LOCAL/STATE - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 14, 2001-- 5 Man charged with death during pursuit by police Auto Oscars m CANTON TOWNSHIP (AP) - A Farmington Hills an was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in art accident that killed an 8-year-old boy during a police pursuit. John Steven Moffitt, 38, also was arraigned by District Judge John MacDonald on charges of receiving and con- cealing stolen property over $1,000 and being a habitual third-time offender. The murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction. Authorities allege Moffitt was being pursued by Canton Township police Saturday night when he crashed the 1988 Chevy truck he was driving into a car, killing 8-year-old gavis Miles, of Garden City. The chase began after police responded to a call of a lar- ceny in progress at a home construction site in the western Wayne County community. Police stopped two trucks that appeared to be loaded with construction material. Virgil Dale Cagle, 47, and Gary Foreman, 43, both of Detroit, were arrested at the construc- tion site without incident. But Moffitt and passenger Joseph Walter Respondek, 43, of Detroit, sped away after an officer asked them for identi- fication, authorities said. Moffitt allegedly struck a Canton officer and continued heading east into Westland. Police say he reached speeds of 60 mph before running a red light and broadsiding the car carrying Travis. The Memorial Elementary School third-grader was pro- nounced dead at the scene. The woman driving the car suf- fered minor injuries. "The best part of my life was ripped from my chest, the victim's father, Donald Miles, told the Detroit Free Press. "He's something that can never be replaced." State battles counties over new child support system LANSING (AP) - Genesee Coun- ty Friend of the Court Jennie Barkey said she thought throughout 2000 that she and other Friend of the Court offi- cials were working with the state to develop a new computer system for tracking child support payments. Then, in his Jan. 31 State of the State address, Gov. John Engler took at Genesee and nine other coun- snot using the state's child support computer system. Faced with a $38 million federal penalty for not having a statewide system in place, the state planned to penalize any counties that didn't get on board, Engler said. "If any county fails to participate in the state system, I will work with the Legislature and the chief justice to ter- minate that county's responsibility for *id support enforcement;' he said. "I will not ask this legislature to continue to pay outrageous penalties because some counties wish to have it their way." The words came as a surprise to Barkey. Until some point last year, she said, the state was still saying its child support computer system couldn't handle large counties such as Wayne, Oakland and Genesee. And even if it could, Genesee iend of the Court had a computer *stem of its own. Converting to the state system would be costly. But the governor's threat left the "They've got us right in the corer." - Jennie Barkey Genessee County Friend of the Court AP PHOTO0 Workers at the Flint General Motors plant gather at a ceremony Monday in which the Chevy Silverado was named Motor Trend 'Truck of the Year.' O d CUl Convicte stleies new Y appao edrl ortrling. county little choice but to comply. In recent weeks, Engler has said he would force counties that didn't go along to pay a share of the $38 million penalty. "They've got us right in the corner," Barkey said. Besides Wayne, Oakland and Gene- see, other counties not yet on the state system are Ingham, Clinton, St. Clair, Berrien, Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Antrim. Ingham and Clinton are taking steps to get onto the system, and the others have indicated they will. But it's more of a shotgun marriage than a joy- ful union. Yesterday, state Family Indepen- dence Agency Director Doug Howard acknowledged that some of the non- complying counties have very good computer systems of their own for get- ting child support payments to fami- lies. But he said the state system is fine and getting better, and that all counties should convert to it. The state plans to help counties pay some of the conversion costs, although it won't cover the cost of putting other computer work on hold that counties may have scheduled. That's an issue in Oakland County, which planned to move to a paperless court system by 2003. If getting the county's child support system in line with the state system delays moving forward on the court system contracts it already has signed, the county may have to spend addi- tional money, said Oakland County Chief Circuit Court Judge Barry Howard. Barry Howard is no relation to Doug Howard. Doug Howard told a meeting of the Michigan Association of Coun- ties that everyone, including the state, deserves some of the blame for the bind the state finds itself in. "It's been a very difficult journey," he said. "We're not out of the woods by a long ways. (But) we will get this done." Two years ago, Doug Howard didn't think the statewide system would ever be able to handle the biggest counties. But the network's capacity has increased 10-fold since then, he said, and the state needs to act quickly if it's to avoid pay- ing a $49 million fine next year. That's what it will owe if all 83 counties aren't using the state system by then. LANSING (AP) -- A convicted stalker is appealing a federal court's ruling that he remain in prison, arguing that Michigan's anti-stalking law is too vague and violates his free speech rights. David Dodge, an attorney for convicted stalker Jerry Lee Staley, says he filed an appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday. Dodge said he is now waiting to hear whether the court will consider the appeal. A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court ruled last week that Michigan's law clearly defines stalking and that Staley's behavior wasn't protected as free speech. Dodge is asking for an "en bane" appeal, in which all I11 of the 6th Cir- cuit Court's current judges would consider the case. Staley is serving a 15-to-25-year state prison sentence for stalking his ex-girlfriend. During his 1994 trial, Staley was accused of breaking into the victim's home, calling her up to 15 times per day, chasing her with a baseball bat and threatening to "slice her gut" with a knife. Under Michigan's law, which went into effect in 1993, people may be convicted of felony stalking if they make unwanted contact with a victim two or more times and. make a "credible threat" at least once. The law defines stalking as repeated harassment that "would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, intimir dated, threatened, harassed or molested" Staley was originally sentenced to life in prison. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the sentence was too heavy and reduced it. But the Michigan Court of.Appeals ' and the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the stalking law. Staley then took his case to federal court, where U.S. Dis- trict Judge Richard Enslen of Kalamazoo said the law was too broad and ruled in Staley's favor. Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm appealed, and the 6th U.S. Cir- cuit Court reversed Enslen's ruling last week. I. ~1 1 .,: Summer Session in SP a l "A- i r '' ° University of Wisconsin-Platteville' Two Summer Sessions to choose from: " May 28 -June 28 " July 2- August 2 Courses available in Spanish and in English Costs for one session/both sessions: " $3,200/$6,150 for Wisconsin and Minnesota residents " $3,500/$6,750 for non-residents Costs include: " Tuition and fees " Room and board in Spanish homes " Field trips Apply by April 1 For further information contact: " Toll free: 1-800-342-1725 " E-mail: StudyAbroad@uwplatt.edu " Web: http://www.uwplatt.edu/-studyabroad Semester programs also available in Seville, Spain; London, England; and Nagasaki, Japan. Featured in The Student's Guide to the Best Study Abroad Programs I 11 WA I k\K Thursday February 15, 2001 4:30 PM University of Michigan Business School (11 (1 ITn 1 A 1P. e~ x :X-: ..... . ..... .......... .......