
Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — Jackson County Prosecutor Kelsey Guernsey recently spoke at her office regarding Jackson County needing to resentence 19 first degree homicide cases for young adults due to the Michigan Supreme Court ruling that life without parole was not a good automatic sentence for 19 and 20-year-olds convicted of first degree homicide.
Prosecutor Guernsey says she is hoping for families of victims to reach out to either the Prosecutor’s Office (517-788-4283) or the Crime Victims’ Rights Unit (517-788-4071) for their input on how they want their cases to be handled.
Trying to track down individuals involved in these cases, most of them decades old, has been a challenge for the Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor Guernsey said that victim statements can have a huge impact on cases after a judge hears them, and says there are other ways to do them besides live spoken testimony.
Guernsey stated that while she understands the thinking behind the Michigan Supreme Court ruling, she also believes that it does not take the victims into account.