ATTORNEY: POLICE ‘RUSHED TO JUDGEMENT’
Victims in Fraser stabbing incident also should have been charged
The attorney for an 18-yearold man who pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection with a wild, multiple-stabbing incident in a Fraser home says police “rushed to judgment” in charging his client, as the alleged victims made a myriad of conflicting, incriminating and heartless statements.
Attorney Jeffery Cojocar, representing Collin West, contends the legal victims in the case are more responsible for the tragic incident than his client and should have been criminally charged, and for those reasons West should receive probation.
Cojocar says in a 26-page (including exhibits) sentencing memorandum that West only deserves probation and no prison time after pleading guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm and second-degree home invasion for the September 2022 incident in a Garfield Road home in Fraser.
“The defense truly disputes who was the real victim from these circumstances,” Cojocar says. “In the defense’s subjective opinion,” the alleged victims “are far more legally culpable than Collin West or his two co-defendants.
“The facts and evidence in the case could not be in more dispute.”
Trent Redstrom, 14, one of the home invaders, was fatally stabbed by one of the 14-yearold male victims, Nolan Strickney, who was previously identified by his mother, and another 14-year-old boy, “CH.” West also suffered stab wounds. The teenagers involved in the case attended Fraser High School.
West, a Warren resident who was 16 at the time of the incident, was charged as an adult with attempted murder and first-degree home invasion and recently pleaded guilty to the lower charges in Macomb County Circuit Court as part of a plea deal with county prosecutors. He is requesting status under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) in which the convictions will be erased from his public record if he complies with conditions that could includes probation and/or time spent in a HYTA prison.
His sentencing is scheduled for April 26 by Judge Michael Servitto. A prior scheduled sentencing was adjourned last month. Servitto closed the courtroom for the hearing over an objection from a Macomb Daily reporter.
Fraser Public Safety Detective Sgt. Ben Hoppe released a written statement from the department in response to the allegations: “This case has been investigated and now litigated in court according to Michigan law. We would like to point out that the statements made by Mr. Cojocar on behalf of his client Mr. West were made in a sentencing memorandum, because Mr. West pled guilty to charges at the 16th Judicial court on 02/05/2024. As a result of the guilty plea by Mr. West, there will be no trial held and therefore no need to litigate this matter any further. Therefore the Fraser Department of Public Safety will have no further comments on this case at this time.”
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Cojocar concedes there