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Detroit mother charged in standoff over medicating daughter has court hearing Thursday

Maryanne Godboldo arrested in 2011 after standoff with police

Maryanne Godboldo

DETROIT – The case against a Detroit mother accused of firing a shot when police tried to remove her physically-impaired daughter from their home is slated to go back before a judge on Thursday. 

Mother barricades herself in home with daughter

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On March 24, 2011, Child Protective Services accompanied by police went to Maryanne Godboldo’s home to remove her then 13-year-old daughter, Ariana.

The order for Ariana to be placed in protective custody was issued by the Michigan Department of Human Services after Godboldo refused to medicate her daughter with the antipsychotic drug Risperidone.

When Godboldo refused to allow state officials or police into her home, a standoff with police followed. Godboldo is accused of firing a shot at police outside her home.

A SWAT team with military vehicles surrounded the home until Godboldo was arrested. Her daughter was taken to the Hawthorne Center in Northville, and released a few weeks later. 

Charges issues, dismissed, reinstated

Godboldo was charged with discharging a weapon, felonious assault, resisting and obstructing an officer and felony firearm.

The charges were dismissed by a district judge who said Godboldo had a right to protect her child. That decision was upheld in county circuit court.

In January, the state appeals court ordered the charges reinstated after the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office appealed.

Godboldo appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, but they chose not to hear the case.


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