Prisoner Released; Case Broke Ground Over Government Power

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area man has been released from prison, more than eight years after then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm said he should be freed but then changed her mind before leaving office.

Matthew Makowski was released Wednesday. He spent 29 years in prison.

Granholm shortened Makowski's life sentence in 2010, making him eligible for parole, but reversed her decision. Makowski took his case to the Michigan Supreme Court, represented by University of Michigan law professor Paul Reingold. The court in 2014 unanimously said Granholm's reversal was illegal.

The parole board last year approved Makowski's release. But it was delayed again by an unsuccessful legal challenge from the victim's family.

Makowski was convicted of murder in the fatal stabbing of a Dearborn health club co-worker. Makowski wasn't present when Pete Puma was stabbed in 1988, but he had arranged for him to be robbed.

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