Parole Rejected For Prisoner Who Won Supreme Court Case

ADRIAN (WWJ/AP) - The Michigan parole board again has declined to release a prison inmate who won a state Supreme Court case over a shorter sentence.

Matthew Makowski was notified this week that his request for parole was turned down.

Makowski has been in prison for 27 years for the death of a co-worker at a Dearborn health club. There's no dispute that he arranged for Pete Puma to be robbed, but he insists he didn't know Puma's attacker would have a knife. He wasn't present.

In 2010, Gov. Jennifer Granholm changed Makowski's no-parole sentence in one of her final acts as governor, making him eligible for release. But in an unprecedented move, she rescinded the order within 48 hours, on Christmas Eve, when the Puma's family protested. Relatives said they were not told that Makowski was being considered for release and only read of the commutation in the news.

The Supreme Court unanimously said Granholm's about-face was illegal.

Nonetheless, the parole board refuses to release Makowski, who is 49.

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