GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge Friday denied a motion for a third trial by two men who claimed the judge's biases and improper courtroom behavior led to their convictions in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft were convicted in August of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Croft and Fox, whose first trial ended in a mistrial in April, are scheduled to be sentenced in December, and face up to life in prison.
After the jury handed down a guilty verdict, attorneys for Fox and Croft in September filed a motion for a new trial, claiming the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker of the Western District of Michigan, denied the defense a fair trial by not investigating a report of juror misconduct, making biased statements in court, and by imposing time limits on cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses.
