Mandatory 25 Year Sentence Constitutional for Teacher CSC Case
Benton Tumura, a Genesee County elementary school teacher, was convicted in 2010 of having sexual intercourse with a former 6th grade student of hers. Pursuant to the 2006 amendments to MCL 750.520b(2)(b) , anyone convicted of CSC, First Degree, where the victim is under the age of thirteen and the defendant is 17 years of age or older, shall be "imprisonment for life or any term of years, but not less than 25 years." The defendant, represented by Lansing attorney Michael Faraone , in People v Tumura , Docket No. 296721 (September 22, 2011), challenged her 25-year mandatory minimum sentence as being cruel and unusual, at least as the sentence was applied to her case. The Court of Appeals, in an opinion written by Judge Jane Markey , and joined by Judges Deborah Servitto and Kirsten Frank Kelly , affirmed the sentence. The Court reviewed the factors set forth by the Michigan Supreme Court in People v Bullock : one, the severity of the sentence imposed and the gravity