Lawyers say the Oakland County prosecutor's office should be disqualified from participating in the resentencing of three men who were convicted of murder as teens.
Attorneys for the men say Jessica Cooper has a conflict because she was the judge who decades ago sentenced them to life without parole. Now as prosecutor, Cooper wants them to be sentenced again to the same punishment.
Donyelle Black, Jessie Hayes and Jemal Tipton are entitled to new hearings under a U.S. Supreme Court decision that says automatic no-parole sentences for teens are unconstitutional.
Black, Hayes and Tipton hope to get new sentences that would give them a chance to be released someday.
The request for disqualification was filed Thursday with Judge Cheryl Matthews. An email seeking comment was sent to the prosecutor's office.
