Now, off the state registry, BUT, how does he get off all those illegal registries that are never updated?10-14-15 Michigan:
HILLSDALE — Contrary to the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry’s listing and the word of its officials, Andrew Fether, the U.S. Army veteran erroneously placed on the list, was still registered — until very recently.
Renae Shircliff, Deputy Director of the Hillsdale County Veterans’ Affairs Office, said that Jon-Paul Rutan, a veteran who aided Fether through legal proceedings after he was put on the SOR in error, approached her with the fact during the Hillsdale County Fair.
Rutan expressed concern over the fact that Fether was still on the list despite a four-year battle to remove him; Fether’s placement was predicated on a baseless accusation a former platoon member leveled against him during his deployment with the American armed forces in the Middle East.
“Mr. Rutan talked to me,” Shircliff said. “I told him, ‘Let me talk to Mr. Brady and Rod [Hassinger, assistant prosecutor].’”
Shircliff made an appointment with Hassinger and explained the situation. Fether didn’t have the funds to hire an attorney to file a proper motion to remove him from the list altogether, leaving the officials in need of recourse.
“Rod said, ‘I’m tired of this always coming back at us,’” Shircliff said. “He decided to file a motion with [Hillsdale County District Court Judge Sara] Lisznyai himself.”
Hassinger created a motion and order to remove Fether from the list.
“Pursuant to an independent investigation conducted by the Veteran Affairs Office and the Hillsdale County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office,” reads the motion, “Defendant was incorrectly placed on the SORA list. Our office dismissed the criminal charges that occurred. We request that this Honorable Court grant the People’s motion and order Defendant removed from the SORA list.”
The discrepancy, then, came apparently through SORA administration; as of June, when last the Hillsdale Daily News updated the story, Fether’s name no longer appeared on the public SORA website, and a call placed to SORA administration confirmed that he was no longer considered a registered sex offender.
After Shircliff received Fether’s approval, Lisznyai signed the motion and Shircliff faxed it to SORA “right away,” she said
Shircliff said that Melissa Marinoff, a representative from SORA who had been involved in Fether’s case previously, promised to complete the order within 24 hours, despite email correspondence that said the motion would be prioritized and handled “immediately.” Marinoff said that a 24-hour investigation was necessary to approve the motion.
That was around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, Shircliff said.
The next day, however, Shircliff tried in vain to reach Marinoff to confirm the status of the investigation.
“They said, ‘Sorry, Melissa isn’t in today,’” Shircliff said.
Taking matters into her own hands, Shircliff called Marinoff’s supervisor in an attempt to expedite the process. During a number of hand-offs and waiting tones, Rutan then approached Shircliff again.
Shircliff said that she was on hold when Marinoff’s supervisor called Rutan to inform him that the order had been completed and Fether’s name had been removed.
“They said, ‘He’s off the list, now leave us alone,’” Shircliff said.
As of 3:25 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, Fether was no longer in the SORA database in any capacity.
The joint efforts of the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office, Veterans’ Affairs Office and Lisznyai’s office made the final push in removing Fether from the SOR.
“Together, the agencies and Judge Lisznyai got him off the list,” Shircliff said.
“I did my homework with the military,” Shircliff said. “I did my homework with [Fether’s] platoon sergeant, who was there at the time this happened.”
Hassinger stressed the importance of cooperation between his office and Shircliff’s, with the VA taking point on the issue.
"Not only did I do it,” he said, “Renae did 100 times more than what I did. She talked to people who were there when [Fether] was there.”
The story doesn’t end there, though: Hassinger said that a lien with the FBI could still flag Fether’s name during any criminal investigation and trigger the entire series of events again. But Shircliff said that her office is pursuing the case all the way to the top.
“Believe me, I’m following up,” Shircliff said. “We’re trying to see what we can do to work it out with the Secretary of State, because he shouldn’t have been on the SORA list in the first place.” ..Source.. by Jason Dafnis
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