Pontiac
Man, 20, pleads no-contest plea to murdering dad
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A 20-year-old Detroit-area man has short-circuited his murder trial by pleading no-contest to accusations he killed his father and injured his mother and brother with a baseball bat.
Tucker Cipriano entered the plea Monday during a break for a jury hearing the case in Oakland County Circuit Court.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder and faces an automatic penalty of life in prison without parole when Judge Shalina Kumar sentences him July 9.
Robert Cipriano was killed inside his Farmington Hills home in April 2012. His wife Rose and their son Sal were also attacked. Sal Cipriano still is in a hospital.
Selection concluded Monday for a separate jury hearing the case against co-defendant Mitchell Young. Prosecution and defense lawyers are to make opening statements Wednesday.
Lansing
Lawmakers take up busy agenda before summer
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan lawmakers have a lot on their plate before breaking for the summer at week’s end.
Bills to expand Medicaid, allow for the dissolution of deficit-ridden school districts and improve legal aid for criminal defendants are on the agenda.
So is legislation to raise hunting and fishing license fees, change home foreclosure rules and add up to $1 surcharge on electric bills to help poor customers with their heating bills.
The Republican-led Senate could take a big vote on Medicaid expansion as early as Tuesday. The House last week voted to expand the government health insurance program to 320,000 adults in 2014.
Medicaid expansion is an option under the federal health care law. Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing expansion despite opposition from conservative and tea party groups.
Grand Rapids
Man sent to prison in counterfeit Gillette razor case
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Florida man has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for sending counterfeit Gillette razor blades to Meijer stores in western Michigan.
Jeffrey Telsey pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to deal in the blades. The Delray Beach, Fla., man was sentenced last week in Grand Rapids federal court.
Telsey had a legitimate business selling leftover beauty and health products, but mixed in were counterfeit blades imported from China.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles Jr. says trafficking in counterfeits products undermines the public’s confidence in what they see and buy in stores. Agents in 2009 seized blades worth $425,000. They also seized a bank account with $400,000.
East Lansing
MSU law professor Totten runs for attorney general
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan State University law professor who used to be a federal prosecutor is running for Michigan attorney general in 2014.
Democrat Mark Totten made the announcement in an email to supporters on Monday. Democrats will choose their attorney general candidate at a nominating convention next year.
No other Democratic candidates have entered the race, but it’s early. Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette is expected to seek re-election.
Totten says Michigan needs a “people’s lawyer” who will fight for them. The Kalamazoo resident has a law degree from Yale and lost a 2010 Democratic primary for a state Senate seat.
He has been a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in western Michigan, clerk for a U.S. Court of Appeals judge and staff attorney for the Justice Department.?
