Saginaw Circuit Judge Reinstates Charge
Saginaw County Circuit Court Judge Darnell Jackson has overturned a district court Judge’s ruling on assault charges. Judge Jackson stated that Saginaw County District Judge M.T. Thompson abused his judicial discretion when dismissing a felony charge in a current case.
The issue stems from a recent domestic incident in which Marcellus D. Jenkins, Jr, a 19-year-old Saginaw man, became involved in a dispute with the mother of his child and her boyfriend. According to testimony given by another woman involved in the incident, Jenkins shot at the boyfriend after a failed attempt to get him to leave the home.
Despite the fact that Jenkins fired the gun between 3 and 5 times, the victim was only shot once in the hand. After the shots were fired, Jenkins and the woman who provided witness testimony, engaged in a physical fight, which resulted in Jenkins hitting the woman on the head, either with his fist or the gun.
As a result of the incident, Jenkins was charged with six felonies and a misdemeanor, namely: assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, possessing a firearm as a felon, three counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, and the misdemeanor charge of domestic violence.
On Monday, March 24th, during Jenkins’ preliminary hearing, Judge Thompson concluded that the prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence to charge Jenkins with assault with intent to murder. The judge replaced the charge with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder, which is a lesser charge that only carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
On May 28th, Judge Jackson gave the prosecutors permission to reinstate the charge of assault with intent to murder. According to Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Manvel Trice, “Intent is an issue for a jury to decide, not an issue for the district court judge to decide. Judge Thompson substituted his opinion for the opinion of the jury.”
On May 31, Jenkins accepted a plea agreement and pled “no contest” to six felonies and one misdemeanor. In exchange for the plea, the Prosecution agreed to drop the assault with intent to murder charge that Judge Jackson had previously reinstated. Jenkins sentencing is set for July 17.