Michigan kidnap plotters denied retrial

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge has denied a new trial for two men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Lawyers for Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. alleged misconduct by a juror and unfairness by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker after their conviction by a federal jury in August. Jonker on Friday shot down claims of juror misconduct and said he found “no constitutional violation and no credible evidence” to convene a new hearing.

Fox and Croft face up to life in prison when they’re sentenced Dec. 28. Whitmer, just reelected to a second term, was never physically harmed in the plot, which led to more than a dozen arrests in 2020.

Fox and Croft’s first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to come to a unanimous verdict.

Defense lawyers said a juror in the second trial was described by a co-worker as “far-left leaning,” was eager to get on the jury and was poised to convict before hearing evidence. They also said the judge erred by imposing a time limit on the cross-examination of a government witness.

“Defendants have neither demonstrated that the jury verdict is ‘against the manifest weight of the evidence’ nor that a ‘substantial legal error has occurred’ such that the interests of justice demand a new trial,” Jonker wrote.