COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied an appeal filed by a woman who was ordered by Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady in September of 2019 to serve between 25 to 50 years behind bars in the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Jayme Lynn LaPoint entered guilty pleas to three charges including two involving sex crimes with children. In a seven page ruling, the Court of Appeals determined the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying LaPoint’s motions to withdraw her guilty pleas.
They also disagreed with LaPoint when she claimed her right to due process was violated by the trial court’s denial of her motions to withdraw her pleas because the plea agreements were illusory.
State appellant defender Steven Helton argued during a December 7 hearing that LaPoint was misled
Justice Brock A. Swartzle pointed out LaPoint got concurrent sentences as part of the plea agreement.
Branch County Prosecutor Zach Stempien said LaPoint had already gotten a break in the time she would spend in prison.
LaPoint was also ordered to register as a sex offender and be on an electronic monitor for life when she gets out of prison.
She entered a guilty plea to first degree criminal sexual conduct in a case filed in July 2018 by the Branch County Prosecutors office involving a two-year-old girl she was babysitting. Three other charges were dismissed by prosecutors in exchange for the guilty plea.
LaPoint also entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to commit the crimes of kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office filed the charges against her and three co-defendants in an alleged plot to kidnap, rape and kill a randomly selected child in a case that shocked and outraged many in the community. A count of conspiracy to commit murder filed against LaPoint was dismissed in exchange for her pleas.
The earliest she can be released from prison is August of 2043.
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