3/11/14 - The criminal cases involving two women charged with illegally selling synthetic marijuana in Genoa Township in April of 2012 have been dismissed. The Livingston County Prosecutorâs Office recently filed a request to dismiss the charges against both defendants - the owner of Smokers Depot, 42-year-old Ronda Lee Roszak, as well as the storeâs manager, 28-year-old Melissa Ann Dzierwa. The women were originally represented by Defense Attorney Timothy Corr, who maintained the seized substances his clients sold at the Genoa Township store as part of their job were purchased at a trade show, along with a lab report stating they did not contain illegal chemicals. A number of legal delays resulted after a November 2012 decision by 53rd District Court Judge Suzanne Geddis, who ruled that it constituted a conflict of interest for Corr to simultaneously represent two clients. Corr fought that decision but it was upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal last December. Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt tells WHMI once each defendant had their own attorney; they were able to review the cases to determine if there was any additional evidence to establish if either of the defendants had knowledge regarding the illegal character of the substance. After that review, which Vailliencourt says was only made possible with the cooperation of the defendants and their individual attorneys, his office found there was insufficient evidence to proceed. When contacted at the store today, Dzierwa told WHMI that neither she nor Roszak were interested in commenting. (JM)
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