Clinton County prosecutor criticized for handling of cases; Spagnuolo blames understaffing

ST. JOHNS — A domestic violence victim who doesn’t think local prosecutors care about her case.

A widow who said it's "absolutely horrible" that the man responsible for her husband's death avoided jail.

A man subjected to false accusations of sexual assault who was "blindsided" when prosecutors reached a plea deal with his accuser.

Taken together, these stories and additional court records paint a picture of the Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in disarray.

Two and a half years into his first term as the elected prosecutor, Tony Spagnuolo has been fined twice by a county judge for withholding evidence, contracted with a Lansing defense attorney to handle his county's sexual assault prosecutions and faced public criticisms from local advocacy groups.

Spagnuolo has said that low staffing levels, which he believes comes from a difficulty filling open positions and low salary ranges, are chiefly to blame. But interviews and a consultant's report show it's not that simple. A significant structural change Spagnuolo made amid a "spiral" of staff turnover has been a driver of the dysfunction, which has led increased distrust in the office and frayed external relationships with groups like The SafeCenter.

The Clinton County-based victim advocacy organization took the rare step of publicly criticizing Spagnuolo in June, saying he'd treated victims with disrespect and a lack of empathy, and questioned his plea deals in sexual assault cases.

"We can no longer remain silent on this issue," board members wrote. "It is time to take a stand and speak out for the victims/survivors who will be in contact with the Prosecutors' Office in Clinton County."

Responding to written questions from the State Journal, Spagnuolo did not dismiss the concerns or criticism from victims or advocacy organizations.

"We recognize the importance of the wishes of the victim and must balance that with the ethical obligations and necessary standards of proof based on the available evidence," he wrote. "We will always look and re-evaluate how we can do better with communication."

'Unprepared for court'

Spagnuolo was elected as prosecuting attorney in 2020 and took office the following year, succeeding longtime prosecutor Chuck Sherman, who had served for more than two decades.

Two assistant prosecutors who ran against Spagnuolo in 2020 — one in the primary and the other in the general election — left the office early on, and he's struggled to steer the office out of constant staff churn.

Conditions in the office and the concerns from local advocates are known among the County Board of Commissioners and administrators who handle day-to-day operations. Earlier this year, the county hired the Virginia-based consulting firm Guidehouse to evaluate Spagnuolo's budget and operations.

On Thursday, the county’s Ways and Means Committee discussed the firm’s findings and voted unanimously to bring its recommendations to the full County Commission. The recommendations include two new positions, increased pay and one-time bonuses — investments estimated at $300,000 a year.

The report also recommends leadership training for Spagnuolo, who thanked the committee for moving the matter along.

Guidehouse consultants noted Spagnuolo's decision to change how caseloads are handled created problems in the office.

Sherman had prosecutors handle a case from start to finish and that method, the consultants wrote, "is often the preferred method for smaller offices."

Spagnuolo's switch to system better fitting large offices, one that has different prosecutors involved in cases at different points, caused his staff "to feel overwhelmed, miss key details, and show up unprepared for court," the consultants wrote.

The clearest and most public example of the dysfunction the new system created came last year, when a judge twice fined Spagnuolo for failing to turn over evidence to defense attorneys in a timely manner.

Spagnuolo said on Thursday that he's sticking with the new model, which he believes will work once the office is fully staffed. The consultants' recommendations included hiring someone to handle evidence matters.

Ken Mitchell and Bruce DeLong are county commissioners who sit on the Public Safety and Ways and Means committees. DeLong acknowledged he's aware of concerns about Spagnuolo. Mitchell declined to say whether he's heard about the concerns. Neither would say what they think of Spagnuolo's job performance. Both voted in favor of the recommendations on Thursday.

'Victims need to lower their expectations'

The office dysfunction and staff churn eventually impacted how victims — particularly sexual assault and domestic violence victims — felt they were treated.

The SafeCenter, a Clinton County nonprofit that works with many of those victims, was already concerned about Spagnuolo when a meeting earlier this year between his staff and the nonprofit made the matter "more intense and serious," board member Dave Hunt said.

Spagnuolo's staff said that victims needed to "lower their expectations," Hunt said, adding that he wasn't at the meeting but board members were shocked when staff relayed the conversation.

Spagnuolo confirmed the comment.

"A staff member was trying to express concern for how timely our office would review cases due to having only two attorneys present in the office over an extended period of time due to staffing," he wrote to the State Journal.

To address this, Spagnuolo earlier this year hired Debra Martinez, a former Ingham County prosecutor who currently works at a Lansing law firm, to handle sexual assault cases on a contract basis.

Spagnuolo called Martinez "a valuable asset to our office" and said she "has helped us a lot with her trauma-informed training and litigation experience."

On Wednesday, Martinez's law firm sent a letter to Spagnuolo's office saying it would not renew the current agreement that ends on Aug. 31.

In an interview, Martinez said what matters is that victims have a voice.

"We support survivors," she said. "And that's why, when we saw a void, we offered to help. ... So I hope if anything comes out of this story, I hope it is that the advocates, attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement can all work together to solve problems to make it a better space for survivors in the justice system."

Delayed justice, delayed healing

A victim's complaints about the criminal justice system and its drawn-out process are not uncommon.

But when there's no communication and victims feel left in the dark, the trauma can compound, especially with domestic violence or sexual assault victims.

A woman the State Journal interviewed, but whom the newspaper is not identifying because she is the reported victim of a crime, lauded local law enforcement for the way they responded to her domestic violence report last winter. But the criminal case has dragged on, she said, with one delayed hearing after another.

"What should I wait for?" she said. "Should I be dead?"

Her efforts for some clarity have not been successful, making her feel Spagnuolo's office doesn't care about her case. She described the process as "exhausting" and that it was delaying her healing.

Widow Amy Marchek spoke about how Spagnuolo's office also made her healing and grieving more difficult.

Her husband, Jeremy Marchek, died in April 2022 in a crash in Olive Township north of DeWitt. The Clinton County Sheriff's Office said a man pulled out onto the road from a farm field and didn't see the 42-year-old Marchek on his motorcycle.

Prosecutors charged the man with a moving violation causing death.

Amy Marchek was getting herself ready for a trial.

But just days before the one-year anniversary of the crash, Spagnuolo's office emailed her to say there'd be no trial, or even any criminal conviction. Spagnuolo had reviewed the case again, gone back to the scene and decided his office couldn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It's disappointing that there’s been no justice for Jeremy," Amy Marchek said. "The prosecuting attorney didn’t seem to care.”

And then there's Nicholas Good, who said his ex-wife repeatedly made false allegations to police and others that he sexually abused their daughter.

He’s been cleared each time, Good said, including last year when police and Children's Protective Services investigated, leading prosecutors to charge his ex-wife with making a false report of a felony.

She faced up to four years in prison and Good was confident in the case, calling it a "walkoff home run" because so many agencies backed up his story.

But when he showed up to testify, Spagnuolo's office told him there'd been a mistake with a subpoena for a police witness. And that prosecutors had prepared a plea offer.

Good didn't like the offer — his ex-wife pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace — but didn't know what to do.

"This will never be over. And I know it," he said. "The people that can protect me have proven that they will not."

Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Spagnuolo criticized by victims