Michigan Appeals Court upholds 1st-degree murder verdict in E-Michigan dorm sex slaying
By APWednesday, April 28, 2010
Murder verdict upheld in EMU student dorm killing
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the first-degree murder verdict of a man convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a student in her Eastern Michigan University dorm room.
The Ypsilanti school ousted President John Fallon, Vice President Jim Vick and safety Director Cindy Hall and paid $2.5 million to the family of 22-year-old Laura Dickinson.
A Washtenaw County jury convicted Orange Taylor III of Southfield in 2008, and he’s serving the mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for the 2006 attack on the Hastings woman.
The now 23-year-old Taylor appealed, saying his lawyer was ineffective and should have cross-examined a medical examiner. The appeals court’s decision released Wednesday rejected the claim.
