BALDWIN â A Cadillac man who had been serving seven to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in connection with an incident involving a vehicular pursuit and shots being fired at deputies in Lake County was granted another day in court.
On Monday, March 8, Randy Lee Smith, 36, withdrew guilty pleas of intentional discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle and felony firearms possession after the Michigan Court of Appeals found âthere was no adequate factual basis for the guilty pleas.â
Smith contends that he never shot at deputies and actually attempted multiple times to prevent his codefendant, Cody Haner, from doing so during an incident that occurred in 2019.
BALDWIN â A Cadillac man who had been sentenced to several years in prison for allegedly shooting at Lake County sheriffâs deputies during a vehicular pursuit may have his case retried after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled he can request to have his guilty pleas withdrawn.
On Feb. 24, 2020, Randy Lee Smith, 36, was sentenced to seven to 20 yearsâ imprisonment in connection with events that occurred in July 2019.
According to Cadillac News reports from that time, on July 19 around 4:30 a.m., Lake County Deputy James Buscaino tried to conduct a traffic stop on a 2005 Buick Terraza minivan in the area of State Road and 64th Street in Chase Township for moving violations, deputies said. Inside the vehicle were Smith and Cody Haner of White Cloud.