ALGER COUNTY, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Wednesday, the Michigan Court of Appeals released a decision upholding the second-degree murder conviction in the case of People v. Jason Sadowski.
After a 10-day jury trial in November of 2022, Sadowski was convicted for the murder of Timothy Mozader in Munising. The jury returned a verdict of first-degree premeditated homicide. According to the Alger County Prosecutor’s Office, 11th Circuit Judge Brian Rahilly deviated the jury’s verdict to second-degree murder several weeks later.
Numerous challenges were raised in the appeal by the defendant. However, the Court denied the defendant’s request for a new trial, pointing out that “[t]he physical
injuries suffered by the victim during the assault, and the lack of any injuries to defendant who claimed self-defense, were fully consistent with the prosecutor’s theory of murder.”
The Court of Appeals noted an error in the guidelines scoring and has remanded the case for the purposes of correcting guidelines scoring. The defendant has 56 days to submit an application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
“This is an absolute victory for the citizens of Alger County and Tim’s family,” said Alger County Prosecutor Robert Steinhoff. “The Munising City Police Department’s work on this case was exemplary from the beginning. It is because of their dedicated work that an extremely dangerous individual remains behind bars. In addition, it has been my longstanding policy to seek any and all resources to provide justice to victims, including enlisting the help of other prosecutors. In these cases, it is crucial that the prosecution is able to put forth enough evidence to overcome any after-the-fact challenges. Because of the diligence of our officers and our close partnership with the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office, that is exactly what we were able to accomplish here.”
The Alger County Prosecutor’s Office represents the State of Michigan on behalf of the citizens of Alger County in charging and prosecuting criminal matters. Steinhoff assumed the office in 2019 by appointment and was elected in 2020 and 2024.
