Jerome Kowalski, serving a life sentence for the murders of his brother and sister-in-law, is getting a new trial after the blistering report of the Special Master in the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission proceedings against embattled Livingston County District Court Judge Theresa Brennan was released Dec. 20, 2018. Since Jerome’s conviction, information surfaced about Brennan having an affair with Sean Furlong of the Michigan State Police, the lead investigator on the case.
You can read our earlier post by clicking here, and you can read the report by clicking here.
According to news reports, Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt released the following statement regarding Jerome Kowalski just hours after the report was released:
“I have just reviewed the report of the Special Master, which was only released today. Based on that report, I have contacted Mr. Kowalski’s attorney to discuss the next steps to be taken to enter an appropriate court order vacating Mr. Kowalski’s convictions and granting him a new trial. At that time, I anticipate that future court dates will be set. We will once again present the evidence to a fair and impartial jury for them to make the determination of guilt or innocence.”
Special master William Giovan, a retired Circuit Court Judge appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the case against Brennan, found that she violated several tenants of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct.
According to WXYZ.com, following the report, Brennan faces discipline by the Judicial Tenure Commission; however, she first has the opportunity to object to the report by the special master. That will be followed by a public hearing. After that the Supreme Court will receive reports on the case, before deciding to either accept or reject the Judicial Tenure Commission’s recommendation on discipline for Brennan.
