Felony charge, 2 misdemeanor counts dropped in plea deal for former Michigan football coach charged with breaking into mistress' home

Multiple charges against former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore have been dropped, with Moore instead pleading no contest to two new lesser charges in court on Friday as part of a plea deal.

As part of the deal, the counts of felony home invasion, misdemeanor stalking, and misdemeanor breaking and entering have been dropped against Moore. The charges had been brought against Moore for allegedly breaking into the home of Paige Shiver, with whom Moore was allegedly having an affair, threatening her with a knife, and threatening to kill himself at her property back in December. 

Moore instead agreed to plead no contest to one count of malicious use of a telecommunications device in context of a private relationship and another count of trespassing. The first charge carries a sentence of up to six months in prison, while the second is punishable by up to 30 days in prison. Sentencing has been set for April 14, per the Daily Mail.

The agreement was announced after a delay in the start of his hearing that took place at the Washtenaw County court was delayed. Judge J. Cedric Simpson met with prosecutors and Moore's lawyers for 90 minutes behind closed doors, and the hearing eventually got underway at 2:30 pm.

Defense attorney Ellen Michaels said after the hearing, "We maintain that the felony stalking charge and the entering without permission charge, all the charges against Mr. Moore, were not supported by facts of law." He said that the court had granted the defense’s motion for a Franks hearing, in which a defendant can challenge the truthfulness of statements from law enforcement in search warrants, "and the omissions in the detective's affidavit were examined, those charges have been dismissed."

"The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward."

In a February hearing, Judge Simpson said that he was "very worried" law enforcement did not indicate that Shiver worked for Moore, but included other comments her lawyer gave to police when securing charges. Simpson said, "What worries me is the magistrate did not get that opportunity (to hear more information)," per the Detroit Free Press. 

"And if the magistrate didn't get that opportunity, that means what the people got may not have been a validly sworn out complaint ... and that the defendant's due process rights may have been violated. That's my problem, or my concern."

"What is clear from this court's perspective is that an omission in certain contexts can be more damaging, more problematic, more troublesome, than what might be an intentional misrepresentation," Simpson said.

Moore’s attorney did not dispute that he had gone to Shiver’s apartment, but claimed that there was no evidence that Shiver told him to stay away. "A magistrate must be given a fair and accurate picture. When the picture is distorted, the warrant cannot stand," Michaels wrote.