Monday, September 18, 2006

09182006 - C.O. / Reserve Officer William Pattison - Charges Filed - Milford PD






Father sentenced to 40 to 60 years for sexual abuse and solicitation

Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Oakland Press
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2008/02/13/local/20080213-archive20.txt

A 48-year-old Milford man accused of sexually abusing his daughter, starting when she was a child, and of helping her advertise her services as a prostitute as an adult, professed his innocence Tuesday in a tense courtroom.

But Oakland Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar exceeded sentencing guidelines and sent William Pattison to prison for 40-60 years.

Pattison was convicted last month of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of pandering.

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Nicki Weisberger said several years of sexual abuse began when Pattison's daughter was just 4 or 5. Later, when she was an adult, he was accused of helping her set up a posting on the Web site Craigslist that advertised her services as a prostitute, an activity from which he kept the money.

"The sheer volume of the criminal acts defy reason," Weisberger said.

Pattison's daughter, Bridget Pittmann, 27, said the prostitution was one of many things her father made her do in order for her to be allowed to see her own daughter. Pittmann had lost custody of her daughter because of drug use and Pattison's ex-wife got custody of the girl.

The Oakland Press does not normally print the names of sexual abuse victims but Pittmann gave her consent.

Pittmann said in court Tuesday that Pattison caused her to have a "life of horror." She said that she was pleased with his sentence.

"I'm happy because I think, with that amount of time, he won't be able to harm any other children," she said.

Milford police officers began investigating Pattison in summer 2006, when another one of his relatives came forward with allegations that he had raped her. Around the same time, police were alerted to a business card and a posting on the popular Web site Craigslist advertising a woman's sexual services

Police officers contacted the woman listed on the business card -- later discovered to be Pattison's daughter -- and set up a meeting in Milford with an undercover officer. She was arrested and convicted of a misdemeanor prostitution charge.

Police learned through investigating the relative's claims that his daughter also may have been abused. Pittmann denied the abuse at first but, fearing that Pattison might harm her daughter, eventually told officers about her experiences.

In court Tuesday, Pattison said he didn't think he received a fair trial.

"Your honor, I didn't commit any of these offenses," he said.

Kumar told Pattison that she believes that he's incapable of taking responsibility for his actions.

The sentencing guidelines called for Pattison to serve a minimum sentence of 10-25 years. In exceeding the top end of that range by 15 years, Kumar said the guidelines did not account for various elements of the case, such as Pattison using his job as a corrections officer to instill fear in his daughter. Pattison formerly worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections as a corrections officer at a facility in Plymouth.

Pattison's attorney, Daniel Randazzo, said he thinks the sentence is unjustly excessive. Randazzo believes Pattison is innocent and said he plans to appeal both the conviction and sentence.

Pattison will get credit for 536 days already served.

Supporters of Pittmann and Pattison filled opposite sides of the tense courtroom for the hearing. After Kumar announced the sentence, Pittmann's supporters clapped.

Pattison is also facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing the relative and a woman with whom he has a young child. Trial dates have not yet been set in either case.














Officer Sentenced for Pushing Daughter Into Prostitution
A former corrections officer is sentenced for sexually abusing his daughter and pushing her into prostitution.
Posted: 10:54 AM Feb 13, 2008
Reporter: AP
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/15585687.html

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - A former corrections officer from Oakland County has been sentenced to 40 to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing his teenage daughter and encouraging her to advertise as an escort online.

An Oakland County jury on Tuesday found 48-year-old William Pattison of Milford guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and pandering.

The daughter, now 27, tells police the abuse started in the eighth grade. She says Pattison suggested she become a prostitute when she became old enough.

The Detroit News reports Pattison helped set up a Web site and would pick up the money she earned.

The Oakland Press reports Milford police began investigating Pattison in 2006, when another relative came forward with rape allegations.

Pattison's attorney said he plans to appeal.














Two men to be sentenced this afternoon for sexual assaults

Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Oakland Press
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2008/02/12/police/20080212-archive1.txt

Two men convicted of sexual assaults will be sentenced this afternoon before Oakland Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar.

One man broke into a girl's home and assaulted her, and the other was convicted of pimping out and abusing his daughter.

Timothy Willis Jeffrey, 39, of Cleveland, Ohio, was accused of taking an 8-year-old girl from her home and then sexually abusing her on a roof in South Lyon. A guest of a cousin, the Ohio native pleaded no contest last month to one count of kidnapping, one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of assault with intent to commit penetration and one count of resisting and obstructing a police officer.

He entered the plea as part of an agreement that his sentence will range from 25 to 40 years.

Also due before Kumar today is William Pattison, a 48-year-old Milford man who was convicted last month of sexually abusing his daughter as a teen and helping her as an adult advertise her services as a prostitute via the Internet. Pattison previously worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections as a corrections officer at a facility in Plymouth.

Pattison was convicted of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of pandering. He faces up to life in prison.

Both men are in the Oakland County Jail.















Dad guilty of abuse, fostering prostitution

Published: Friday, January 18, 2008
The Oakland Press
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2008/01/18/local/20080118-archive18.txt

A former Michigan Department of Corrections officer has been convicted of sexually abusing his daughter as a teen and helping her as an adult advertise her services as a prostitute via the Internet.

William Pattison, a 48-yearold from Milford, also faces allegations that he sexually abused two other women.

Milford police officers began investigating Pattison in summer 2006, when another relative came forward with allegations that he had raped her, said Milford police Detective Lt. Tom Callahan.

Around the same time, police were alerted to a business card and a posting on the popular Web site Craigslist advertising a woman's sexual services.

Police officers contacted the woman - later discovered to be Pattison's daughter - listed on the business card, and set up a meeting in Milford with an undercover officer. She was arrested and convicted of a misdemeanor prostitution charge. Police learned through investigating the relative's claims that his daughter also may have been abused, and she eventually told officers that Pattison sexually abused her for a few years, starting when she was in middle school.

Callahan said that when Pattison's daughter was an adult, he suggested she start working as a prostitute to earn extra money and use the Internet to advertise her services. Callahan said Pattison helped set up the Web posting and put pictures of his daughter on it.

The daughter, now 27, told police that Pattison would periodically pick up the money she earned, and would give some of it back to her whenever she needed to buy something.

A jury convicted Pattison this week of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of pandering. Oakland Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar will sentence him Feb. 5.

Callahan said along with Pattison's relative, who is now 18, a woman in her early 20s with whom Pattison has a young child also has accused him of sexual abuse. Those cases are pending.

Pattison has worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections as a corrections officer at a facility in Plymouth. His attorney, Daniel Randazzo, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.














Cop Pimps His Own Daughter in Small Town
February 17, 2007
Digital Journal
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/117864/Cop_Pimps_His_Own_Daughter_in_Small_Town

In one of the most unusual cases that Milford police have ever investigated, authorities say that William Pattison advertised his daughter's services on the Internet, printed business cards and then set her up as a prostitute.

Bridgette was arrested for prostitution in a small, quaint town in Michigan. Much to the surprise of the authorities who led the sting operation her pimp was her own father, an auxillary cop and a prisons corrections officer. Bridgette stated that her father had been molesting her since she was four or five years old. He wanted to start making money with her after getting the idea from the internet. He forced his own daughter to sell herself for a hundred dollars per "john".

Before the prostitution she went to jail for drugs and shoplifting after having a child at the age of twenty. Her father's wife took custody of Bridgette's daughter. Bridgette ended up losing all parental rights, and was at the mercy of her father for visitation of her young daughter. This is how her dad was able to force her into being a prostitute.

Bridgette's daughter is now seven years old. Has this little girl's grandfather been molesting her as he started doing to his own daughter when she was young? Bridgette's lawyer is fighting to get custody away from the wife of William P









Milford woman tells cops her pimp, abuser: it's dad.
September 22, 2006
Detroit Free Press
Byline: Frank Witsil
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20050109_ITM

Sep. 22--A 26-year-old woman is sitting in the Oakland County Jail today, serving a sentence for prostitution. And now prosecutors say they are going after her pimp -- her dad.

In one of the most unusual cases that Milford police have ever investigated, authorities say that William Pattison, 47, advertised his daughter's services on the Internet, printed business cards and then set her up as a prostitute. Pattison, a former Michigan corrections officer, also is charged with forcing four females -- including his daughter -- to have sex with him.

"It's a mess," police Lt. Tom Callahan said Thursday. The investigation report, which began in July, is more than 5 inches thick -- and detectives are still trying to determine whether there may be other victims, Callahan said. "If everything that is alleged is true, he's pretty sick," he said.

Pattison is in the Oakland County Jail on $1.2 million bond. He faces one count of pandering, a felony punishable by up to 20 years, and several counts of criminal sexual conduct, including first degree, which carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison.

He was arraigned Monday in district court in Novi and is due back at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 9 for a preliminary examination. Pattison's attorney, Daniel Randazzo, did not return a call Thursday seeking comment.

Until now, Milford was mostly known as site of a search for Jimmy Hoffa's body this summer. Residents said Thursday they were shocked to learn of the prostitution case. Kevin Olszewski, 35, who lives on the same street where the prostitute lived, said Milford is an unlikely place to find prostitution -- especially charges that a father acted as his daughter's pimp. "That sounds unusual anywhere," he said.

The daughter is getting treatment for substance abuse and psychological treatment in jail. Douglas Barnett, a clinical psychology professor at Wayne State, said "it may be hard for her to know how abnormal this is if this is how she's grown up."

The Free Press typically does not print the names of alleged sexual abuse victims and is withholding the woman's name for publication.

The woman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor prostitution charge this summer.

Police got a tip from a man who saw a suspicious personal ad on a Web site. The woman's attorney, Bill Urich, said that his client initially was reluctant to say anything to police about her father's involvement in her crime. But, Urich said, as the evidence mounted against Pattison, the woman agreed to cooperate with detectives and gave a full account.

Urich cited another issue: The woman had lost custody of her young daughter, who was then in Pattison's custody. The father made her "do things she wouldn't do, by preventing her from having contact with her daughter," Urich said. There are no allegations of sexual abuse involving the granddaughter, and she is in the care of the state, Urich said.









COMMENT FROM:
This is just too sad:
Merrilee Comstock said...

Not only did the court continue to let Bill's EX-WIFE, Denise Pattison, continue to have custody; they also allowed her to adopt our baby without even giving us notice. . .like they said they would at every hearing we were at!!! Talk about INJUSTICE HERE. . .Yes, Bill is in jail. . .but HIS HELPER, aka his EX-WIFE Denise Pattison, now has adopted our young girl when we - her blood family (I'm her great aunt. . .her REAL aunt) - have done NOTHING WRONG!!! WHY?!?!?!?!? Oh, yea, he was sentenced 02-12-2007 with 4 CSC 1ST Degree x 2 + 3RD Degree x 1 charges & jailed for 40-60 yrs currently, 1 charge of Pandering & 3 more 1ST, CSC charges & jailed for 20 years currently at Oak Correctional Facility verify at: http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/asp/otis2profile.asp?mdocNumber=659881

The only thing missing is HER mdoc number next to HIS!!! Instead she was awarded our baby for her part in his dastardly deeds as she testified to !~(
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2006/09/reserve-officer-william-patterson.html

















Monday, September 11, 2006

09112006 - Former Reserve Officer Lyle Sutton - Traverse City PD



Former Traverse City Reserve Officer Lyle Sutton violated a personal protective order.



Sutton reportedly called his ex-girlfriend almost two-hundred times between September and October 2005....





"Hope you said your prayers because you may be going to hell tonight...", were some of the death threats that Sutton's ex-girlfriend received.






Police said that part of the difficulty in catching Sutton, was due to Sutton's previous law enforcement training.





ALSO SEE:
VIOLATION OF PROTECTIVE ORDER: SLASHED EX-GIRLFRIEND'S TIRES





VIOLATION OF PROTECTIVE ORDER: BROKE INTO EX-GIRLFRIEND'S HOUSE




















Ex-reserve officer jailed on stalking charges
Week in Review
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
Oct 29, 2006
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/oct/29week.htm

BEULAH — A former Traverse City Police reserve officer is in the Benzie County Jail on aggravated stalking charges for allegedly harassing a former girlfriend.

Lyle Sutton, 59, is accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend by calling her hundreds of times a month since they broke up in April 2005, said Tom Whale, a detective with the Benzie County Sheriff's Department.

Traverse City Police Sgt. Brian Heffner said Sutton left the city's reserve police program around 1994.

Sutton has been convicted twice since April 2005 for violating a personal protection order his ex-girlfriend obtained against him, Whale said.

Sutton had been unable to post his $100,000 bond and remained in Benzie County Jail Thursday morning. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted.








Ex-officer is in jail on charges he stalked woman
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
By VICTOR SKINNER
10/26/2006
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/oct/26stalk.htm

BEULAH — A former Traverse City Police reserve officer is in the Benzie County Jail on aggravated stalking charges for allegedly harassing a former girlfriend.

Lyle Sutton, 59, is accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend by calling her hundreds of times a month since they broke up in April 2005, said Tom Whale, a detective with the Benzie County Sheriff's Department.

Sutton allegedly used voice distortion devices to leave death threats and provocative messages on the woman's phone.

"There were periods that he would call her every one to five minutes for hours on end," Whale said. "For the month of September until now, we have identified 194 calls."

Sutton eluded detectives for months by allegedly using several different phones and by blocking the phone numbers when he called. Whale used four warrants to search the records of two of the phones Sutton allegedly owned after another woman received unblocked calls from the phones.

Traverse City Police Sgt. Brian Heffner said Sutton left the city's reserve police program around 1994.

Sutton has been convicted twice since April 2005 for violating a personal protection order his ex-girlfriend obtained against him, Whale said. The first for breaking into her home and rearranging her belongings and the second time for slashing her tires, Whale said.

Sutton had been unable to post his $100,000 bond and remained in Benzie County Jail Thursday morning. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted.









Ex T.C. cop arrested for stalking in Benzie County
oldies1015
By: Chuck Randall Wed. Oct. 25 2006
http://oldies1015.com/news.php?news_id=6078

Former reserve Police Officer with the Traverse City Police Department is arrested for stalking his ex Benzie County girl friend. Lyle Sutton is accused of making close to 200-calls to the ex-girl friend, who broke up with Sutton in April of 2005, in the last month that included daily death threats.

Benzie Detectives say that Sutton has also violated two personal protection orders, slashed the woman’s tires and broke in to her home. Sutton was jailed for those incidents. Sutton is facing an aggravated stalking charge which carries a 5-year sentence if he's convicted.










Stalking Arrest
9and10news
Posted: 10/24/2006
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=108175

Sutton has been threatening to kill her in phone messages - Hope you said your prayers because you may be going to hell tonight.

Almost 200 phone calls to his ex-girlfriend within the past month are part the reason police say a Traverse City man is in jail. Detectives with the Benzie County Sheriff Department say Lyle Sutton started stalking his ex-girlfriend after they broke up in April of 2005.

Since the break-up police say Sutton has violated two personal protection orders filed by his ex-girlfriend. Sutton also served time in jail after admitting to police he broke into her house and slashed her car tires.

Now detectives are examining Sutton's cell phone records. Police say Sutton would call his ex-girlfriend dozens of times a day and make death threats. Detectives say part of the reason it has been difficult for them to catch Sutton is because he is a former reserve officer with the Traverse City Police Department.


















TRAGIC TWIST to the domestic violence in Sutton's life:
Lyle Sutton's sister, Shari Marvin was a victim of domestic violence. On February 25, 2010, Sheri was murdered by her abusive husband, Michael Marvin.







Sister's murder shows value of family
BY ALEX PIAZZA
The Record Eagle
Fri Dec 31, 2010, 06:14 AM EST
http://record-eagle.com/local/x43235165/Sisters-murder-shows-value-of-family

TRAVERSE CITY — Family comes first for Lyle Sutton.

The Traverse City resident plans to organize a family reunion next summer. He often calls relatives just to check up on them. And family falls even higher on his priority list after a local man killed his sister.

"You can't take family for granted," Sutton said. "If somebody is mad at their mom or dad, they better make up because there's no second chances. When it's done, it's done."

His sister, Shari Marvin, fell victim Feb. 25 to a domestic dispute turned murder. Michael Marvin, 48, repeatedly stabbed Shari, his wife, with a kitchen knife after an argument over infidelity in their Garfield Township apartment. She died from internal hemorrhaging caused by stab wounds.

Prosecutors charged Marvin with an open count of murder after he drunkenly told deputies he stabbed his wife. Marvin called 911 after the stabbing and waited outside the apartment until deputies arrived. Authorities entered the apartment and found Shari Marvin face-up on a bed with blood on her hands and clothing.

Deputies then found Marvin in the bathroom, cutting his neck with a knife. He was taken to Munson Medical Center for a reported suicide attempt.

Jurors in November found Marvin guilty of second-degree murder. Two weeks later, 13th Circuit Court Judge Thomas G. Power sentenced Marvin to 15 to 25 years in prison.

Sutton was pleased that jurors convicted Marvin, but said he wanted a harsher punishment for the man who killed his sister.

"I would have liked to see him get 25 to life," Sutton said.

Sutton sat through weeks of testimony, during which he heard an array of stories on how his sister died. Marvin also chose to defend himself, and his lack of experience was evident as testimony and cross-examination extended the trial by several days. He asked Power to remove two defense attorneys — Philip Settles and Paul Jarboe — because he believed he'd have a better shot at winning the case by himself.

"I thought the whole thing was fairly strange," said Jarboe, who accompanied Marvin at trial and helped him when he requested assistance. "I think everybody involved tried to convince him that it made more sense for an attorney to handle the trial."

But for a man with no prior legal experience, Jarboe and Power said they were surprised by how Marvin handled himself in court.

"Marvin actually did a pretty good job," Power said. "He is very smart and he spent a lot of time getting ready. He made some decisions that a lawyer would have undoubtedly done differently."

His trial preparation also was unusual, as corrections officers prevented him from using a writing utensil to take notes in his cell because of an apparent suicide attempt. And because of that and other attempts to harm himself, deputies outfitted him in a white helmet and multiple sets of restraint straps during his initial court hearings.













Family retains pain of murder trial
'It was heart-wrenching ... very, very difficult,' brother says
BY ALEX PIAZZA
The Record Eagle
Thu Nov 04, 2010, 07:13 AM EDT
http://record-eagle.com/local/x1048514913/Family-retains-pain-of-murder-trial










Lyle Sutton, left, and Tedd Strieter, both of Traverse City, sit with a photo of their sister, Shari Marvin, on Wednesday. Record-Eagle/Keith King









Shari Marvin







Michael Marvin


TRAVERSE CITY — Lyle Sutton sat through weeks of testimony and heard an array of stories on how his sister died.

He gripped his cane in 13th Circuit Court as Grand Traverse County prosecutors displayed pictures of his sister, Shari Marvin, prone in bed with multiple stab wounds to her chest.

Sutton also watched a lengthy video in which Michael Marvin told Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies he stabbed Shari, his wife, after an argument over infidelity.

Jurors convicted Michael Marvin, 48, this week of killing Shari, but Sutton said the images and testimony will stick with him for life.

"It was heart-wrenching ... very, very difficult," he said. "Not a day goes by, every day I think about it."

Sutton and several other family members observed as jurors on Tuesday found Michael Marvin guilty of second-degree murder in the Feb. 25 slaying of Shari Marvin. Marvin's sentencing is Nov. 16.

Tedd Strieter, Shari's brother, acknowledged the difficulty in sitting through a trial that lasted nearly three weeks.

"I couldn't even look at the pictures. I turned my head," Strieter said.

Prosecutors charged Marvin in February with an open count of murder after he told deputies he stabbed his wife in their Garfield Township apartment.

Marvin called authorities after the stabbing and waited outside the apartment until they arrived. Authorities entered the apartment and found Shari Marvin face-up on a bed with blood on her hands and clothing.

Deputies then found Michael Marvin inside the bathroom, cutting his neck with a knife. He was taken to Munson Medical Center for a reported suicide attempt.

"Shari was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Strieter said. "I still don't hate him. But I'll never forgive him for what he did."

Proceedings were delayed because of Marvin's problems with his court-appointed attorneys. He asked Judge Thomas G. Power to remove two defense attorneys — Philip Settles and Paul Jarboe — so he could represent himself. Power agreed, but assigned Jarboe to accompany Marvin at trial and help him if he requested assistance.

"I think it's an almost impossible task for anyone charged with such a serious crime to represent themselves," Jarboe said. "I thought at times he did an adequate job, and other times he had great difficulty with the procedures."

Jarboe, a veteran lawyer, plans to accompany Marvin at his sentencing.

"This is one of the stranger experiences I've had in 28 years," Jarboe said. "It's not something I would want to do again. I found the whole situation very sad."

Strieter and Sutton plan to speak at the sentencing. Both men want to ask Marvin why he killed their sister.

"Why didn't he just turn around and walk away?" Strieter said. "There's no explanation for what happened and there never will be."

Strieter wrote a letter to Shari two days after she died. He did so to help him cope with her death.

"I always thought life had meaning with you in it," he wrote. "But now, I'm feeling pretty empty. I want you back, Shari. I can't ever bring you back, that's impossible, I know that, but I will keep loving you like a brother should."

Strieter and Sutton agree their sister's death strengthened their family bond.

"I promised everybody I was going to keep in touch until the day I die," Sutton said. "Life is definitely too short not to keep in contact, especially with family. I guarantee you that everybody is going to keep in touch because everybody now knows life is just too short."

The family plans to celebrate Thanksgiving together, a holiday they consider one of Shari's favorites.












Tapes may not be heard in murder case
Stabbing death trial will begin in late August
BY ALEX PIAZZA
The Record Eagle
Thu Jul 29, 2010, 07:12 AM EDT
http://record-eagle.com/local/x722286204/Tapes-may-not-be-heard-in-murder-case

TRAVERSE CITY — Lyle Sutton cringed as he gripped his cane and listened to audio tapes of a Traverse City man tell detectives that he murdered his wife, Sutton's sister, in a drunken rage.

Prosecutors on Wednesday played recorded interviews of Michael Marvin, 48, as he told Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies in February that he killed his wife, Shari, 46, after an argument over infidelity in their Garfield Township apartment off LaFranier Road.

"It made my stomach turn," Sutton said. "I was tearing up."

But it's uncertain whether the audio tapes will be admissible during Michael Marvin's 13th Circuit Court trial, slated to begin in late August. Judge Thomas G. Power plans to continue a suppression motion hearing over the tapes next week.

Grand Traverse County authorities charged Michael Marvin in February with an open count of murder. Authorities contend he stabbed his wife seven times with a kitchen knife. Shari Marvin died from internal hemorrhaging caused by the stab wounds.

Michael Marvin called authorities after the Feb. 25 stabbing and waited outside the apartment until they arrived, deputies said. They walked in and found Shari Marvin face-up on a bed with blood on her hands and clothing.

Deputies then found Michael Marvin inside the bathroom "in the act of cutting his neck area with a knife," court records show. He was taken to Munson Medical Center for a "reported suicide attempt with knife wounds to (the) neck area."

Sheriff's Detective Paul Gomez visited Marvin at the hospital, and the accused murderer admitted his guilt.

"I'm going to plead guilty because I am guilty," said Marvin, whose blood-alcohol level at the time was four times the state's legal limit. "I'm guilty as hell. I know I did it."

Philip Settles, Marvin's attorney, contends his client's elevated level of intoxication prompted him to make such incriminating statements. Settles said Marvin also asserted his right to remain silent, but authorities continued to interrogate him at both the Dennis W. Finch Law Enforcement Center and the Grand Traverse County Jail.

"He did invoke his right to remain silent," Settles said.

Marvin remains in the county jail, where he is required to wear a helmet and restraint straps when he leaves his cell to protect him from self-inflicted injuries.








Judge: Man can stand trial in wife's death
Michael Marvin accused of stabbing Shari Marvin
BY ALEX PIAZZA
The Record Eagle
Fri May 14, 2010, 07:25 AM EDT
http://record-eagle.com/local/x433568185/Judge-Man-can-stand-trial-in-wifes-death









Shari Lee Sutton Marvin







Michael David Marvin appeared in 86th District Court and was ruled competent to stand trial by Judge Thomas Phillips in the stabbing death of his wife.




TRAVERSE CITY — Michael David Marvin stood out among every inmate who stepped into a Traverse City courtroom.

A white helmet covered his head. Multiple sets of restraint straps replaced standard jail shackles. And a pair of Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies accompanied him Thursday into 86th District Court.

Deputies removed his helmet, then Judge Thomas J. Phillips ruled Marvin competent to stand trial in the stabbing death of his wife, Shari Lee Marvin.

"This is not the Mike I know," said Tedd Strieter, Shari's brother. "To see him like this is just incredible. He looks like something out of Star Wars."

Marvin, 47, of Traverse City, is required to wear a helmet and restraint straps whenever he leaves his jail cell, said Grand Traverse sheriff's Capt. Robert Hall.

"Mr. Marvin has attempted to hurt himself on several occasions," Hall said. "(The helmet's) to prevent him from banging his head on the wall or running into the wall."

He underwent a psychiatric evaluation after prosecutors charged him three months ago with an open count of murder. Authorities contend Marvin in February stabbed his wife, 46, multiple times in the chest with a knife after an argument inside their Garfield Township apartment off LaFranier Road.

Psychiatric evaluation results determined Marvin is competent to stand trial, and he's expected to appear for a June 4 preliminary examination. Philip A. Settles, Marvin's attorney, would not comment as he exited the courtroom.

Marvin remains on suicide watch in a Grand Traverse County Jail observation cell, Hall said. Marvin attempted to commit suicide in the jail in March. Authorities transported Marvin to Munson Medical Center after his failed suicide attempt, then to a psychiatric center in Ypsilanti upon his hospital release.

"He's on constant video, and any time he's out of the cell, he's in the company of at least two officers," Hall said.

Lyle Sutton, Shari's other brother, was shocked by Marvin's court appearance.

"I wanted him to look me in the eyes to let him know I'm here," he said. "I didn't see any compassion whatsoever."

Marvin told authorities he and his wife drank alcohol the night of her death. They argued about infidelity, and he "stabbed his wife out of anger," court records show.

"I don't hate Mike, I just hate what he did," Sutton said. "It was done out of rage and jealousy."

Michael Marvin allegedly called authorities shortly after the stabbing, and waited outside the apartment until they arrived. They walked in and found Shari Marvin face-up on a bed with blood on her hands and clothing.

Authorities then found Michael Marvin in the bathroom "in the act of cutting his neck area with a knife," court records show. He was taken to Munson Medical Center for a "reported suicide attempt with knife wounds to (the) neck area."