Convictions of Men in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Thrown Out by Appeals Court

The convictions of three men allegedly involved in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have been thrown out by an appeals court.

The Michigan Court of Appeals on July 20 vacated the convictions of Paul Bellar and Pete Musico, whom a jury convicted of providing material support for an act of terrorism for their connection to the alleged plot.

The act of terrorism in the convictions was kidnapping, but under state law, kidnapping cannot serve as an act of terrorism for the purposes of providing material support charges, according to the judges.

That’s because an act of terrorism is an act that would be a violent felony under the laws of the state, and kidnapping is not a violent felony.

The appeals court panel pointed to a June decision in the case of co-defendant Joseph Morrison, who was also convicted of providing material support for terrorism as part of the alleged plot. A different state appeals court panel said in that decision that “the charge of kidnapping cannot properly form the basis for defendant’s conviction.”

That means jurors were provided with erroneous instructions, the panel said.

The June decision serves as a precedential ruling that must be followed in other cases, according to the per curiam opinion on Monday.

“We agree with the parties that this Court is bound by the Morrison Court’s interpretation,” the judges said. “We are likewise bound by the determination that kidnapping is not a violent felony that can permissibly form the basis for a conviction of providing material support for an act of terrorism. Finally, the jury verdict in this case was tainted by the same erroneous instructions as the jury in Morrison.”

The appeals court panels also vacated convictions for commission of a felony motivated by gang membership or association and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, since kidnapping was the underlying felony in those convictions. The panel on Monday said that there were signs that the Wolverine Watchmen, a group some of the men were members of, appeared to be involved in illegal activity, and jurors could have found it was a gang.

The judges did not address arguments about whether the charges themselves were sufficient, and said that because the convictions were vacated based on instructional error, the proceedings can advance in district court in Michigan.

The men had been accused of participating in a plan with 11 others to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, in 2020.

Six convictions now stand for the group of 14, since five of the men had previously been acquitted in trials.

Lawyers for Bellar, Morrison, and Musico could not be reached.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement that she would appeal the decisions.

“A previous ruling used linguistic gymnastics to overturn the conviction of an extremist. Now, that broken precedent has legally bound this Court of Appeals panel to reverse the convictions of two more dangerous criminals,” Nessel said in a statement.

“It is clear that all three of these defendants engaged in a coordinated plan to kidnap and harm the governor and cause mayhem and destruction across our communities in the process. There is no word to describe this other than violent.”