Conviction of Lapeer County Man Reversed, Reasonable Doubt Found [VIDEO]
The murder conviction of Kenneth Grondin III has been thrown out by the Michigan Court of Appeals on a technicality. The decision comes as a popular crime show on cable's Investigation Discovery Channel put a spotlight on the case finding there was a wrongful conviction. The show called "Reasonable Doubt" focused it's June 13 episode on reexamining the case. A screening of the program was held at a local bar in Dryden Wednesday night.
According to ABC-12 after combing through the 26-page Court of Appeals Opinion it was learned that Grondin argued that the jury verdict form used in his trial was faulty.
He argued that it did not allow for a general verdict of "not guilty" or include a "not guilty" option for the lesser offense of second-degree murder.
The Court agreed and decided that the verdict form was defective and his constitutional right to a trial by jury was violated.
Watch video here as friends and family react to conviction reversal.
Grondin, who was 19-years old at the time, was convicted of first degree murder in the shooting death of his 20-year old girlfriend, Andrea Eilber.
She was shot while house-sitting for her aunt and uncle in Mayfield Township in 2011.
Grondin's family has long maintained he didn't do it, hiring a private investigator after his conviction and offering a reward to whoever could prove his innocence.
Source: ABC-12 WJRT