FLINT, MI -- A Michigan appeals court has ruled that Genesee Circuit Judge Archie Hayman abused his discretion when he found an attorney in criminal contempt of court for statements the attorney allegedly made in the presence of jurors eating at a Flint coney island.

The Michigan Court of Appeals released the ruling Thursday, Feb. 6, after Flint-area attorney F. Anthony Lubkin challenged his May 2012 criminal contempt conviction for an alleged incident at Tom Z's Original Coney Island where jurors in a murder trial had been taken for lunch April 12, 2012.

Hayman's law clerk, Brian MacMillan, claimed he heard Lubkin say "guilty" at the coney island where MacMillan and another law clerk had escorted the 14 jurors for lunch.

Lubkin has said he never directed any comments toward the jurors, who were on break from the murder trial of Thomas L. Jones, while at the restaurant. Lubkin had no connection to the Jones murder case.

Lubkin was sentenced to 30 days in jail for the incident. He served five days in the Genesee County Jail before being released on bond pending his appeal.



"None of what happened in this unusual case would ever have occurred if this law clerk had done his job of minding the jury with proper care, away from the hustle and bustle of a busy downtown diner," Lubkin said in a statement.

Lydia Simon, the executive director of the Flint Area Chamber of Commerce, testified during a hearing for criminal contempt charge that she was at the restaurant with Lubkin at the time of the incident and testified that Lubkin said, "She's guilty," in reference to a legal discussion the two were having.

The appeals court ruled that there was no evidence to prove that Lubkin, a long-time attorney, would attempt to influence the jury. It further ruled that there was no reason for Lubkin to interfere with the jury.

However, Hayman, in his initial ruling at the end of the contempt hearing, said Lubkin acted like a "smart aleck" and was concerned that the statements could have had an impact on Jones' trial.

"There was no evidence that (Lubkin) knew a jury would be entering the restaurant," the appeals court concluded, adding that there was no evidence Lubkin willfully interfered with an impaneled jury.

Hayman said the appeals court has the right to overturn his decision but said there was evidence on the record that showed Lubkin knew the jury would be entering the restaurant. Hayman said Simon testified she told Lubkin that a jury was expected at the restaurant while they were there.

The appeals court also issued a Thursday, Feb. 6, decision in Jones' appeal.

Jones claimed that Hayman should have ordered a mistrial in his case based on the suspected jury interference by Lubkin's actions.

The appeals court upheld Jones' conviction.

Jones was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the Nov. 16, 2010, killing of 23-year-old Amanda Lamson.

Lamson was found dead lying in a pool of blood near Leith and Minnesota on Flint's east side. Police said she had been severely beaten and run over with a car.

Special Assistant Genesee County Prosecutor John Potbury declined to comment on the case.