David Groner, who has presided as a judge in the Criminal and Civil divisions of the Wayne County Circuit Court, recently was appointed to the Business Court. One of three children, Groner has a brother, Joel, a psychologist in suburban Chicago, and a sister, Debbie, a U-M alumna who died 20 years ago. His mother, Leypsa, lives in Southfield, where her late husband was the longtime rabbi at Shaarey Zedek, one of the largest synagogues in Metro Detroit.
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
While spending the first 14 years of his judicial career in the Criminal Division of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Judge David Groner had presided over his share of cases filled with tragedy and heartbreak.
So, it seemed only fitting that the last case he heard in 2017 as a judge in the Criminal Division contained more of the same.
The case involved two suburban males in their early 20s who were out for a joy ride one evening near Detroit.
“They were best friends,” Judge Groner said of the pair.
But on that seemingly carefree evening, two best friends suddenly were no longer inseparable.
“The driver decided to open the car up and lost control of the vehicle, hitting a tree at a high rate of speed, killing his best friend in the passenger seat,” Groner indicated.
The driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter and was facing the possibility of a 15-year prison sentence if convicted. Instead, an agreement was reached with the prosecutor’s office in which the defendant agreed to a prison sentence of 1 to 2 years for a pleading to lesser charge of negligent homicide, according to Groner.
“The respective families didn’t know each other at the time of the accident,” Groner explained. “But when the plea agreement was reached, the victim’s family was absolutely livid that the defendant was going to face relatively little prison time for causing an accident in which their son was killed.”
At the sentencing, Groner had a somber and simple message for all parties gathered in his courtroom.
“I said something to the effect that, ‘There will be no winners today in my courtroom,’” Groner related, noting that “one family lost a son and the other family was about to lose a son” to a prison sentence.
“I told them both that this is one of the hardest days of my life, knowing that this horrible tragedy cost the life of one young man and that his best friend was the cause of it and would have to pay some sort of price,” Groner said.
After imposing a 1-year prison sentence on the defendant, Groner adjourned the proceedings and returned to his chambers.
“I went back there and literally felt terrible about what had just transpired and how two families were so dramatically changed by that accident,” Groner said. “This wasn’t the memory I wanted to have of my last case as a judge in the Criminal Division.”
Within minutes, Groner answered a knock on his door from a member of his court staff, who indicated that the victim’s family was asking the judge to reconsider the terms of the sentence.
“So, I returned to the courtroom and went back on the record,” Groner explained. “It became clear that the victim’s family wanted me to reduce the sentence. So I asked them whether they wanted the 1 year to be in jail instead of prison. No, they said. Then I asked them did they want ‘9 months; 6 months; 3 months?’”
Instead, the victim’s family wanted Groner to sentence the defendant – the man chiefly responsible for the death of their beloved son – to probation.
“They said, ‘We heard your message about there being no winners in this case and we don’t want them to lose a son like we lost ours,’” Groner related, noting the prosecutors involved in the case deferred to him despite the sentencing agreement.
“You talk about a moment,” Groner said. “I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.”
But that wasn’t the end of the day of reckoning.
“I told the victim’s parents that, ‘I’ve never seen anyone as strong as you two,’” Groner said, adding that “divine intervention” was at work in his courtroom that day.
Indeed it was, as the victim’s parents were about to further demonstrate.
“They then asked me, ‘Can we hug the defendant? Can we hug you?’
“Their willingness to forgive, their desire to do good made it all worthwhile,” Groner said of his final case. “How do you top that?”
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