Appeal planned after court overturns conviction of man jailed in Whitmer kidnapping plot

The Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday unanimously overturned the conviction of Joseph Morrison, who was convicted in 2022 of providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and felony firearm for his role in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Morrison was convicted alongside other members of the right-wing militia group Wolverine Watchmen. However, according to the new ruling, written by appeals court judge Mark T. Boonstra, “the charge of kidnapping cannot properly form the basis for defendant’s conviction.”

That decision is based on the 2006 amendment to Michigan’s kidnapping statute, which removed specific reference to use of force in kidnapping. The terrorism statute, on the other hand, does specifically refer to the use of physical force — which the judges determined makes it so that kidnapping alone cannot count as terrorism.

“Because the ‘use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force’ is not an element of kidnapping, kidnapping is not a ‘violent felony’ falling within the definition of an ‘act of terrorism’,” Boonstra wrote. 

Backlash to the court’s ruling from Democratic leaders around the state was swift. 

“This ruling is completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote in a press release. “For the panel to declare that kidnapping is not a violent felony strains all legal credibility and insults the intelligence of every person in this State. The Court twists itself into a knot using legal and linguistic gymnastics in order to liberate dangerous criminals using convoluted definitions of the crimes upon which they were convicted.”

Nessel vowed to appeal the decision, calling it “preposterous,” which would send the case to the state Supreme Court if it chooses to take up the case. 

“This wasn’t an abstract or peaceful kidnapping case. The evidence presented at trial explicitly proved a considered and coordinated plan among these men to kidnap and brutally murder the Governor, killing as many members of law enforcement and residents of the community as necessary along the way. Kidnapping is violent and it is a felony.”

And Nessel was not alone in condemning the decision. 

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks said in a press release that she is worried that the decision will send a “disturbing and dangerous signal” to others seeking to threaten public officials, adding, “The rise in extremism and political violence has already had deadly consequences. There must be accountability when people use or threaten violence against anyone, regardless of party or public status, and it is on all of us as leaders to demand it.”

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow similarly said in a press release from her U.S. Senate campaign that the decision is “outrageous.”

“This ruling and his actions set a dangerous precedent,” she said. “The sick violent fantasies must stop, and people who attempt domestic terrorism must be held accountable. It’s appalling.”

A statement from Michigan House Democratic leadership called it “disheartening” that a conviction from a jury of one’s peers could be overturned by a three-judge panel. The statement also noted that all three of the judges on the case were Republican-appointed. 

Boonstra, appointed in 2012 by former Gov. Rick Snyder, penned a concurrence to a 2020 ruling striking down the governor’s vaping ban that cited articles calling her a dictator over her COVID-19 policies. 

“She has a tyrannical soul, and a tyrannical soul will yield to nothing but superior force. Somehow Whitmer, and others like her, will have to be compelled to respect the rule of law and the rights of the people,” he wrote at that time. 

All three judges on the opinion — Boonstra, joined by Thomas Cameron and Brock Swartzle — are also members of the Federalist Society, a conservative activist group. 

Nessel noted that the decision came just two days after arguments in the case were made, which she said demonstrates “the eagerness to which the Court sought a means to justify this end.”

“My office will not allow this to stand,” she continued. “We will not downplay violent terrorism, we will not accept violent threats against our elected leaders, and we will not abide by the arbitrary defanging of the criminal statutes that preserve public safety and order in the State of Michigan. To restore sanity, protect our public servants, and uphold the rule of law, we are appealing this preposterous decision.”