Habeas Grant in Defense-of-Others Case
From Mercer v. Stewart, decided April 25 by Judge Matthew Leitman (E.D. Mich.):
In 2011, Petitioner Barbara Jean Mercer, who was then in the throes of a crippling addiction to crack cocaine, made two grave mistakes that sent her and those around her down a dangerous path. Her first mistake was stealing a small amount of crack from two violent drug dealers, Anthony Hannah and Shemel Thomas. Thomas quickly discovered the theft, and he then threatened to “shoot [Mercer’s] shit up” and “hurt” her. Mercer was frightened by Thomas’ threats. She told her live-in boyfriend, Richard Janish, about them, and he was “terrified.”
Mercer then made her second mistake. She developed a risky plan with Janish to end the threats from Thomas and Hannah. In Mercer’s words, she agreed with Janish that they would (1) “call [Hannah and Thomas] over [to Mercer’s house]” with a promise of payment for the stolen crack and then, (2) when Hannah and Thomas arrived, Janish would “scare them a little bit” in an effort to persuade them to stay away from Mercer. This ill-conceived scheme ended with Thomas and Hannah shot to death at Mercer’s house.
During the police investigation into the shootings, Janish and Mercer explained to investigators how their plan to scare off Thomas and Hannah went awry. Janish told officers that shortly after Thomas and Hannah arrived at Mercer’s residence, he (Janish) had a confrontation with Hannah in front of the house and ended up having to shoot Hannah in an effort to defend himself. Janish and Mercer both told investigators that Janish then entered the house and found Thomas attempting to sexually assault Mercer. They explained that Janish shot Thomas in order to defend Mercer against the assault.
The local prosecuting attorney did not believe Mercer’s and Jani
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