Jennifer Webb Murder Case Links
Convicted cop Ken Bluew's sentencing set for Nov. 5; prison personnel to decide on 'protective segregation'
The Saginaw News
October 12, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/10/ken_bluew_sentencing_set_for_n.html
SAGINAW, MI — When a jury convicted suspended police officer Kenneth T. Bluew of murdering Jennifer Webb, his sentence was set by law: mandatory life in prison without parole.
A Saginaw County judge is expected to impose that penalty when Bluew appears for sentencing Nov. 5.
But where Bluew will serve his term in state prison hasn't been determined, and his status as a former officer could influence where and how he's assigned to a correctional facility.
After a four-week trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson, a jury Thursday, Oct. 11, convicted Bluew, 37, of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son. Bluew, a suspended Buena Vista Township police officer, was married to another woman at the time.
Court officials have scheduled the first Monday of November as the day for Bluew's sentencing before Jackson.
Once that happens, there's no exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson. The transport date depends on the number of recent prison sentences handed down by Saginaw County judges affecting other jail inmates. The county sheriff's department attempts to ensure a full bus of transports, said sheriff's Captain Bill Gutzwiller.
Bluew's status as a former police officer will factor into his placement, Cordell said.
“We handle each case on its own merits,” Cordell explained. “It really depends on what the needs of the individual offender are. We take into account the circumstances of the crime and the status of the individual when they were in the community. If we need to take necessary precautions above and beyond (general population security measures), we do that.”
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew could be placed in a unit that features "protective segregation." In those units, the prisoner is assigned to a two-person cell, their movement is more restricted, and they have very little group interaction, Cordell said.
The segregation is different than administrative segregation or detention, Cordell said, in that the prisoner still is able to possess their property and can partake in programming for which they are eligible.
In addition to Bluew's status as a former officer, the nature of the crime for which he was convicted also is a factor, Cordell said. In most cases, he said, prisoners convicted of murder and most other assaultive crimes are placed in high security Level 4 or, in some cases, maximum security Level 5, security classifications. Of the state's 32 facilities, 13 house Level 4 offenders.
Other classification factors include his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, Cordell said.
Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew was convicted of murdering the 32-year-old Webb, who planned to name her son Braxton, on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. Experts said Webb was strangled. The jury also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Bluew has remained on unpaid suspension from the Buena Vista Police Department since the days following Webb's death.
Sgt. Sean Waterman, the department's acting chief, said Friday he has submitted paperwork to Dexter Mitchell, the interim township manager, for a change of employment status for Bluew, seeking his termination. Waterman said Mitchell told him he would review the paperwork with the township's attorney before signing off on the termination.
While in prison, Bluew will wait for the appellate process to take its course. Every defendant in Michigan who is convicted of a felony after a trial has a right to appeal his or her conviction to the state Court of Appeals.
If Bluew appeals the conviction, which he likely will, he could hire an appellate attorney or have the state appoint him one. If the Court of Appeals were to deny his appeal, he then would have the option of asking the state Supreme Court to hear his appeal.
A Supreme Court appeal is by leave and not by right, meaning the high court has the option of whether to hear the appeal or decline to hear it.
Cop convicted of killing pregnant woman faces sentencing in November
Oct 12, 2012
WNEM NEWS
http://www.wnem.com/story/19804360/cop-convicted-of-killing-pregnant-woman-faces-sentencing-in-nov
SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - Thursday saw the dramatic conclusion to 11 days of testimony that gripped Mid-Michigan in the case of a suspended police officer found guilty of killing a pregnant woman carrying his child.
Now TV5 has learned when Ken Bluew will be sentenced - most likely to life in prison. Bluew will learn his fate after jurors found him guilty of killing Jenny Webb on Monday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m.
Acting Police Chief Sean Waterman, with the Buena Vista Township Police department, issued this statement on Bluew, who remains suspended: "Now that he's been convicted a decision will be made about his employment at the Buena Vista Police Department." Authorities said the township is still working to sort the details out.
Saginaw County prosecutors said Bluew killed 32-year-old Jenny Webb near a Buena Vista Township gun range on Outer Drive on Aug. 30, 2011.
The prosecution says the baby boy Webb was eight months pregnant with was Bluew's child. Prosecutors said Bluew didn't want to pay child support, didn't want his wife to know about the situation and didn't want a baby.
In testimony yesterday, a medical examiner said Webb was killed by a choke hold, not the extension cord found around her neck at the crime scene. Dr. Kanu Virani, the man who conducted Webb's autopsy, said her death was "a homicide."
During the 11-day trial, Bluew never took the stand in his own defense. Around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, the prosecution rested its case. The defense called its one and only witness, Keith LaMont, with the Michigan State Police.
Prosecutor Mike Thomas started his closing arguments at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Thomas told jurors that Bluew killed Jenny Webb so he wouldn't have to pay child support and so his wife wouldn't get a divorce. Thomas stated that the evidence that Bluew killed the mother of his child was overwhelming. Thomas said Webb was looking forward to having the baby, as stated by family and friends who testified. The prosecutor told the jury that Webb was hung after she was killed and that only one person had a motive - Ken Bluew.
Thomas said that Bluew finally admitted two hours and 36 minutes into his interview with police that he had sex with Jenny Webb. Thomas said Jenny Marie Webb was murdered and did not die as a result of suicide, which was what the defense alluded to as cause of death.
Thomas brought up the Internet searches on Bluew's computer and reminded the jury that no clear answer was given as to where Bluew was on the night Webb died, between 9 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. Thomas said Officer Patterson caught Bluew at the crime scene and that wasn't part of Bluew's plan. Thomas said Webb became her own best witness because she bit her assailant's finger, a finger tip that MSP crime scene investigator Valerie Bowman found in Webb's clothing. The prosecutor said Webb convicted Bluew of her own murder, and that Bluew lied, lied and lied. Thomas said it was 23 minutes before Bluew recognized Webb at the crime scene.
The prosecution continued, stating that Bluew left his blood, his stains and his evidence all over the crime scene. Thomas questioned how Bluew DNA profile, 1 in 93.4 quadrillion, get on the back of her T-shirt? Thomas said the jury has more than enough proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Thomas stated that Bluew killed Webb in the driveway of the waste water treatment plant, then drover he to stage a suicide. Thomas said nothing indicates she was depressed in any way, and that the suicide note found at the scene that Bluew wrote is the strongest proof of premeditated intent. Thomas stated, "There is only one verdict; guilty on all four counts."
Defense attorney Rod O'Farrell then took over to offer his closing remarks. O'Farrell stated that other police officers were not sure if Bluew touched the steering wheel or console in Webb's car, and that Bluew had been in the vehicle before. O'Farrell stated that Officer Sylvester saw Ken Bluew's reaction to Webb's death, that he looked like he was about to throw up and that Bluew stated, "I know this girl." O'Farrell said that even with that statement, Bluew still did his job as a police officer at the scene. O'Farrell then spoke about Bluew's character and skills in his job as an officer. O'Farrell stated, "His work was above what you would expect."
The defense went on to state that when police arrived at the scene, Bluew was "their suspect." O'Farrell went on to describe Bluew's patrol that night. O'Farrell spoke about Bluew's denial on being involved with Webb and the baby, stating "He didn't tell the truth and I can understand why he wouldn't, but in the end, he did tell the truth." O'Farrell referenced the two separate police reports on Webb's death, that one left things out and another included details about Bluew. O'Farrell said the redness in Bluew's eye was from playing with a dog, and asked the jury if investigators ever followed up to see if there was a dog? O'Farrell asked if there was any check of the trailer park where Bluew said he was patrolling the night Webb died?
O'Farrell asked why there was no break of the skin in reference to the four linear marks on Bluew. Gelardi tweeted that O'Farrell was very loud, animated and walked around - a big difference from Thomas, who was quiet and stared at the jury. O'Farrell brought up Bluew not answering his radio right away when Central Dispatch paged him, that not doing so promptly was incriminating. "It was only seven minutes," said O'Farrell.
The defense stated that no trace evidence of Webb was found on any item worn by Bluew, and that Virani relied on external information from police to say it was a choke-hold that killed Webb. The defense stated that in treating the scene as a suicide, it wasn't treated as a homicide, and there were contamination issues. O'Farrell said the scene wasn't treated as a homicide until it was too late, and brought up cross contamination and touch DNA.
O'Farrell said, "In some ways, Ken is the victim of the way this investigation was conducted." Gelardi tweeted that she heard a few deep breaths and gasps when O'Farrell referred to Bluew as the victim.
O'Farrell said, "I don't mean in any way to denigrate her, but we have to look at what Jenny was going through. Her house was broken into three times, the last time [on] Aug. 27." O'Farrell brought up the text Webb sent that stated, "I don't know how much more I can take," which was in reference to the house break-ins. The defense attorney told the jury, "Jenny was the only one who killed herself, no one else."
O'Farrell finished his statements around 12:45 p.m. and the jury was taken out of the courtroom for a quick break. When they returned, Thomas began his rebuttal by stating that he heard nothing new to address how Ken Bluew could get his finger print on the alleged suicide note. "I heard no explanation for how Ken Bluew's DNA was under Jenny Webb's fingernails," said Thomas. "I want to you to take a look at his resume. He was trained in pressure point control tactics. This is supposed to be a self-inflicted suicide? It makes no sense."
Thomas brought up Virani's testimony where the medical examiner stated that Webb was dead before she was hung by an extension cord from her SUV's roof rack. "An innocent human being was murdered by the man who helped her conceive a child," said Thomas. "He couldn't get away with this. Well, he did for about three hours." That last line refers to police ruling Webb's death a suicide at first. Thomas then finished his rebuttal and the judge read instructions to the jury.
The jury deliberated for about an hour before rendering the guilty on all four counts, including premeditated first-degree murder.
There was yet to be an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch.
Bluew, who did not testify during his trial, told Michigan State Police Detective Sgts. Allan Ogg and Jason Teddy, now a lieutenant, that he had arrived at the scene just before Patterson did. Bluew said he found an “obvious suicide note” in Webb's purse and didn't recognize Webb until he saw her driver's license.
After two-plus hours of denying that he had sex with Webb and was not the father of her child, whom Webb planned to name Braxton, Bluew finally admitted to having sex with her and acknowledged the possibility that he was the father when Teddy and Ogg asked to take a “buccal swab” from his inner cheek to obtain a DNA sample.
Lisa Ramos, a DNA expert from the state police, testified that a DNA test showed that Bluew was the father of the baby.
Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Ex-cop Ken Bluew sentenced to life without parole
WNEM NEWS
October 12, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/10/ken_bluew_sentencing_set_for_n.html
A Saginaw County judge is expected to impose that penalty when Bluew appears for sentencing Nov. 5.
But where Bluew will serve his term in state prison hasn't been determined, and his status as a former officer could influence where and how he's assigned to a correctional facility.
After a four-week trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson, a jury Thursday, Oct. 11, convicted Bluew, 37, of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son. Bluew, a suspended Buena Vista Township police officer, was married to another woman at the time.
Court officials have scheduled the first Monday of November as the day for Bluew's sentencing before Jackson.
Once that happens, there's no exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson. The transport date depends on the number of recent prison sentences handed down by Saginaw County judges affecting other jail inmates. The county sheriff's department attempts to ensure a full bus of transports, said sheriff's Captain Bill Gutzwiller.
Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him for prison placement, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for 30 to 60 days, Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Bluew's status as a former police officer will factor into his placement, Cordell said.
“We handle each case on its own merits,” Cordell explained. “It really depends on what the needs of the individual offender are. We take into account the circumstances of the crime and the status of the individual when they were in the community. If we need to take necessary precautions above and beyond (general population security measures), we do that.”
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew could be placed in a unit that features "protective segregation." In those units, the prisoner is assigned to a two-person cell, their movement is more restricted, and they have very little group interaction, Cordell said.
The segregation is different than administrative segregation or detention, Cordell said, in that the prisoner still is able to possess their property and can partake in programming for which they are eligible.
In addition to Bluew's status as a former officer, the nature of the crime for which he was convicted also is a factor, Cordell said. In most cases, he said, prisoners convicted of murder and most other assaultive crimes are placed in high security Level 4 or, in some cases, maximum security Level 5, security classifications. Of the state's 32 facilities, 13 house Level 4 offenders.
Other classification factors include his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, Cordell said.
Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew was convicted of murdering the 32-year-old Webb, who planned to name her son Braxton, on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. Experts said Webb was strangled. The jury also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Bluew has remained on unpaid suspension from the Buena Vista Police Department since the days following Webb's death.
Sgt. Sean Waterman, the department's acting chief, said Friday he has submitted paperwork to Dexter Mitchell, the interim township manager, for a change of employment status for Bluew, seeking his termination. Waterman said Mitchell told him he would review the paperwork with the township's attorney before signing off on the termination.
While in prison, Bluew will wait for the appellate process to take its course. Every defendant in Michigan who is convicted of a felony after a trial has a right to appeal his or her conviction to the state Court of Appeals.
If Bluew appeals the conviction, which he likely will, he could hire an appellate attorney or have the state appoint him one. If the Court of Appeals were to deny his appeal, he then would have the option of asking the state Supreme Court to hear his appeal.
A Supreme Court appeal is by leave and not by right, meaning the high court has the option of whether to hear the appeal or decline to hear it.
Cop convicted of killing pregnant woman faces sentencing in November
Oct 12, 2012
WNEM NEWS
http://www.wnem.com/story/19804360/cop-convicted-of-killing-pregnant-woman-faces-sentencing-in-nov
SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - Thursday saw the dramatic conclusion to 11 days of testimony that gripped Mid-Michigan in the case of a suspended police officer found guilty of killing a pregnant woman carrying his child.
Now TV5 has learned when Ken Bluew will be sentenced - most likely to life in prison. Bluew will learn his fate after jurors found him guilty of killing Jenny Webb on Monday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m.
Acting Police Chief Sean Waterman, with the Buena Vista Township Police department, issued this statement on Bluew, who remains suspended: "Now that he's been convicted a decision will be made about his employment at the Buena Vista Police Department." Authorities said the township is still working to sort the details out.
Saginaw County prosecutors said Bluew killed 32-year-old Jenny Webb near a Buena Vista Township gun range on Outer Drive on Aug. 30, 2011.
The prosecution says the baby boy Webb was eight months pregnant with was Bluew's child. Prosecutors said Bluew didn't want to pay child support, didn't want his wife to know about the situation and didn't want a baby.
In testimony yesterday, a medical examiner said Webb was killed by a choke hold, not the extension cord found around her neck at the crime scene. Dr. Kanu Virani, the man who conducted Webb's autopsy, said her death was "a homicide."
During the 11-day trial, Bluew never took the stand in his own defense. Around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, the prosecution rested its case. The defense called its one and only witness, Keith LaMont, with the Michigan State Police.
Prosecutor Mike Thomas started his closing arguments at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Thomas told jurors that Bluew killed Jenny Webb so he wouldn't have to pay child support and so his wife wouldn't get a divorce. Thomas stated that the evidence that Bluew killed the mother of his child was overwhelming. Thomas said Webb was looking forward to having the baby, as stated by family and friends who testified. The prosecutor told the jury that Webb was hung after she was killed and that only one person had a motive - Ken Bluew.
Thomas said that Bluew finally admitted two hours and 36 minutes into his interview with police that he had sex with Jenny Webb. Thomas said Jenny Marie Webb was murdered and did not die as a result of suicide, which was what the defense alluded to as cause of death.
Thomas brought up the Internet searches on Bluew's computer and reminded the jury that no clear answer was given as to where Bluew was on the night Webb died, between 9 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. Thomas said Officer Patterson caught Bluew at the crime scene and that wasn't part of Bluew's plan. Thomas said Webb became her own best witness because she bit her assailant's finger, a finger tip that MSP crime scene investigator Valerie Bowman found in Webb's clothing. The prosecutor said Webb convicted Bluew of her own murder, and that Bluew lied, lied and lied. Thomas said it was 23 minutes before Bluew recognized Webb at the crime scene.
The prosecution continued, stating that Bluew left his blood, his stains and his evidence all over the crime scene. Thomas questioned how Bluew DNA profile, 1 in 93.4 quadrillion, get on the back of her T-shirt? Thomas said the jury has more than enough proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Thomas stated that Bluew killed Webb in the driveway of the waste water treatment plant, then drover he to stage a suicide. Thomas said nothing indicates she was depressed in any way, and that the suicide note found at the scene that Bluew wrote is the strongest proof of premeditated intent. Thomas stated, "There is only one verdict; guilty on all four counts."
Defense attorney Rod O'Farrell then took over to offer his closing remarks. O'Farrell stated that other police officers were not sure if Bluew touched the steering wheel or console in Webb's car, and that Bluew had been in the vehicle before. O'Farrell stated that Officer Sylvester saw Ken Bluew's reaction to Webb's death, that he looked like he was about to throw up and that Bluew stated, "I know this girl." O'Farrell said that even with that statement, Bluew still did his job as a police officer at the scene. O'Farrell then spoke about Bluew's character and skills in his job as an officer. O'Farrell stated, "His work was above what you would expect."
The defense went on to state that when police arrived at the scene, Bluew was "their suspect." O'Farrell went on to describe Bluew's patrol that night. O'Farrell spoke about Bluew's denial on being involved with Webb and the baby, stating "He didn't tell the truth and I can understand why he wouldn't, but in the end, he did tell the truth." O'Farrell referenced the two separate police reports on Webb's death, that one left things out and another included details about Bluew. O'Farrell said the redness in Bluew's eye was from playing with a dog, and asked the jury if investigators ever followed up to see if there was a dog? O'Farrell asked if there was any check of the trailer park where Bluew said he was patrolling the night Webb died?
O'Farrell asked why there was no break of the skin in reference to the four linear marks on Bluew. Gelardi tweeted that O'Farrell was very loud, animated and walked around - a big difference from Thomas, who was quiet and stared at the jury. O'Farrell brought up Bluew not answering his radio right away when Central Dispatch paged him, that not doing so promptly was incriminating. "It was only seven minutes," said O'Farrell.
The defense stated that no trace evidence of Webb was found on any item worn by Bluew, and that Virani relied on external information from police to say it was a choke-hold that killed Webb. The defense stated that in treating the scene as a suicide, it wasn't treated as a homicide, and there were contamination issues. O'Farrell said the scene wasn't treated as a homicide until it was too late, and brought up cross contamination and touch DNA.
O'Farrell said, "In some ways, Ken is the victim of the way this investigation was conducted." Gelardi tweeted that she heard a few deep breaths and gasps when O'Farrell referred to Bluew as the victim.
O'Farrell said, "I don't mean in any way to denigrate her, but we have to look at what Jenny was going through. Her house was broken into three times, the last time [on] Aug. 27." O'Farrell brought up the text Webb sent that stated, "I don't know how much more I can take," which was in reference to the house break-ins. The defense attorney told the jury, "Jenny was the only one who killed herself, no one else."
O'Farrell finished his statements around 12:45 p.m. and the jury was taken out of the courtroom for a quick break. When they returned, Thomas began his rebuttal by stating that he heard nothing new to address how Ken Bluew could get his finger print on the alleged suicide note. "I heard no explanation for how Ken Bluew's DNA was under Jenny Webb's fingernails," said Thomas. "I want to you to take a look at his resume. He was trained in pressure point control tactics. This is supposed to be a self-inflicted suicide? It makes no sense."
Thomas brought up Virani's testimony where the medical examiner stated that Webb was dead before she was hung by an extension cord from her SUV's roof rack. "An innocent human being was murdered by the man who helped her conceive a child," said Thomas. "He couldn't get away with this. Well, he did for about three hours." That last line refers to police ruling Webb's death a suicide at first. Thomas then finished his rebuttal and the judge read instructions to the jury.
The jury deliberated for about an hour before rendering the guilty on all four counts, including premeditated first-degree murder.
Jennifer Webb's mother to Ken Bluew, sentenced to life: 'Go to your cage'
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/jennifer_webbs_mother_expresses_her_relief.html
SAGINAW, MI — Dawn Webb has thought for more than a year about what she would say to Kenneth T. Bluew, the man convicted of murdering her daughter, Jennifer Webb.
This afternoon, she found herself in a courtroom with the opportunity to "purge the hatred" from her "heart and mind."
“Go to your cage," Webb told Bluew, "and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson.”
“It just kept ruminating in my head, going around and ‘round," Webb said outside Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson's courtroom, where Bluew was sentenced. "Now it’s gone. I’m glad it’s over."
Bluew, 37, was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of the 32-year-old Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Jackson sentenced Bluew to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After imposing his sentence, Jackson told Bluew that his crimes were “heinous and coldblooded.”
"You plotted and planned and researched" the murder. "You decided to do it, and you did."
Dawn Webb was the only family member to address Bluew and Jackson before sentencing.
Webb said the sentence was fair, and she was relieved that Bluew couldn't “hurt anyone else.”
“Life in prison without parole is about as fair as it can be. He can get on with his miserable life,” she said.
“There are so many victims: his family, his son, his mother," Webb said. "Imagine being his mother. That’s got to be horrible. His wife trusted him. Shame on him for what he has done to their lives."
'Evil monster' Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering pregnant Jennifer Webb
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/evil_monster_ken_bluew_sentenc.html
SAGINAW, MI — The former Buena Vista police officer convicted of murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Kenneth T. Bluew on Monday, Nov. 5, learned what he'd known since he was convicted of first-degree murder last month — that he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson also ensured that if Bluew were to have the murder conviction overturned on appeal, he still might die in prison.
Jackson exceeded state sentencing guidelines and also sentenced Bluew to 65 to 100 years in prison for assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, of which Bluew also was convicted last month.
The judge said the evidence against Bluew, who declined to speak during the hearing, was overwhelming.
“You could have excluded half of the evidence, and it'd still be more than enough” for a conviction, Jackson sternly told Bluew, who stood and listened without showing emotion.
“You plotted and planned and researched” the crime, Jackson said. “You decided to do it, and you did.
“You can continue to deny your crimes,” Jackson said, “but you know what you did, and fortunately, so do we.”
After 10 days of testimony over a three-week period, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Bluew, 37, of murdering Webb on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. Webb, 32, planned to name her son Braxton.
Webb's mother, Dawn Webb, read a victim's impact statement in front of Jackson.
“As Jenny's family and friends, life as we know it will never be the same without her,” Webb said. “But the one consolation I have is that life for you will be the same, every day, for the rest of your life. … So go to your cage and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson, and I hope it haunts you every day for the rest of your life.”
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch.
Bluew, who did not testify during his trial, told Michigan State Police Detective Sgts. Allan Ogg and Jason Teddy, now a lieutenant, that he had arrived at the scene just before Patterson did. Bluew said he found an “obvious suicide note” in Webb's purse and didn't recognize Webb until he saw her driver's license.
After two-plus hours of denying that he had sex with Webb and was not the father of her child, Bluew finally admitted to having sex with her and acknowledged the possibility that he was the father when Teddy and Ogg asked to swab his inner cheek to obtain a DNA sample.
Lisa Ramos, a DNA expert from the state police, testified that a DNA test showed that Bluew was the father of the baby.
Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Dawn Webb called Bluew a “coward” who “couldn't face your responsibilities as the baby's father.”
“Many men have faced the same problem but did the right thing,” Webb said. “You decided it was easier to murder Jenny and your own baby.
“Evil monster are the only words I can think of for you.”
Officials have yet to set an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew, who was armed and on duty during Webb's death, also was convicted of two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence. Jackson handed down that sentence as well and gave Bluew credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
Gallery: Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son (10 photos) RSS
The Saginaw News
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/jennifer_webbs_mother_expresses_her_relief.html
SAGINAW, MI — Dawn Webb has thought for more than a year about what she would say to Kenneth T. Bluew, the man convicted of murdering her daughter, Jennifer Webb.
This afternoon, she found herself in a courtroom with the opportunity to "purge the hatred" from her "heart and mind."
“Go to your cage," Webb told Bluew, "and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson.”
“It just kept ruminating in my head, going around and ‘round," Webb said outside Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson's courtroom, where Bluew was sentenced. "Now it’s gone. I’m glad it’s over."
Bluew, 37, was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of the 32-year-old Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Jackson sentenced Bluew to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After imposing his sentence, Jackson told Bluew that his crimes were “heinous and coldblooded.”
"You plotted and planned and researched" the murder. "You decided to do it, and you did."
Dawn Webb was the only family member to address Bluew and Jackson before sentencing.
Webb said the sentence was fair, and she was relieved that Bluew couldn't “hurt anyone else.”
“Life in prison without parole is about as fair as it can be. He can get on with his miserable life,” she said.
“There are so many victims: his family, his son, his mother," Webb said. "Imagine being his mother. That’s got to be horrible. His wife trusted him. Shame on him for what he has done to their lives."
'Evil monster' Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering pregnant Jennifer Webb
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/evil_monster_ken_bluew_sentenc.html
Kenneth T. Bluew on Monday, Nov. 5, learned what he'd known since he was convicted of first-degree murder last month — that he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson also ensured that if Bluew were to have the murder conviction overturned on appeal, he still might die in prison.
Jackson exceeded state sentencing guidelines and also sentenced Bluew to 65 to 100 years in prison for assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, of which Bluew also was convicted last month.
The judge said the evidence against Bluew, who declined to speak during the hearing, was overwhelming.
“You could have excluded half of the evidence, and it'd still be more than enough” for a conviction, Jackson sternly told Bluew, who stood and listened without showing emotion.
“You plotted and planned and researched” the crime, Jackson said. “You decided to do it, and you did.
“You can continue to deny your crimes,” Jackson said, “but you know what you did, and fortunately, so do we.”
After 10 days of testimony over a three-week period, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Bluew, 37, of murdering Webb on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. Webb, 32, planned to name her son Braxton.
Webb's mother, Dawn Webb, read a victim's impact statement in front of Jackson.
“As Jenny's family and friends, life as we know it will never be the same without her,” Webb said. “But the one consolation I have is that life for you will be the same, every day, for the rest of your life. … So go to your cage and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson, and I hope it haunts you every day for the rest of your life.”
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch.
Bluew, who did not testify during his trial, told Michigan State Police Detective Sgts. Allan Ogg and Jason Teddy, now a lieutenant, that he had arrived at the scene just before Patterson did. Bluew said he found an “obvious suicide note” in Webb's purse and didn't recognize Webb until he saw her driver's license.
After two-plus hours of denying that he had sex with Webb and was not the father of her child, Bluew finally admitted to having sex with her and acknowledged the possibility that he was the father when Teddy and Ogg asked to swab his inner cheek to obtain a DNA sample.
Lisa Ramos, a DNA expert from the state police, testified that a DNA test showed that Bluew was the father of the baby.
Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Dawn Webb called Bluew a “coward” who “couldn't face your responsibilities as the baby's father.”
“Many men have faced the same problem but did the right thing,” Webb said. “You decided it was easier to murder Jenny and your own baby.
“Evil monster are the only words I can think of for you.”
Officials have yet to set an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew, who was armed and on duty during Webb's death, also was convicted of two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence. Jackson handed down that sentence as well and gave Bluew credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
Gallery: Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son (10 photos) RSS
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://photos.mlive.com/saginawnews/2012/11/ken_bluew_sentenced_to_mandato_9.html
Description: Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son.
http://photos.mlive.com/saginawnews/2012/11/ken_bluew_sentenced_to_mandato_9.html
Description: Ken Bluew sentenced to mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Live Video: Sentencing for Ken Bluew, charged with first-degree premeditated murder of pregnant Jennifer Webb and their unborn son
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/live_video_sentencing_for_ken.html
SAGINAW, MI — Kenneth T. Bluew will learn his fate after being convicted by a jury last month for the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Bluew was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder.
The jury also convicted Bluew, who lived in Saginaw Township, of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Bluew, 37, is scheduled to appear before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 to receive his sentence.
A first-degree premeditated murder charge in Michigan carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew's trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson began Sept. 19 with jury selection that lasted four days.
Live Tweets: Ken Bluew sentencing for murder of the pregnant Jennifer Webb
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/live_tweets_ken_bluew_sentenci.html
SAGINAW, MI — Kenneth T. Bluew is before a judge to receive a mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, , the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son, and MLive is covering it live.
Bluew, 37, is appearing before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson to receive his sentence for first-degree premeditated murder, which a jury convicted the former Buena Vista police officer of last month.
The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
MLive will be covering the sentencing live on Twitter @SNAndyHoag and in this space, as well as on MLive with live video.
After 10 days of testimony over a three-week period, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Bluew, , who lived in Saginaw Township, of murdering the 32-year-old Webb on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township.
The jurors also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Ken Bluew Sentencing
Andy Hoag@SNAndyHoag - Tweets
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/live_video_sentencing_for_ken.html
Bluew was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder.
The jury also convicted Bluew, who lived in Saginaw Township, of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Bluew, 37, is scheduled to appear before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 to receive his sentence.
A first-degree premeditated murder charge in Michigan carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew's trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson began Sept. 19 with jury selection that lasted four days.
Live Tweets: Ken Bluew sentencing for murder of the pregnant Jennifer Webb
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/live_tweets_ken_bluew_sentenci.html
Bluew, 37, is appearing before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson to receive his sentence for first-degree premeditated murder, which a jury convicted the former Buena Vista police officer of last month.
The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
MLive will be covering the sentencing live on Twitter @SNAndyHoag and in this space, as well as on MLive with live video.
After 10 days of testimony over a three-week period, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Bluew, , who lived in Saginaw Township, of murdering the 32-year-old Webb on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township.
The jurors also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Ken Bluew Sentencing
Andy Hoag@SNAndyHoag - Tweets
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/live_tweets_ken_bluew_sentenci.html
2:22 We're here in Judge Jackson's courtroom for the Ken Bluew sentencing. Packed courtroom, per the norm. We're set up in the jury box today.
2:23 Bluew isn't in the courtroom yet. Chief APA Jeff Stroud just walked in, and MSP's Jason Teddy and Allan Ogg are here.
2:24 Acting BV Chief Sean Waterman also here, as is Bluew's attorney, Rod O'Farrell, who's been in and out of the courtroom.
2:25 We will have live video. Will post link as we get closer to starting.
2:27 Prosecutor Mike Thomas also is here. Here's a link to my MLive post: mlive.com/news/saginaw/i…
2:30 Anybody with any video-related questions, once we go live with it, can be directed to @Bobjohnson1word.
2:31 RT @melbrooks223: @SNAndyHoag What is the range of possible sentences?
2:31 @melbrooks223 1st-degree murder is mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. Could get up to life for the other offense.
2:33 Once we get started, the judge will hear any objections, from either side, regarding the pre-sentencing report by the Dept. of Corrections.
2:33 The report is important because for 2 main reasons: it has a description of the events and the defendant, which can be important ...
2:34 ... for classification purposes once he gets to prison. Also, it will contain the sentencing guidelines, which are based on ...
2:35 ... scoring regarding the offenses themselves and certain aspects of them. This can be important if Judge Jackson decides ...
2:36 ... to hand down a sentence for the assault charge, the non-murder charge, that is lesser than life and Bluew were to win ...
2:36 ... on appeal for the murder charge. I hope I made that make sense.
2:37 After the guidelines are discussed, then both the defense and the prosecution, including Webb's family, will have chance to speak.
2:37 No word if Webb's parents or sister or somebody else will speak, but they've been pretty actively involved throughout the case.
2:38 Then Jackson will hand down the sentence.
2:39 And Bluew has arrived, escorted in by multiple deputies. He's in his orange jail jumpsuit and shackles.
2:40 Bluew has ankle cuffs on and is shackled at the wrists. Judge Jackson walks in.
2:40 O'Farrell: Some "minor" corrections to personal information in pre-sentencing report. Related to Bluew's family.
2:42 O'Farrell wants phrase added that Bluew is not suicidal at this time and that he has no psychological issues at this time.
2:42 Jackson will not include the phrase.
2:43 O'Farrell says no objections to guidelines for Count 3, which is the assault charge. Says Bluew plans to appeal. Nothing further from him.
2:43 Bluew says he has nothing to say to the judge. Now Thomas is up, re: sentencing report. First, the funeral expense. $8,053, Thomas says.
2:44 Live video feed: mlive.com/news/saginaw/i…
2:44 Thomas asks Jackson to exceed guidelines for the assault charge. Bluew's intents "not adequately reflected" in guidelines.
2:45 Dawn Webb, Jenny Webb's mother, to speak before the judge. Will be only person to speak.
2:48 Be patient with me here, taking notes on Dawn's comments.
2:51 Webb said she thought that writing her thoughts down would allow her to "purge the hatred."
2:52 Purge it from her head, her thoughts. "Better that I use that space for all of the wonderful memories" of Jenny.
2:52 When she heard of the death, Webb said, "I sat in the dark and watched the sun begin to rise" and thought, "How can life go on?"
2:53 Webb called Bluew a "coward." "Many men have faced the same problem" but did the "right thing."
2:54 Webb: "You decided it was easier to murder my daughter Jenny and your baby. ... An evil monster is the only word I can think of for you."
2:54 Webb: "So many victims in this," including Webb's family, friends, Bluew's family.
2:55 Webb: "Everyone that trusted you has to live with all the horror of this."
2:56 Webb: "One consolation I have is that life for you will be the same for the rest of your life."
2:56 Webb: "Go to your cage, and think about how you squeezed the life" out of Webb and her baby.
2:57 Jackson exceeded the guidelines for the assault charge, sentencing him to 65 to 100 years in prison. Life, obviously, for the murder charge.
2:57 Judge said he received 48 letters regarding this sentencing, the most he's received.
2:58 Judge said evidence was overwhelming. "You could have excluded half of the evidence, and it was still more than enough" for a conviction.
2:58 Jackson: "You plotted and planned and researched" the murder. "You decided to do it and you did." It was "heinous and cold blooded."
2:59 Judge: "You can continue to deny your crimes, but you know what you did, and fortunately, so do we." He then walked out, ending the hearing.
2:59 Bluew was escorted out without incident. Showed no emotion throughout, except shaking his head in disagreement when Webb was talking.
3:00
3:23 RT @jgriffinapsey: @SNAndyHoag is he getting general pop os protective seg do we know??
3:23 @jgriffinapsey that is not up to the judge, it's up to the Department of Corrections once he is transported to prison and classified.
3:24 To sum up, before I write a recap post for MLive: Bluew was sentenced to life w/o parole for 1st-degree murder and ...
3:25 ... 65 to 100 years for the assault charge. Those sentences will be concurrent, meaning he serves them at the same time.
3:25 The second sentence is only important if Bluew were to win an appeal on the murder charge.
3:26 He also was sentenced to the mandatory two years for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. He must ...
3:26 ... serve that sentence first before beginning the life sentence. He received credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
3:28 Alright, I think that does it. Feel free to tweet any questions to me or post them on MLive
Ken Bluew murder sentencing set for 2:30 p.m.; MLive to cover live with video, tweets
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/ken_bluew_murder_sentencing_se.html
SAGINAW, MI — Kenneth T. Bluew this afternoon will receive a mandatory life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb, the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Bluew, 37, is scheduled to appear before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson at 2:30 p.m. to receive his sentence for first-degree premeditated murder, which a jury convicted the former Buena Vista police officer of last month.
The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
MLive will be covering the sentencing live on Twitter @SNAndyHoag and on MLive with live video.
2:22 We're here in Judge Jackson's courtroom for the Ken Bluew sentencing. Packed courtroom, per the norm. We're set up in the jury box today.
2:23 Bluew isn't in the courtroom yet. Chief APA Jeff Stroud just walked in, and MSP's Jason Teddy and Allan Ogg are here.
2:24 Acting BV Chief Sean Waterman also here, as is Bluew's attorney, Rod O'Farrell, who's been in and out of the courtroom.
2:25 We will have live video. Will post link as we get closer to starting.
2:27 Prosecutor Mike Thomas also is here. Here's a link to my MLive post: mlive.com/news/saginaw/i…
2:30 Anybody with any video-related questions, once we go live with it, can be directed to @Bobjohnson1word.
2:31 RT @melbrooks223: @SNAndyHoag What is the range of possible sentences?
2:31 @melbrooks223 1st-degree murder is mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. Could get up to life for the other offense.
2:33 Once we get started, the judge will hear any objections, from either side, regarding the pre-sentencing report by the Dept. of Corrections.
2:33 The report is important because for 2 main reasons: it has a description of the events and the defendant, which can be important ...
2:34 ... for classification purposes once he gets to prison. Also, it will contain the sentencing guidelines, which are based on ...
2:35 ... scoring regarding the offenses themselves and certain aspects of them. This can be important if Judge Jackson decides ...
2:36 ... to hand down a sentence for the assault charge, the non-murder charge, that is lesser than life and Bluew were to win ...
2:36 ... on appeal for the murder charge. I hope I made that make sense.
2:37 After the guidelines are discussed, then both the defense and the prosecution, including Webb's family, will have chance to speak.
2:37 No word if Webb's parents or sister or somebody else will speak, but they've been pretty actively involved throughout the case.
2:38 Then Jackson will hand down the sentence.
2:39 And Bluew has arrived, escorted in by multiple deputies. He's in his orange jail jumpsuit and shackles.
2:40 Bluew has ankle cuffs on and is shackled at the wrists. Judge Jackson walks in.
2:40 O'Farrell: Some "minor" corrections to personal information in pre-sentencing report. Related to Bluew's family.
2:42 O'Farrell wants phrase added that Bluew is not suicidal at this time and that he has no psychological issues at this time.
2:42 Jackson will not include the phrase.
2:43 O'Farrell says no objections to guidelines for Count 3, which is the assault charge. Says Bluew plans to appeal. Nothing further from him.
2:43 Bluew says he has nothing to say to the judge. Now Thomas is up, re: sentencing report. First, the funeral expense. $8,053, Thomas says.
2:44 Live video feed: mlive.com/news/saginaw/i…
2:44 Thomas asks Jackson to exceed guidelines for the assault charge. Bluew's intents "not adequately reflected" in guidelines.
2:45 Dawn Webb, Jenny Webb's mother, to speak before the judge. Will be only person to speak.
2:48 Be patient with me here, taking notes on Dawn's comments.
2:51 Webb said she thought that writing her thoughts down would allow her to "purge the hatred."
2:52 Purge it from her head, her thoughts. "Better that I use that space for all of the wonderful memories" of Jenny.
2:52 When she heard of the death, Webb said, "I sat in the dark and watched the sun begin to rise" and thought, "How can life go on?"
2:53 Webb called Bluew a "coward." "Many men have faced the same problem" but did the "right thing."
2:54 Webb: "You decided it was easier to murder my daughter Jenny and your baby. ... An evil monster is the only word I can think of for you."
2:54 Webb: "So many victims in this," including Webb's family, friends, Bluew's family.
2:55 Webb: "Everyone that trusted you has to live with all the horror of this."
2:56 Webb: "One consolation I have is that life for you will be the same for the rest of your life."
2:56 Webb: "Go to your cage, and think about how you squeezed the life" out of Webb and her baby.
2:57 Jackson exceeded the guidelines for the assault charge, sentencing him to 65 to 100 years in prison. Life, obviously, for the murder charge.
2:57 Judge said he received 48 letters regarding this sentencing, the most he's received.
2:58 Judge said evidence was overwhelming. "You could have excluded half of the evidence, and it was still more than enough" for a conviction.
2:58 Jackson: "You plotted and planned and researched" the murder. "You decided to do it and you did." It was "heinous and cold blooded."
2:59 Judge: "You can continue to deny your crimes, but you know what you did, and fortunately, so do we." He then walked out, ending the hearing.
2:59 Bluew was escorted out without incident. Showed no emotion throughout, except shaking his head in disagreement when Webb was talking.
3:00
3:23 @jgriffinapsey that is not up to the judge, it's up to the Department of Corrections once he is transported to prison and classified.
3:24 To sum up, before I write a recap post for MLive: Bluew was sentenced to life w/o parole for 1st-degree murder and ...
3:25 ... 65 to 100 years for the assault charge. Those sentences will be concurrent, meaning he serves them at the same time.
3:25 The second sentence is only important if Bluew were to win an appeal on the murder charge.
3:26 He also was sentenced to the mandatory two years for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. He must ...
3:26 ... serve that sentence first before beginning the life sentence. He received credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
3:28 Alright, I think that does it. Feel free to tweet any questions to me or post them on MLive
Ken Bluew murder sentencing set for 2:30 p.m.; MLive to cover live with video, tweets
The Saginaw News
November 05, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/ken_bluew_murder_sentencing_se.html
Bluew, 37, is scheduled to appear before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson at 2:30 p.m. to receive his sentence for first-degree premeditated murder, which a jury convicted the former Buena Vista police officer of last month.
The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
MLive will be covering the sentencing live on Twitter @SNAndyHoag and on MLive with live video.
After 10 days of testimony over a three-week period, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Bluew, who lived in Saginaw Township, of murdering the 32-year-old Webb on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. The jurors also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
There was yet to be an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch.
Bluew, who did not testify during his trial, told Michigan State Police Detective Sgts. Allan Ogg and Jason Teddy, now a lieutenant, that he had arrived at the scene just before Patterson did. Bluew said he found an “obvious suicide note” in Webb's purse and didn't recognize Webb until he saw her driver's license.
After two-plus hours of denying that he had sex with Webb and was not the father of her child, whom Webb planned to name Braxton, Bluew finally admitted to having sex with her and acknowledged the possibility that he was the father when Teddy and Ogg asked to take a “buccal swab” from his inner cheek to obtain a DNA sample.
Lisa Ramos, a DNA expert from the state police, testified that a DNA test showed that Bluew was the father of the baby.
Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Ex-cop Ken Bluew sentenced to life without parole
WNEM NEWS
Nov 05, 2012
http://www.wnem.com/story/20001135/former-buena-vista-police-officer-to-be-sentenced-monday
SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - The former police officer convicted of murdering a woman and their unborn child was in court for sentencing on Monday afternoon.
Ex-Buena Vista Township police officer Ken Bluew received a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Bluew was convicted last month in the murder of Jenny Webb. Prosecutors said Bluew killed Jenny Webb near a Buena Vista Township gun range. Prosecutors said Bluew allegedly didn't want to pay child support, didn't want his wife to know about the situation and didn't want a baby.
Bluew walked into a packed courtroom Monday afternoon with at least 10 uniformed Sheriff's deputies in attendance. The judge asked Bluew is there was anything he wanted to say, to which Bluew replied, "no sir." In court, Jenny Webb's mother Dawn called Bluew an "evil monster."
After Webb's mother was done speaking, the judge pronounced Bluew's sentence: mandatory life in prison without parole.
http://www.wnem.com/story/20001135/former-buena-vista-police-officer-to-be-sentenced-monday
Ex-Buena Vista Township police officer Ken Bluew received a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Bluew was convicted last month in the murder of Jenny Webb. Prosecutors said Bluew killed Jenny Webb near a Buena Vista Township gun range. Prosecutors said Bluew allegedly didn't want to pay child support, didn't want his wife to know about the situation and didn't want a baby.
Bluew walked into a packed courtroom Monday afternoon with at least 10 uniformed Sheriff's deputies in attendance. The judge asked Bluew is there was anything he wanted to say, to which Bluew replied, "no sir." In court, Jenny Webb's mother Dawn called Bluew an "evil monster."
After Webb's mother was done speaking, the judge pronounced Bluew's sentence: mandatory life in prison without parole.
'Go to your cage:' Read Jennifer Webb's mother's statement to convicted murderer Ken Bluew
The Saginaw News
November 06, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/go_to_your_cage_read_jennifer.html
SAGINAW, MI — As MLive reported Monday, Nov. 5, Kenneth T. Bluew was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Jennifer Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son.
Webb's mother, Dawn Webb, delivered a victim's impact statement at Monday's sentencing, mostly speaking directly to Bluew, now a former Buena Vista police officer, and turning numerous times to face him.
Here's the statement that Webb provided in Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson's courtroom:
“I feel like I've been carrying this letter around in my head for over a year. Perhaps writing it down and saying it aloud will allow me to purge the hatred from my heart and mind. I no longer want thoughts of my daughter's murderer to have prime real estate inside my head. Better that I use that space for all the wonderful memories I have of Jenny.
“I think all parents have the fear of that phone call or knock on the door in the middle of the night — for us, it is a horrible reality. Dead? A suicide? It can't be real. Not Jenny. We're just normal people. The baby? Is he dead, too? After all the unbelievable events of that horrific night I sat in the dark and watched the sun begin to rise and thought, 'How can life go on? How can the sun still come up and people go to work when my heart and life has been ripped apart?'
You were a policeman, someone we have been taught to respect and trust. She considered you her friend. I guess to you, Jenny was just a 'booty call;' a plaything; never a friend. Friends don't murder their friends. Are you such a coward that you couldn't face your responsibilities as the baby's father? Funny, many men have faced the same problem but did the right thing. You decided it was easier to murder Jenny and your own baby? You sat and ate dinner while you planned out the murder. You distributed communion at your church while you were planning the murder. You coached your son's team while you calculated how to kill your other child. Evil monster are the only words I can think of for you.
“Thankfully you won't be able to hurt anyone else. You won't be able to have any more 'friends.' Hopefully no other 'friends' have died on your watch. There are so many victims in this selfish act of yours. Not only our family and hundreds of Jenny's friends, but your family, your mother, your son, your ex-wife — everyone that trusted you has to live with the horror of it. And all the good dedicated policemen and women who work every day to protect and serve, your evilness tarnishes all the good they try to do.
“This could have turned out very differently. Bless Jenny's heart, she fought for her life and for the life of her unborn baby. At first, I told detectives that I hoped you had drugged her so she wouldn't have had to suffer or be scared, but if that would have happened, you may have gotten away with it. There would have been no bloody fingerprints. If you had answered your radio in a timely fashion and Officer (Tim) Patterson hadn't come looking for you, you may have gotten away with it. If Jenny hadn't have been the person she was, maybe we may have believed suicide and you may have gotten away with it. But as I search my soul for a reason why, I sometimes feel that Jenny was used as a tool to stop you from doing this to others. Why God didn't strike you dead, I don't know. But however this fell into place, with the great job of the investigative team, no cover-up from your coworkers, a wonderful prosecuting team, and an intelligent jury, you didn't get away with it.
“As Jenny's family and friends, life as we know it will never be the same without her. But, the one consolation I have is that life for you will be the same, every day, for the rest of your life. Someone will tell you when to sleep, when to eat, when to shower, when to talk — same — day in, day out. So go to your cage and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson and I hope it haunts you every day for the rest of your life.”
In addition to sentencing Bluew to the mandatory life sentence, Judge Jackson also ensured that if Bluew were to have the murder conviction overturned on appeal that he still might die in prison. He exceeded state sentencing guidelines and also sentenced Bluew to 65 to 100 years in prison for assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, of which Bluew also was convicted last month.
Bluew, who was armed and on duty during Webb's death, also was convicted of two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence. Jackson handed down that sentence as well and gave Bluew credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
Officials have yet to set an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
The Saginaw News
November 06, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/go_to_your_cage_read_jennifer.html
Webb's mother, Dawn Webb, delivered a victim's impact statement at Monday's sentencing, mostly speaking directly to Bluew, now a former Buena Vista police officer, and turning numerous times to face him.
Here's the statement that Webb provided in Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson's courtroom:
“I feel like I've been carrying this letter around in my head for over a year. Perhaps writing it down and saying it aloud will allow me to purge the hatred from my heart and mind. I no longer want thoughts of my daughter's murderer to have prime real estate inside my head. Better that I use that space for all the wonderful memories I have of Jenny.
“I think all parents have the fear of that phone call or knock on the door in the middle of the night — for us, it is a horrible reality. Dead? A suicide? It can't be real. Not Jenny. We're just normal people. The baby? Is he dead, too? After all the unbelievable events of that horrific night I sat in the dark and watched the sun begin to rise and thought, 'How can life go on? How can the sun still come up and people go to work when my heart and life has been ripped apart?'
You were a policeman, someone we have been taught to respect and trust. She considered you her friend. I guess to you, Jenny was just a 'booty call;' a plaything; never a friend. Friends don't murder their friends. Are you such a coward that you couldn't face your responsibilities as the baby's father? Funny, many men have faced the same problem but did the right thing. You decided it was easier to murder Jenny and your own baby? You sat and ate dinner while you planned out the murder. You distributed communion at your church while you were planning the murder. You coached your son's team while you calculated how to kill your other child. Evil monster are the only words I can think of for you.
“Thankfully you won't be able to hurt anyone else. You won't be able to have any more 'friends.' Hopefully no other 'friends' have died on your watch. There are so many victims in this selfish act of yours. Not only our family and hundreds of Jenny's friends, but your family, your mother, your son, your ex-wife — everyone that trusted you has to live with the horror of it. And all the good dedicated policemen and women who work every day to protect and serve, your evilness tarnishes all the good they try to do.
“This could have turned out very differently. Bless Jenny's heart, she fought for her life and for the life of her unborn baby. At first, I told detectives that I hoped you had drugged her so she wouldn't have had to suffer or be scared, but if that would have happened, you may have gotten away with it. There would have been no bloody fingerprints. If you had answered your radio in a timely fashion and Officer (Tim) Patterson hadn't come looking for you, you may have gotten away with it. If Jenny hadn't have been the person she was, maybe we may have believed suicide and you may have gotten away with it. But as I search my soul for a reason why, I sometimes feel that Jenny was used as a tool to stop you from doing this to others. Why God didn't strike you dead, I don't know. But however this fell into place, with the great job of the investigative team, no cover-up from your coworkers, a wonderful prosecuting team, and an intelligent jury, you didn't get away with it.
“As Jenny's family and friends, life as we know it will never be the same without her. But, the one consolation I have is that life for you will be the same, every day, for the rest of your life. Someone will tell you when to sleep, when to eat, when to shower, when to talk — same — day in, day out. So go to your cage and think about how you squeezed the life and breath out of my daughter and grandson and I hope it haunts you every day for the rest of your life.”
In addition to sentencing Bluew to the mandatory life sentence, Judge Jackson also ensured that if Bluew were to have the murder conviction overturned on appeal that he still might die in prison. He exceeded state sentencing guidelines and also sentenced Bluew to 65 to 100 years in prison for assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, of which Bluew also was convicted last month.
Bluew, who was armed and on duty during Webb's death, also was convicted of two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence. Jackson handed down that sentence as well and gave Bluew credit for 419 days, or about 14 months.
Officials have yet to set an exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson.
Ken Bluew transported to Jackson prison to begin life sentence for murdering Jennifer Webb
The Saginaw News
November 08, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/ken_bluew_transported_to_jacks.html
SAGINAW, MI — Kenneth T. Bluew, the former Buena Vista police officer convicted of murdering the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son, now is a prisoner in Jackson.
Saginaw County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday, Nov. 7, transported the 37-year-old Bluew to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson, said Sheriff's Capt. Bill Gutzwiller.
The deputies transported Bluew, sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in the department's “standard transport van,” Gutzwiller said. The deputies experienced “no issues whatsoever,” he said.
“He had a very quiet demeanor,” Gutzwiller said. “He didn't say a word the whole trip down.”
Gutzwiller, who oversees Saginaw County Jail operations, said he wanted to transport Bluew on Tuesday, but corrections officers in the receiving department of the Jackson prison had the day off in observation of the election.
“I wanted him out of our facility as soon as possible,” Gutzwiller said. “Anytime, when you look at a high-profile case like this with a former police officer and former corrections officer, you definitely want to get him out. Anybody with that type of experience and knowledge is a huge threat to our facility.”
Bluew was lodged at the Gratiot County Jail from the time he was charged in September 2011 until June of this year, when Gratiot County Sheriff Robert L. Beracy requested he be transported back to Saginaw until his trial.
Saginaw County sheriff's officials said Bluew was transferred back to Saginaw because of “incidents” at the jail, but Beracy said Bluew had no incidents at the jail and was transferred back because of the delays in the trial.
A jury in October convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder, assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony in the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, who planned to name her son Braxton.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch, in an apparent suicide. Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani, however, testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
State Department of Corrections spokesman John Cordell has said that corrections department personnel will classify Bluew based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs.
Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
The Saginaw News
November 08, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/ken_bluew_transported_to_jacks.html
Saginaw County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday, Nov. 7, transported the 37-year-old Bluew to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson, said Sheriff's Capt. Bill Gutzwiller.
The deputies transported Bluew, sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in the department's “standard transport van,” Gutzwiller said. The deputies experienced “no issues whatsoever,” he said.
“He had a very quiet demeanor,” Gutzwiller said. “He didn't say a word the whole trip down.”
Gutzwiller, who oversees Saginaw County Jail operations, said he wanted to transport Bluew on Tuesday, but corrections officers in the receiving department of the Jackson prison had the day off in observation of the election.
“I wanted him out of our facility as soon as possible,” Gutzwiller said. “Anytime, when you look at a high-profile case like this with a former police officer and former corrections officer, you definitely want to get him out. Anybody with that type of experience and knowledge is a huge threat to our facility.”
Bluew was lodged at the Gratiot County Jail from the time he was charged in September 2011 until June of this year, when Gratiot County Sheriff Robert L. Beracy requested he be transported back to Saginaw until his trial.
Saginaw County sheriff's officials said Bluew was transferred back to Saginaw because of “incidents” at the jail, but Beracy said Bluew had no incidents at the jail and was transferred back because of the delays in the trial.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch, in an apparent suicide. Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani, however, testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
State Department of Corrections spokesman John Cordell has said that corrections department personnel will classify Bluew based on, among other factors, his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs.
Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for “30 to 60 days,” Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.
Cordell said it's possible that Bluew, or police officers in general, could be placed in “protection units” that feature “protective segregation.” Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.
Ken Bluew's attorney files motion for new trial, alleges jury selection errors
The Saginaw News
November 28, 2012
The Saginaw News
November 28, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/11/ken_bluews_attorney_files_moti.html
SAGINAW, MI — The attorney for Kenneth T. Bluew, the former Buena Vista police officer convicted of murdering the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son, is requesting a new trial, alleging multiple errors in the jury selection process.
In a motion filed Monday, Nov. 26, attorney Rod O'Farrell wrote that the jury selection process in Bluew's trial, which began in September and stretched into October, was “fundamentally flawed” and “denied (Bluew of) a jury representative of his peers.”
A jury of nine women and five men heard three weeks' worth of testimony regarding the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, and after the jury was reduced to 12 members, seven women and five men convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder. Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson on Nov. 5 sentenced Bluew, 37, to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew, through his appellate attorney Christine Dubois of Keego Harbor, has filed an appeal of the conviction. Before the appeals process gains steam, however, Jackson first will have to rule on O'Farrell's motion, to which the prosecution has yet to respond.
After three days of individually questioning jurors and more than two hours of general questioning of nearly 50 potential jurors, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey D. Stroud, and O'Farrell, settled on the 14-person panel.
The individual questioning of about 150 potential jurors revolved around their knowledge of the case, where that knowledge came from, and whether that knowledge would affect their ability of objectively listen to testimony and view evidence. Because of the sensitive nature of the individual jury questioning that O'Farrell requested and Jackson ordered in July, the judge banned MLive and other media from reporting on the questioning.
In his motion, O'Farrell expressed his displeasure with that process. The jury selection process, he wrote, “was superficial and leading and was directed more toward empaneling a jury than to ferret out” jurors whose bias would require a Court of Appeals reversal.
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson committed multiple errors, first pointing to the judge allowing the prosecution to eliminate, for cause, 14 potential jurors who have faced charges or accusations from Thomas' office. The potential jurors, O'Farrell wrote, without any inquiry as to whether those charges and/or accusations would result in those individuals having bias against the prosecution.
Jackson also erred, O'Farrell wrote, when he “allowed the prosecution to improperly question potential jurors … concerning pre-trial publicity about whether they would follow the instructions of the court to set aside any opinion and decide the case based upon the evidence.” Such a line of questioning is “not improper at the conclusion of questioning,” O'Farrell wrote, but is “highly improper” when asked during the initial questioning because it “substantially” limits the scope of the questions.
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson also erred when he “disrupted” O'Farrell's questioning, proposed in advance and not objected to then, and said that the questions “would only confuse jurors as gobbley-gook.”
Jackson also “relied upon the jurors tentative statements” that they could “set side opinions and decide the case on the basis of the evidence,” O'Farrell wrote, instead of only accepting jurors who could “unequivocally swear” that they could perform such a task.
O'Farrell pointed specifically to Juror 88, who “twice expressed his opinion that (Bluew) had the burden to prove his innocence but whom (Jackson) ruled was 'rehabilitated' when the prosecution obtained a response from the juror that he would follow the instructions of the court.” Instead of this juror being eliminated for cause, O'Farrell was forced to use a “peremptory challenge” to eliminate him, the attorney wrote. O'Farrell wrote that he had no choice but to use all of his peremptory challenges and that Jackson refused his request for additional challenges.
O'Farrell also renewed his objection to Jackson allowing the prosecution to introduce into evidence statements that Webb made to family members and friends — statements that showed that she was not suicidal and instead was looking forward to giving birth to her son, whom she was going to name Braxton. In addition, O'Farrell wrote, “the prosecution did not limit the evidence as ordered by the court but instead introduced statements which were clearly hearsay and could not be subjected to meaningful cross-examination and were highly prejudicial to (Bluew).”
Jackson is scheduled to address O'Farrell's motion on Dec. 10. Defendants usually waive their right to be present for such hearings, but it's not clear if Bluew has or will waive the right.
Bluew, meanwhile, remains lodged at the Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven. He is housed in general population in Level 4 security, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman John Cordell. Level 4 is one level below maximum security.
He temporarily was lodged at the Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Whitmore Lake, where a “majority of prisoners have serious mental illness and cannot function adequately in a general prison population,” according to the corrections department website. Prisoners there “receive evaluations and treatment services from the Corrections Mental Health Program and are classified into acute care, rehabilitation treatment services, or crisis stabilization services,” the website states.
Cordell said he was unable to provide more specific comment regarding why Bluew was lodged there.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch, in an apparent suicide. Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani, however, testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Bluew also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was fired from the Buena Vista Police Department after his conviction.
Prosecution responds to Ken Bluew's new trial request, states jury selection 'virtually unimpeded'
The Saginaw News
December 01, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/12/prosecution_responds_to_ken_bl.html
SAGINAW, MI — The jury selection process that a judge utilized in the trial for Kenneth T. Bluew, the former Buena Vista police officer convicted of murdering the woman who was eight months pregnant with his son, was not flawed or improper, prosecutors say.
Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Stroud, responding to a motion filed by Bluew's attorney rod O'Farrell, denied the attorney's claims that the selection process was, as O'Farrell wrote, “fundamentally flawed” and “denied (Bluew of) a jury representative of his peers.”
A jury of nine women and five men heard three weeks' worth of testimony regarding the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, and after the jury was reduced to 12 members, seven women and five men convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder. Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson on Nov. 5 sentenced Bluew, 37, to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew, through his appellate attorney Christine Dubois of Keego Harbor, has filed an appeal of the conviction. Before the appeals process gains steam, however, Jackson first will have to rule on O'Farrell's motion, which Stroud responded to in writing on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10 on the motion. Defendants usually waive their right to be present for such hearings, but it's not clear if Bluew has or will waive the right.
After three days of individually questioning jurors and more than two hours of general questioning of nearly 50 potential jurors, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas, Stroud, and O'Farrell settled on the 14-person panel. The individual questioning of about 150 potential jurors revolved around their knowledge of the case, where that knowledge came from, and whether that knowledge would affect their ability of objectively listen to testimony and view evidence. Because of the sensitive nature of the individual jury questioning that O'Farrell requested and Jackson ordered in July, the judge banned MLive and other media from reporting on the questioning.
In his motion, O'Farrell attacked the individual question. Stroud responded by stating that the process was just and that O'Farrell lacked specifics in his claims.
The prosecutor's office, Stroud wrote, denies “that (Jackson) allowed any legally improper questions to be asked of any potential juror by either party.”
Further, Stroud wrote, there was “nothing improper” about questioning prospective jurors who may have been exposed to pretrial publicity, and O'Farrell “cites no legal authority stating the contrary.”
O'Farrell wrote that such questioning would have been proper at the end of the questioning, but not at the beginning. Stroud wrote that this “confession … undermines his allegation of impropriety here. Once again, (O'Farrell) sets forth an argument without any legal authority, which, candidly, might have assisted in understanding the thrust of his argument.”
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson also erred when he “disrupted” O'Farrell's questioning, proposed in advance and not objected to then, and said that the questions “would only confuse jurors as gobbley-gook.” Stroud countered by stating that if he “recalled correctly,” the judge's “comment was directed to the form of the question at issue, not the substance.”
O'Farrell also claimed that Jackson only should have accepted jurors who could “unequivocally swear” that they could “set side opinions and decide the case on the basis of the evidence” and not accept jurors' “tentative statements” that they could do so.
Stroud wrote that O'Farrell's claims lacked specifics, stating that O'Farrell's “summary allegation is impossible to effectively answer as stated because it is devoid of specifics, refers to unidentified instances and jurors, and contains self-serving conclusions.
“In fact,” Stroud wrote, “(Jackson) permitted virtually unimpeded (questioning) of prospective jurors when the entire process is considered as a whole and not isolated by its component parts.”
O'Farrell also argued that the exclusion of 14 prospective jurors because they were accused or prosecuted by Thomas' office was an error.
Stroud wrote that state law “requires that the court excuse for cause prospective jurors who had been the subject of misdemeanor prosecutions by the same prosecutor's office; the court is without discretion in this regard.” Furthermore, Stroud wrote, the state Court of Appeals, has rejected arguments similar to O'Farrell's — that the prospective jurors should have been questioned whether those charges and/or accusations would result in those individuals having bias against the prosecution.
Stroud also wrote that O'Farrell “did not make an adequate showing of good cause to warrant” additional peremptory challenges and that O'Farrell's argument regarding the jury hearing
Webb's pre-death statements regarding her intents with the impending birth of Braxton was the same that he raised during trial, which Jackson “adequately and correctly addressed” at that time.
Bluew, who also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, remains imprisoned in Level 4 general population at the Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven.
In a motion filed Monday, Nov. 26, attorney Rod O'Farrell wrote that the jury selection process in Bluew's trial, which began in September and stretched into October, was “fundamentally flawed” and “denied (Bluew of) a jury representative of his peers.”
A jury of nine women and five men heard three weeks' worth of testimony regarding the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, and after the jury was reduced to 12 members, seven women and five men convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder. Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson on Nov. 5 sentenced Bluew, 37, to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew, through his appellate attorney Christine Dubois of Keego Harbor, has filed an appeal of the conviction. Before the appeals process gains steam, however, Jackson first will have to rule on O'Farrell's motion, to which the prosecution has yet to respond.
After three days of individually questioning jurors and more than two hours of general questioning of nearly 50 potential jurors, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey D. Stroud, and O'Farrell, settled on the 14-person panel.
The individual questioning of about 150 potential jurors revolved around their knowledge of the case, where that knowledge came from, and whether that knowledge would affect their ability of objectively listen to testimony and view evidence. Because of the sensitive nature of the individual jury questioning that O'Farrell requested and Jackson ordered in July, the judge banned MLive and other media from reporting on the questioning.
In his motion, O'Farrell expressed his displeasure with that process. The jury selection process, he wrote, “was superficial and leading and was directed more toward empaneling a jury than to ferret out” jurors whose bias would require a Court of Appeals reversal.
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson committed multiple errors, first pointing to the judge allowing the prosecution to eliminate, for cause, 14 potential jurors who have faced charges or accusations from Thomas' office. The potential jurors, O'Farrell wrote, without any inquiry as to whether those charges and/or accusations would result in those individuals having bias against the prosecution.
Jackson also erred, O'Farrell wrote, when he “allowed the prosecution to improperly question potential jurors … concerning pre-trial publicity about whether they would follow the instructions of the court to set aside any opinion and decide the case based upon the evidence.” Such a line of questioning is “not improper at the conclusion of questioning,” O'Farrell wrote, but is “highly improper” when asked during the initial questioning because it “substantially” limits the scope of the questions.
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson also erred when he “disrupted” O'Farrell's questioning, proposed in advance and not objected to then, and said that the questions “would only confuse jurors as gobbley-gook.”
Jackson also “relied upon the jurors tentative statements” that they could “set side opinions and decide the case on the basis of the evidence,” O'Farrell wrote, instead of only accepting jurors who could “unequivocally swear” that they could perform such a task.
O'Farrell pointed specifically to Juror 88, who “twice expressed his opinion that (Bluew) had the burden to prove his innocence but whom (Jackson) ruled was 'rehabilitated' when the prosecution obtained a response from the juror that he would follow the instructions of the court.” Instead of this juror being eliminated for cause, O'Farrell was forced to use a “peremptory challenge” to eliminate him, the attorney wrote. O'Farrell wrote that he had no choice but to use all of his peremptory challenges and that Jackson refused his request for additional challenges.
O'Farrell also renewed his objection to Jackson allowing the prosecution to introduce into evidence statements that Webb made to family members and friends — statements that showed that she was not suicidal and instead was looking forward to giving birth to her son, whom she was going to name Braxton. In addition, O'Farrell wrote, “the prosecution did not limit the evidence as ordered by the court but instead introduced statements which were clearly hearsay and could not be subjected to meaningful cross-examination and were highly prejudicial to (Bluew).”
Jackson is scheduled to address O'Farrell's motion on Dec. 10. Defendants usually waive their right to be present for such hearings, but it's not clear if Bluew has or will waive the right.
He temporarily was lodged at the Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Whitmore Lake, where a “majority of prisoners have serious mental illness and cannot function adequately in a general prison population,” according to the corrections department website. Prisoners there “receive evaluations and treatment services from the Corrections Mental Health Program and are classified into acute care, rehabilitation treatment services, or crisis stabilization services,” the website states.
Cordell said he was unable to provide more specific comment regarding why Bluew was lodged there.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch, in an apparent suicide. Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani, however, testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Bluew also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was fired from the Buena Vista Police Department after his conviction.
Prosecution responds to Ken Bluew's new trial request, states jury selection 'virtually unimpeded'
The Saginaw News
December 01, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/12/prosecution_responds_to_ken_bl.html
Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Stroud, responding to a motion filed by Bluew's attorney rod O'Farrell, denied the attorney's claims that the selection process was, as O'Farrell wrote, “fundamentally flawed” and “denied (Bluew of) a jury representative of his peers.”
A jury of nine women and five men heard three weeks' worth of testimony regarding the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, and after the jury was reduced to 12 members, seven women and five men convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder. Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson on Nov. 5 sentenced Bluew, 37, to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew, through his appellate attorney Christine Dubois of Keego Harbor, has filed an appeal of the conviction. Before the appeals process gains steam, however, Jackson first will have to rule on O'Farrell's motion, which Stroud responded to in writing on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10 on the motion. Defendants usually waive their right to be present for such hearings, but it's not clear if Bluew has or will waive the right.
After three days of individually questioning jurors and more than two hours of general questioning of nearly 50 potential jurors, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas, Stroud, and O'Farrell settled on the 14-person panel. The individual questioning of about 150 potential jurors revolved around their knowledge of the case, where that knowledge came from, and whether that knowledge would affect their ability of objectively listen to testimony and view evidence. Because of the sensitive nature of the individual jury questioning that O'Farrell requested and Jackson ordered in July, the judge banned MLive and other media from reporting on the questioning.
In his motion, O'Farrell attacked the individual question. Stroud responded by stating that the process was just and that O'Farrell lacked specifics in his claims.
The prosecutor's office, Stroud wrote, denies “that (Jackson) allowed any legally improper questions to be asked of any potential juror by either party.”
Further, Stroud wrote, there was “nothing improper” about questioning prospective jurors who may have been exposed to pretrial publicity, and O'Farrell “cites no legal authority stating the contrary.”
O'Farrell wrote that such questioning would have been proper at the end of the questioning, but not at the beginning. Stroud wrote that this “confession … undermines his allegation of impropriety here. Once again, (O'Farrell) sets forth an argument without any legal authority, which, candidly, might have assisted in understanding the thrust of his argument.”
O'Farrell wrote that Jackson also erred when he “disrupted” O'Farrell's questioning, proposed in advance and not objected to then, and said that the questions “would only confuse jurors as gobbley-gook.” Stroud countered by stating that if he “recalled correctly,” the judge's “comment was directed to the form of the question at issue, not the substance.”
O'Farrell also claimed that Jackson only should have accepted jurors who could “unequivocally swear” that they could “set side opinions and decide the case on the basis of the evidence” and not accept jurors' “tentative statements” that they could do so.
Stroud wrote that O'Farrell's claims lacked specifics, stating that O'Farrell's “summary allegation is impossible to effectively answer as stated because it is devoid of specifics, refers to unidentified instances and jurors, and contains self-serving conclusions.
“In fact,” Stroud wrote, “(Jackson) permitted virtually unimpeded (questioning) of prospective jurors when the entire process is considered as a whole and not isolated by its component parts.”
O'Farrell also argued that the exclusion of 14 prospective jurors because they were accused or prosecuted by Thomas' office was an error.
Stroud wrote that state law “requires that the court excuse for cause prospective jurors who had been the subject of misdemeanor prosecutions by the same prosecutor's office; the court is without discretion in this regard.” Furthermore, Stroud wrote, the state Court of Appeals, has rejected arguments similar to O'Farrell's — that the prospective jurors should have been questioned whether those charges and/or accusations would result in those individuals having bias against the prosecution.
Stroud also wrote that O'Farrell “did not make an adequate showing of good cause to warrant” additional peremptory challenges and that O'Farrell's argument regarding the jury hearing
Webb's pre-death statements regarding her intents with the impending birth of Braxton was the same that he raised during trial, which Jackson “adequately and correctly addressed” at that time.
Bluew, who also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, remains imprisoned in Level 4 general population at the Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven.
The Saginaw News
December 10, 2012
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/12/judge_denies_ken_bluew_a_new_t.html
At least not from Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson.
Jackson on Monday, Dec. 10, rejected each of the claims presented by Bluew's attorney and denied Bluew's motion for a new trial.
With the judge's decision, Bluew's case now can proceed to the state Court of Appeals, where Bluew has filed an appeal.
A jury in October convicted Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder in the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, and Jackson last month sentenced Bluew, 37, to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bluew's attorney, Rod O'Farrell, argued that the jury selection process in Bluew's trial, over which Jackson presided in September and October, was “fundamentally flawed” and “denied (Bluew of) a jury representative of his peers.”
Jackson on Monday presided over a hearing on O'Farrell's motion; as is the norm with such hearings, Bluew, the defendant, waived his right to appear and remained at the Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven, where he is housed in general population.
The judge addressed each of O'Farrell's claims and rejected each, pointing out that he granted each of O'Farrell's pre-trial requests regarding the jury selection process. Because of the sensitive nature of the individual jury questioning that O'Farrell requested and Jackson ordered in July, the judge banned MLive and other media from reporting on the questioning.
Jackson on Monday noted that he didn't grant O'Farrell's request for a change of venue, but said that it “wouldn't have mattered.”
Bluew, the judge said, “left so much evidence at the scene that we could have tried this case anywhere on the planet” and it still would have resulted in a conviction. The evidence in the case, including numerous blood stains, was “overwhelming,” Jackson said.
Bluew and fellow Buena Vista Police Officer Tim Patterson found Webb's body hanging by an extension cord from the roof rack of her Pontiac Aztek, parked at the northeast corner of the intersection near a ditch, in an apparent suicide. Saginaw County Medical Examiner Kanu Virani, however, testified that he ruled Webb's death a homicide by carotid neck compression through the use of a choke hold and not a suicide by strangulation.
Bluew also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was fired from the Buena Vista Police Department after his conviction.
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