DETROIT — Jurors in next month's conspiracy case against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be allowed to hear about the criminal records and other prior allegations involving the defendants, a federal judge said Wednesday.
Prosecutors asked permission to divulge the rap sheets and allegations to help establish the defendants' predisposition to kidnapping Whitmer and rebut an anticipated defense strategy that undercover FBI agents and informants entrapped the men.
The order by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker came amid several pretrial attempts to determine which evidence will be shown to jurors during a trial starting March 8 in federal court in Grand Rapids. The case has focused national attention on violent extremism in Michigan.
