Markou Montague Levine Defense

06/12/2026

We’re collecting books to benefit individuals at the Kalamazoo County Jail through July 31. We know books are a vital resource for incarcerated individuals, providing opportunities for education, personal growth, rehabilitation, and successful reentry into society, yet access to them is often limited.

Our community book drive is accepting paperback books in the following categories: fiction, self-help and recovery, religious texts, and educational materials.

Books can be dropped off at the following locations:
• MML Defense, 136 E. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Kalamazoo
• Hills Law, 425 S. Westnedge Ave., Kalamazoo
• John D. Bradshaw PC, 107 W. Michigan Ave., 6th Floor, Kalamazoo
• Kalamazoo Defender, 151 S. Rose Street, Suite 200, Kalamazoo

Thank you for the coverage, NowKalamazoo!

Did you know there's no library in the county jail? A local book drive aims to fix that. Also: A low-income housing development will be less low-income after it lost a tax credit. And a group bike ride will commemorate a 10-year-old tragedy.

06/09/2026

Thank you for the coverage of our book drive, FOX 17 Morning Mix! We’re collecting books to benefit individuals at the Kalamazoo County Jail through July 31.

We know books are a vital resource for incarcerated individuals, providing opportunities for education, personal growth, rehabilitation, and successful reentry into society, yet access to them is often limited.

Our community book drive is accepting paperback books in the following categories: fiction, self-help and recovery, religious texts, and educational materials.

Books can be dropped off at the following locations:
• MML Defense, 136 E. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Kalamazoo
• Hills Law, 425 S. Westnedge Ave., Kalamazoo
• John D. Bradshaw PC, 107 W. Michigan Ave., 6th Floor, Kalamazoo
• Kalamazoo Defender, 151 S. Rose Street, Suite 200, Kalamazoo

05/28/2026

Newly obtained court records show the husband and wife of a fatal house explosion in Plainfield Township were under a mutual restraining order at the time of the blast.

In an interview with WZZM, Partner Sarissa Montague explained orders like this are common in contentious divorce proceedings, but differ significantly from a personal protection order.

“That takes place within a divorce proceeding, that is very, very different from a personal protection order,” Montague said in her interview, noting the restraining order in this case focused on finances and shared assets, not allegations tied to physical safety. “The restraining order in this case dealt with finances only. It did not deal with any issues pertaining to personal safety.

Watch the full interview below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9xIycl-0MQ

05/07/2026

After two Mid-Michigan schools have been the target of recent swatting calls, Markou Montague Levine Defense Partner Sarissa Montague spoke with WILX News 10 about the wide range of penalties if someone is caught making a swatting call.

“If you call in a threat, and then the police come, and somebody gets hurt as a result of that, you start to elevate these crimes to felonies. If somebody gets hurt, it’s a five-year felony,” Markou said during her interview with WILX. She explained in some cases, prosecutors can add additional crimes, like making a terroristic threat, or using a telecommunication device to make a call like that.

Recent events of swatting calls at Mid-Michigan schools have prompted state officials to call for stricter laws for swatting calls. Watch the full interview below.

Two schools in Mid-Michigan have been the target of three swatting calls in the past week.

04/28/2026

Thousands of people across the U.S. are facing Purdue Pharma in a hearing in a New Jersey as the case moves toward finalizing the company’s $7 billion settlement. In an interview with WILX News 10, Criminal Defense Attorney Sarissa Montague says the case is significant because it has the power to change how pharmaceutical companies operate.

“Really what this is about is, how is this case going to change, if at all, corporate behavior, regulation, public health policy, things of that nature that impact everyone who lives in this country,” Montague told WILX. Montague adds the large number of victims in this case is also significant.

Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty to purposefully misleading health care providers about how addictive their opioid products are and paying for the drugs to be mass prescribed. Many of the victim’s families say Purdue Pharma is responsible for their loved one’s addictions.

Watch the full interview: https://www.wilx.com/2026/04/27/mid-michigan-mom-give-victim-impact-statement-purdue-pharma-case/

04/01/2026

In an interview with WILX News 10 about the lawsuit filed by the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, claiming Michigan’s 24% wholesale tax on ma*****na is unconstitutional, Markou Montague Levine Defense Managing Partner Anastase Markou explained that the suit may have to turn into a class action if the court rules the association itself is not the correct plaintiff.

“One of the questions is: are they the proper person suing? You have to have a standing to sue. You have to be the one negatively impacted by this,” Markou told WILX, stating the association does have a legitimate case.

“Anytime at all that you call a tax something, that matters less than what it is. The association is claiming is claiming that it is a form of a sales tax and Michigan has a prohibition on sales tax being any more than 6%.”

Watch the full interview: https://www.wilx.com/2026/03/31/second-lawsuit-challenges-michigan-ma*****na-wholesale-tax/

03/31/2026

Markou Montague Levine Defense Managing Partner Sarissa Montague recently spoke with WOOD TV8 regarding the Grand Rapids Police Department-involved shooting of Da’Quain Johnson on Feb. 18. While the Kent County prosecutor has not yet made a decision about whether the officer was justified in the shooting or whether charges are warranted, Montague explained the decision will come down to whether the officer’s use of force was necessary given what he knew at the time of the event.

“Having been involved in thousands of cases in my career, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that two people can look at exactly the same thing and see it completely differently,” Montague said during her interview. “And a lot of it comes from the perspective from which you’re looking at something. Even though sometimes something looks incredibly clear to you, someone else looking at the same information might not draw the same conclusion.”

Watch the full interview, here: https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/attorneys-to-call-for-justice-in-death-of-man-shot-by-grpd-officer/

02/27/2026

In an interview with FOX 17, Managing Partner Sarissa Montague explained the law about doxxing — the act of publicly sharing someone's private information, and the implications it carries, including felony charges and potential prison time.

Watch her full interview:

A Grand Rapids man faces charges of publicly posting the address of who he believes is the officer involved in a deadly shooting, but investigators say that information was for a man living in the UP.

02/03/2026

Managing Partner Anastase Markou spoke with WILX News 10 ahead of the Willie James trial -- an unusual murder case where prosecutors are moving forward without physical proof that the victim is dead. Markou, who is not involved in the case, told WILX one of the biggest challenges in such a case is proving that a person is actually dead.

“I can probably count less than a handful, the number of cases where a prosecutor has chosen to charge somebody and then proceed to trial when they don’t have a body to prove that the person is actually dead,” Markou said.

Watch the full interview: https://www.wilx.com/2026/01/30/lansing-murder-trial-set-begin-next-week-even-with-victims-body-still-missing/

01/16/2026

Following an announcement this week from Sen. Elissa Slotkin stating that she’s under federal investigation for participating in a video last November where she and other Democrats with military and intelligence backgrounds urged troops to defy illegal orders, Managing Partner Anastase Markou spoke with WOOD TV 8 about whether the video statement crosses the legal line.

Watch the full interview below.

Markou Montague Levine Defense Managing Partner Anastase Markou spoke with WOOD TV 8 about whether the video statement crosses the legal line.