TheMommyBlog

Wednesday, October 01, 2008 Family

Emails from home:

For those who have followed news of Chicago Policeman Mike Mette, the Appellant Court and Iowa has overturned his felony conviction citing that the judge was wrong to not allowing a plea of self defense in the trail. This is all good news. Iowa still has options but none compared to a felony conviction.

Thank you for your support for my friend and his family!

(Read more about the Mike Mette Defense Fund here.)

You may or not remember my posting about Mike before. I used to babysit Mike and his siblings in Chicago before he grew up and became an honorable policemen, like his father. Essentially, he was at a party over the border in Iowa and attacked repeatedly by a drunk who kept following him and taunting him. Finally, Mike defended himself, and the drunk went down with one punch. He was off duty, this guy had provoked him, punched him, threatened him, and followed him after Mike tried to walk away. An Iowa judge would not allow a self defense plea, and said that Mike should never have hit the person attacking him. His duty as a police officer apparently meant that he had to run away from an attack. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the influence of the drunk’s wealthy and connected father. ANYWAY…
People have rallied in the year that Mike has been incarcerated and separated from his family (and NO, you do NOT want to be a cop in prison), from his brothers and sisters in blue to celebrity Dennis Farina, who used to be a Chicago policeman at the Foster city station about six block from where I grew up.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica L. Ackley, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Huitink, P.J., and Vogel and Eisenhauer, JJ.  Opinion by Per Curiam

Michael Mette appeals from his conviction of assault causing bodily injury.  He asserts that the district court erred in rejecting his self defense claim and in finding his victim suffered serious injury.

OPINION HOLDS:  The district court’s finding that Mette had a duty to retreat is not supported by substantial evidence; thus, we conclude the district court erred in rejecting Mette’s defense of justification.  We need not consider Mette’s serious injury argument.  We therefore reverse and remand for entry of judgment of acquittal.
The state now has 20 days to review the decision, not sure what that means…..
Keep the prayers coming that he is home soon…