Peter O'Connell

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Peter O'Connell

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Prior offices
Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals

Education

Graduate

University of Nevada, Reno

Law

Detroit College of Law


Peter D. O'Connell was a judge on the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Michigan. He was first elected to the court in 1994. He did not seek re-election in 2018 and left office after his term expired on January 1, 2019.[1]

Education

O’Connell earned his J.D. from Detroit College of Law and his LL.M. in judicial studies from the University of Nevada-Reno.[1]

Career

Before his election to the Michigan Fourth District Court of Appeals, O'Connell was a district court judge for 16 years and a chief assistant prosecutor in Isabella County. He was also an instructor at New Judge's School and an adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Central Michigan University.[1]

2012 election

O'Connell was re-elected after running unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.[2]

See also: Michigan judicial elections, 2012

Court orders new trial

In a 2-1 decision, the Court of Appeals determined that because the jury was not notified that a victim of a traffic crash had been smoking marijuana, the conviction of Matthew Soars should be thrown out and he will stand in a new trial. Soares, who had been drinking, ran a stop sign and then collided into William Day, who was riding his motorcycle. Day subsequently died. "Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the prosecutor's motion to exclude evidence of Day's use of marijuana at the time of the accident, reverse defendant's conviction, and order a new trial," wrote Judges Donald S. Owens and O'Connell in the majority opinion. But Judge Alton Davis voted that the conviction should stand. "Again, I conclude that this case presents a close evidentiary question, and the majority inappropriately substitutes its own judgment for that of the trial court," Davis wrote. "I would hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence."[3]


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See also

Michigan Judicial Selection More Courts
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External links

Footnotes