rejected a plea deal before trial but was willing to plead no contest to a lesser charge at the start of the 2010 trial. Judge Thomas Power said it was too late.
Trowbridge claims his lawyer was ineffective. But the judge believes Trowbridge wouldn't have accepted a deal before trial even if he'd known about the life sentence.
Published: Tue, Apr 21, 2015
