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The Sentencing
December 15, 2016
 Deputy Whitaker's death
is determined to be a single-car accident due to loss of control
while speeding between 110 and 120 mph on a two-lane country road.
Nevertheless, John Kelsey gets the blame at his July 22,
2015 sentencing hearing. From the Lansing State Journal's Matt
Mencarini (7/22/2015):
The courtroom was filled Wednesday
with Whitaker’s friends and family, along with deputies and
administrators from the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office. Many had
to stand in the center aisle and the crowd spilled into an inner
courtroom hallway.
Mary Whitaker spoke for
nearly 40
minutes about the future her son won’t have and what the family
went through the day of the crash and the weeks that followed.
She believes God sacrificed her son to
keep John Kelsey off the road:
What if John Kelsey had stopped
when her son, Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputy Grant Whitaker,
tried to pull him over in the early hours of Dec. 7? What if
Kelsey had been charged, bailed out, back at home in time for
Christmas and then back on the road, possibly driving
intoxicated, putting people at risk? she asked.
God was the only one who knew at the time that
John Kelsey was the person being pursued:
“God hands Grant a torch, saying,
‘It’s time to stop him, Grant,’” she said of the ensuing chase,
in which Grant Whitaker lost control of his patrol car and then
lost his life. “Our son paid the ultimate price for answering
the call of God. I can hear Grant’s voice in response — ‘Let’s
do this.’”
God also wanted
Kelsey dead:
“This very torch, that came from
the hand of God on the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 2014, over
seven months ago, burns just as brightly today as it did the
moment Grant first held it in his own hand,” she said. “The duty
assignment has not changed. The mission is not yet complete. The
time has come to stop John Coryell Kelsey II and stop him for
good.” (LSJ,
7/22/2015)
The transcript of the hearing is
here.
Judge
James Jamo opts for a minimum 20 and maximum 45
years in prison (see
Judgment of Sentence form). Kelsey has been convicted of fleeing and
eluding in the 1st degree and driving while license suspended or
revoked. The sentence for count 1, fleeing and eluding in the first
degree, is 15 years:
If the violation
results in the
death of another individual, an individual who violates
subsection (1) is guilty of first-degree fleeing and eluding, a
felony punishable by imprisonment for
not more than 15 years or
a fine of not more than $15,000.00, or both. (Section
750.479a(5) of the
Michigan Penal Code)
Count 2, driving while license
suspended or revoked, is a misdemeanor punishable by 1 year in
prison when there are prior convictions. (MCL 257.904)
Jamo orders that jail time for count 2 be served concurrently with
count 1.
However, because Kelsey is a habitual
offender, the sentence is increased. Habitual offender is
defined as having 3 or more previous felony convictions, and it
doesn't seem to matter how long ago they were:
(1) If a person has been convicted
of any combination of 3 or more felonies or attempts to commit
felonies, whether the convictions occurred in this state or
would have been for felonies or attempts to commit felonies in
this state if obtained in this state, and that person commits a
subsequent felony within this state, the person shall be
punished upon conviction of the subsequent felony and sentencing
under section 13 of this chapter as follows . . .
(b) If the subsequent felony is
punishable upon a first conviction by imprisonment for a maximum
term of 5 years or more or for life, the court, except as
otherwise provided in this section or section 1 of chapter XI,
may sentence the person to imprisonment for life or for a lesser
term. (MCL
769.12)
Judge Jamo could have sentenced him to
life in prison, but goes with the lesser term
of a minimum 20, maximum 45 years. Anthony Flores, a law professor
at Cooley Law School, explained to me how the judge may have come up with
this sentence:
Kelsey was convicted of a felony
punishable by up to 15 years in prison. As a sentence
enhancement he was also supplemented or habitualized to life
because of his prior felony convictions. Pursuant to the
habitual life supplement the judge may sentence him to life or a
lesser term. This is completely in the discretion of the
sentencing judge. The judge will look to the sentencing
guidelines for guidance concerning what the minimum amount of
time should be if the judge decides to go with a sentence that
is less than life. These sentencing guidelines will evaluate the
PRV (the prior offense variable) the prior record of the
defendant and assign points. [Sentencing
Information Report] The guideline will also take into
account the OV (or offense variables) designating a point total
for this specific crime. With these two numbers the judge uses a
chart using the two numbers to find an acceptable minimum time.
If the judge chooses a sentence that is less than life he is
guided by the grid for purposes of the minimum sentence and then
within his discretion sets the maximum sentence (maximum number
of years in this case something less than life - 45 years). All
of this is in the discretion of the judge. In this case - the
judge determined that his minimum under the guidelines for the
offense and the habitual were around 20 years and set his
minimum at 20 years and set his maximum at 45 years. All of this
is absolutely in his discretion if he chooses a sentence less
than life. In this instance the judge decided to sentence to a
term less than life or what is referred to as lesser terms of
years.
Kelsey's 3 prior felonies occurred
over 13 years earlier (see
Kelsey Record). Two were from an arrest
in the year 2000, when he was 19. They were for possession of
marijuana and fleeing the police. The third was for selling
marijuana. That was in 2003, when he was 23.
So although Kelsey has never been
convicted of an assaultive offense, he is sentenced to 20-45 years. If he had
not been convicted of marijuana
possession when he was 19 - he was 34 at time of his arrest in
December, 2014 - he would not have been considered a habitual offender and
his sentence would have been (not more than) 15 years.
Although the jury decided that Kelsey
didn't cause Whitaker's death, Judge Jamo orders Kelsey to pay
restitution of $41,786.83 to the Ingham County Sheriff for a new
patrol car and $9,664.75 to Whitaker's parents. The Whitaker's are
also entitled to $40,000
life insurance benefit from Ingham County, $333,604.68 from
the federal government's Public
Safety Officers' Benefits Program and $25,000 from Michigan's Public
Safety Officer Benefit Program.
As far as Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth
is concerned, 20-45 years in prison is not enough. He wants Kelsey to die
there:
Mr. Kelsey's still breathing the
same air you and I are. And, Grant Whitaker is buried. So, you
tell me if there's justice .... I hope he gets out under
different circumstances. Let's hope the end of his trail is in
prison. (WILX,
7/22/2015)
Perhaps the most tragic result of
going to trial rather than agreeing on a plea deal is a prison
sentence for Tony Hildabridle. He is sentenced to a minimum 18
months, maximum 22.5 years for perjury. He lied on the stand to
protect his friend John Kelsey. (LSJ,
12/3/2015)
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