MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith appeared via Zoom on Friday for his preliminary exam in his embezzlement hearing.
Smith is facing ten counts of embezzlement and running a criminal enterprise for allegedly using forfeiture funds for his personal use.
Read: Former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith faces judge on embezzlement, misconduct in office charges
Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham was in court to testify for Smith. It’s unusual for a sheriff to testify for the defense. Wickersham’s testimony revolved around a scene at Smith’s Macomb Township home in May of 2019.
During a search, Michigan State Police detectives seized a home security camera system purchased using county forfeiture funds. The money the county collects from fines paid by drunk drivers and drug defendants.
State law requires that money to get spent on items supporting law enforcement. The state calls Smiths’ security system a criminal misuse of county money.
The defense argues that Smith had reason to believe he needed it, pointing to an overnight sheriff’s stop of a man on a bike in 2011. Smith bought the system in 2012.
The new-retired deputy who stopped the man testified via Zoom from his home in Utah. He had little recollection about the incident other than calling sheriff Wickersham to let him know. Wickersham testified that he remembered that discussion and later called Smith.
The man on the bike did not get a ticket and was not arrested at that stop. Smith’s preliminary exam resumes in two weeks.
The judge will determine whether there is enough evidence for the case to move on to trial or not.
Read: Co-defendant testifies against former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith in embezzlement case