Appeals Court Upholds Fish's Conviction, Remands Sentencing Back To Trial Court

The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Wisconsin-native Bernard Fish, but has remanded his sentence back to the trial court for review.

Fish was sentenced last October to 20 to 40 years in prison for each of two counts of armed robbery, 5 to 20 years for each of two counts of extortion, two to four years for impersonating an officer, and five to 15 years for each of two counts of unlawful imprisonment.

In his appeal, Fish raised several questions regarding evidence and testimony, but the court found no reason to overturn the conviction.

However, on the matter of whether Fish actually ever pointed a gun at anyone, the court concluded that he never admitted to it, the jury’s verdict did not support him doing so, and his conviction does not require that he possessed a weapon at all.

Without this portion of the conviction, Fish may have scored lower on the sentencing guidelines.

If the trial court finds that, now knowing this information and that the sentencing guidelines are mere advisory, it would have imposed a materially different sentence, the court shall order resentencing.

The court ruling can be read here:

20160419_C325010_58_325010.OPN