1. We have covered a few stories that concluded with the incarceration of Michigan juvenile’s.   Federico “Kiko” Cruze and Amy Black come straight to mind.   I had to look up the rest of them.


  1. This should scare us because we covered their stories but it doesn’t.  It makes me happy.   I am always going on about ages and what can be handled psychologically at a particular age.  


  1. Michigan has given these kids, now adults, a new look at their future.  Here’s what has happened in our court systems.


  1. The following information can be found on the Micihgan.gov website and I am using some of their information verbatim.  So, shout out to michigan.gov there’s loads of information about so much stuff on there!


  1. Michigan is a national leader in criminal justice reform. We have demonstrated our commitment to bipartisan, data-driven reform through our collaborative success expanding access to expungement and reforming our jail and pretrial incarceration systems.


  1. For Mary:  Expungement is the process of criminal record being destroyed or sealed.  I had to ask Alexa


  1. Launched in 2019, the Jails and Pretrial Incarceration Task Force found significant growth in county jail populations, costing taxpayers nearly half a billion dollars annually. The Task Force recommended extensive state policy changes related to traffic violations, arrests, behavioral health diversion, pretrial release and detention, speedy trials, sentencing, probation and parole, financial barriers for system-involved individuals, victim services, and data collection. 


  1. The Michigan Legislature passed many of the Task Force recommendations with bipartisan support in December of 2020, which were signed into law on January 4, 2021.


  1. In Gus Burns MLive article I read that this means that Michigan judges may no longer automatically sentence 18-year-old first-degree murderers and conspirators to life in prison, the state Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Thursday, July 28.


  1. Because 18-year-olds don’t have fully developed brains, they shouldn’t be held to the same mandatory sentencing standards as older defendants, the court said.


  1. “We hold that mandatorily subjecting 18-year-old defendants convicted of first-degree murder to a sentence of life without parole violates the principle of proportionality derived from the Michigan Constitution … and thus constitutes unconstitutionally cruel 

punishment,” said the majority opinion signed by Justices Elizabeth M. Welch, Bridget M. McCormack, Richard H. Bernstein and Megan K. Cavanagh.


  1. Michigan State Appellate Defender Office Managing Attorney Jessica Zimbelman said this ruling immediately impacts anyone sentenced for first-degree murder at the age of 18 who is currently appealing their case, as well as 18-year-olds awaiting sentencing.


  1. In order for anyone age 18 or younger to be sentenced to mandatory life in prison, they must receive a special sentencing hearing. If they aren’t provided a sentencing hearing, the maximum minimum mandatory sentence they may receive is between 25 and 40 years.


  1. The state Supreme Court ruling broadens prior U.S. Supreme Court decisions that determined automatic life sentences for minors, defendants who are 17 or younger, are unconstitutional.


  1. Since 2016, nearly 370 juvenile lifers in Michigan have either had their sentences reduced or received new sentencing hearings based on federal Supreme Court precedents.


  1. “This is going to create a lot of extra work for the court system,” said Kirsten Holz, an attorney with the Levine & Levine law firm in Kalamazoo. “This will be a many-years-long process for these men and women to have their day in court.”


  1. Holz, who previously worked in the Kent County public defender’s office, called the ruling a “wonderful recognition of what we continue to learn about the brain chemistry of juveniles and young people.”


  1.  Thank you Gus Burns, great article.   There is plenty more in the MLive article that I encourage you to read.


  1.   Let’s get over the blah blah, high flatulant talk.  Amy Black featured in Episde # 


  1.  According to writer Bradley Massman from MLive:   Amy Black, now 48, is scheduled to be paroled from the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility the week of Sept. 4-10, Chris Gautz, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections, confirmed with MLive/Muskegon Chronicle in an email 


  1. “She was a juvenile lifer and her crime occurred in 1990 so it predates the state’s Truth in Sentencing law, so she would have been eligible for disciplinary credits or good time,” Gautz wrote in reference to Black’s parole. “She was resentenced in August of last year and because of good time credits she became immediately eligible for parole.

 

  1. Black was 16 years old when she and her then-19-year-old boyfriend, Jeffrey Abrahamson, killed 34-year-old Dave VanBogelen on Dec. 7, 1990. They also stole $1,500 from him.

 

  1.   If Barb VanBogelen, ever encountered Amy Lee Black, the teen convicted of first-degree murder in the death of her husband in 1990, in a public setting, she would have one thing to say to the soon-to-be-parolee.

 

  1. “I’d tell her she’s going to rot in hell one day and karma’s a b----,” VanBogelen told MLive/The Muskegon Chronicle in an interview.

 

  1. Court records show that Black was ordered to pay $1.87 million in restitution to the victim or victim’s estate. Muskegon County Circuit Judge William C. Marietti made the restitution ruling at a July 29 hearing.

 

  1. That July 29 court hearing conducted by video conference is when the VanBogelen family learned of Black’s pending release from prison.

 

 

  1. As far as Federico “Kiko” Cruz goes, he was also a juvenile that we talked about.  Actually, that was our very first episode.  

 

  1. Federico had come up for parole in 2019 and was denied due to the heinous crime he committed.  As far as I could tell, he did not come back up for parole under this ruling due to the hearing being in 2019. 


  1. For today’s happy ending you get a two-fer, Our featured band is Sorry Not Sorry
     AND we are going to give you UPDATES.   Updates on all of the bands that we have featured so far.

    These bands all have new music out for our listening enjoyment.  We encourage you to go listen to their new tunes, it may be totally different than what we played for you.  Plus, you can sample and listen before you buy…when I say buy, it’s more like donate.  There frequently is no set charge, you just set the price you think you would pay.  I always overpay, even if I don’t necessarily have to  pay for it.

    Without further ado:   Here are the bands that have released new music.

    1.   Jesse Ray and The Carolina Catfish:  Angry 
  2.   Limited edition, eco mix color vinyl
      Available online only

    1.  Bleed the Water has released The Maple St Dungeon Tapes Vol 1

    1. Grave Next Door released , “Heathen” on March 18, 2022.  

    1. Pretoria released Certainly..a single track 

    1. Jenn’s apartment has released Acid Connection

    1. The Bootstrap Boys released New Beginnings

    1. Don Mastro released single Estrallas en 99

    1. The concussions released Frankenstein Friday

    1. Paper Lanters released Awkward

    1.  Dead Eye Zack released Damnato

    1. The Holy Warheads :   Dressed to Kill
    2. Rendered Worthless:  Whats left to say


  12. If I missed any of our featured bands, I apologize.  Let me know and I will blast it everywhere.

    We hope you have enjoyed the Michigan bands we have brought to you so far.  We haven’t even touched the Michigan Music scene yet….there are SO many good bands.  If you know of or are in a band that would like to be featured, give us a shout at michiganmurdersmusic@gmail.com


    Todays featured band is: