Michigan

The identity of an anonymous blogger sued for defamation does not have to be disclosed, according to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

The appeals court ruled last week that a lower court erred when it refused to protect the anonymous identity of the blogger known only as “Rockstar05.” The trial judge incorrectly applied law from outside the state when it should have used Michigan law addressing anonymous online commenters, the appeals court stated.

A District Court judge ruled this week that the Detroit Free Press must hand over documents and provide a witness in a long-running case involving former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino and his quest to reveal a reporter’s anonymous source.

Judge Robert Cleland’s ruling requires the Michigan newspaper to turn over documents directly or indirectly related to Convertino and present a witness who can testify at a February deposition for the former prosecutor's lawsuit against the Department of Justice.

A Michigan family court judge yesterday denied a motion to seal records in a high-profile civil lawsuit without hearing arguments from the attorney representing several local media organizations that objected to the defendant’s request for secrecy.

A photographer for a reality television show who filmed a police raid where a 7-year-old girl was killed has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath about the May 2010 incident.

Florida preacher Terry Jones, who recently gained notoriety for burning a Quran, is challenging a Dearborn, Mich., jury verdict and court order that prevented him from staging a protest outside a mosque because he was likely to breach the peace.

Rap concert organizers did not violate a police official’s privacy when they recorded the officer’s backstage comments and included them in a DVD, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week.

However, the 6-1 decision in Bowens v. Ary, Inc. was a narrow one limited to the event in question and stopped short of holding that police officers have no reasonable expectation of privacy when performing their public duties.

Michigan’s state health department released documents Wednesday that contained information outlining how funds for H1N1 prevention and treatment programs were used, The Michigan Messenger reported.

A Michigan prosecutor working on the retrial of a murder defendant filed a witness list earlier this month that included a reporter for The Orange County Register and seven law students, the Detroit Metro Times reported.