DETROIT-
A former prosecutor was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he helped a man obtain a new rape trial in exchange for campaign contributions.
Carl Marlinga, prosecutor in Macomb County for two decades, denied he helped the man get a new trial and testified he believed the contributions were legal.
“I did what I thought was right,” he said outside court. “I am not bitter, (but) the emotional cost is something you can’t possibly imagine.”
Prosecutors alleged that Marlinga filed a motion that led to the Michigan Supreme Court granting a new trial for Jeffrey Moldowan, who had been convicted in 1991 of kidnapping and raping his ex-girlfriend. In return, prosecutors said, $30,000 was contributed to Marlinga’s failed 2002 congressional campaign.
Marlinga testified that he reported flaws in the prosecution’s case because he believed it was ethical and appropriate, but that he did not want Moldowan to get a new trial.
Moldowan was acquitted at the second trial after spending 10 years behind bars.
Marlinga was also cleared of charges he accepted contributions to help James Hulet, a businessman accused of drugging and raping a teenage girl. Hulet eventually pleaded guilty to assault and other charges.
Marlinga, 59, had been charged with bribery, fraud, lying to the Federal Election Commission and violating federal campaign finance laws. He could have gotten up to 10 years in prison.
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