A 30-year-old Harrison Township man will serve 8-1/2 months in jail for abusing his baby son, a case that has drawn criticism that the defendant received special treatment.
Collin Quint was ordered to report to the Macomb County Jail on Friday by Judge Richard Caretti at Thursday’s hearing in Macomb Circuit Court. Caretti also sentenced him to two years probation.
Quint in August 2018 inflicted injuries on his 9-week-old son that required life-saving measures, including two shunts placed in his head, medicine to reduce severe seizures and 10 days on a ventilator, and likely will need therapy the rest of his life, according to Macomb prosecutors.
Caretti’s sentence was in the middle of the sentencing-guideline range of zero to 17 months behind bars but was below the original sentencing guideline range of 27 months to nearly four years in prison.
Despite vigorous arguments by Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Elizabeth Rittinger to the contrary, Caretti reduced the guideline range by agreeing with Quint’s attorneys, Art Garton and Denise Hirschmann, that the child did not suffer permanent, life-threatening injuries and that the abuse was not excessively brutal or consisted of torture or sadism.
Caretti called one of those decisions “a very close call” and the second one “an extremely close call.”
The Macomb Accountability Project, which has been critical of county Prosecutor Peter Lucido since it was formed earlier this year, called the outcome a “backroom deal” by Lucido that favored Quint’s attorneys, who contributed to his election campaign.
But Lucido said Thursday following the hearing he believes the sentence was too lenient and will appeal Caretti’s determination that lowered the sentencing-guideline range.
“We believe it was an error in the way the guidelines were scored,” Lucido said. “We’re disappointed with the scoring by the judge and the amount of time given to the individual.”
The circuit court probation office also said the guidelines should be in the higher range.
Lucido was criticized for allowing Quint to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree child abuse, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, after he was charged with first-degree child abuse, punishable by up to life in prison.
MAP member Emily Mellits of Washington Township said Lucido failed to hold Quint “fully accountable.”
“Pete Lucido put his own selfish interests ahead of the interests and the safety of Macomb County families,” she said in a news release. “As a mother of young children, I am appalled and I believe we can no longer trust Pete Lucido as our prosecutor. As residents of Macomb County, we demand a prosecutor who will enforce the law and punish child abusers to the fullest extent, not let them off the hook if their lawyers happen to be campaign donors.”
But Lucido said his office offered the plea deal because they had to consider the risk of going to trial. He said medical experts on the defense could argue the child suffered the injuries during birth. In addition, Quint’s wife would not testify against him as she is supporting him. If Quint was acquitted at trial, he would serve no time other than the one day he has served.
When the plea was entered at a hearing in March the assistant Macomb prosecutor handling the case that day, Molly Zappitell, initially didn’t realize the plea offer remained available to Quint until consulting with Lucido. MAP said the situation violated Lucido’s own policy that the assistant prosecutor on a case must be made aware of a plea deal. Zappitell, chief of the child crimes unit, was filling in that day for unit-member Rittinger.
But Lucido said the offer was made in January, prior to the policy being instituted in February, and was made by his former top chief, Ralph “Skip” Maccarone.
Mellits added she was disappointed in the sentence, pointing out that the day before in the same courthouse a defendant received six months in jail for abusing a dog.
“It’s almost the same sentence for a dog,” she said. “That really stood out to us. Are they putting them on the same scale?”
MAP points out Garton donated $600 to Lucido on Nov. 3, 2020. His law partner at Garton and Vogt, Kathy Vogt, donated $500 to Lucido on Sept. 17, 2020, and Hirschmann donated a total of $750 to Lucido, according to Macomb County campaign finance reports.
Defense attorneys commonly donate to campaigns of prosecutorial candidates.
MAP has previously asked Lucido to resign due to the sexual harassment allegations against him prior to taking office and blocking negative comments form his county prosecutor Facebook page.
At the hearing, it was also revealed Quint has an outstanding drunken driving charge. He is accused of registering a .21% blood-alcohol level following an accident on a motorcycle in which, according to Garton, he suffered a head injury.
In arguing for the lower sentencing-guideline range, Garton said medical officials have indicated the child has made “remarkable improvements.”
But Rittinger said that improvement is only relative to the child’s near death. Due to the injuries, the boy is far behind in development, noting that at age 3 he cannot yet walk, has limited speaking ability and can’t feed himself, she said.
“I think the fact that this child is currently and actively involved in all types of therapy at this point indicates there is a severe and permanent injury,” she said. “It is life threatening.”
Rittinger said medical experts believe the child was shaken because he suffered “retinal hemeraggues and brain bleed.”
In making his ruling on that issue, Caretti said, “There’s no question there are very serious injuries but I don’t think it rises to the level of life threatening. No one can predict whether it will in fact be permanent.”
As part of the parental neglect case against him, Quint can see his child five days a week.
The hearing was held remotely and shown on YouTube.com.
