Lance Eichler appears in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court in a 2024 MCP file photo.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
LUDINGTON — A 50-year-old man who was convicted by a bench verdict in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court of aggravated stalking and using a computer to commit a crime February 14, 2024 had his conviction overturned by the State of Michigan Court of Appeals Monday, Sept. 29.
Lance Craig Eichler, who was convicted of stalking a female probation agent, was sentenced May 24, 2024 to concurrent prison terms of 30 months to 10 years and 22 months to seven years with credit for 394 days served in jail.
Judge Susan K. Sniegowski rendered the verdict following a one-day trial, Feb. 14, 2024.
“Hundreds of communications” from Eichler resulted in the probation officer pressing charges, previously said Lauren Kreinbrink, who was the Mason County prosecuting attorney at the time.
“Because we agree with the defendant that the evidence in this case was insufficient to support his convictions, we reverse,” states a nine-page opinion signed by appeals court judges Daniel S. Korobkin, Thomas C. Cameron and Christopher M. Murray.
“Over the course of nearly two weeks, the defendant contacted (the probation officer) by text about a variety of topics related to his probation, including employment, housing, requests to lift probationary restrictions on being near firearms at work, purportedly incorrect probation-related monitoring fees, an individual posting about the defendant’s probation status on social media, an altercation with his housing caseworker, and to report that he had observed suspected criminal activity. The defendant’s texts tended to be rambling and unfocused, and some were screenshots of other text message exchanges or documents that the defendant wanted (her) to see. (The probation officer) testified that she received a total of 152 messages from the defendant, and that the defendant contacted her at ‘all hours of the day,’” states the opinion.
Probationers are required to stay in contact with their probation officers to keep them apprised of changes of address, phone numbers, employment, etc.
“Although the defendant did send her a large number of lengthy text messages, under the circumstances we are unpersuaded that this is sufficient to sustain the defendant’s conviction,” the appeals judges wrote.
Eichler, who is incarcerated in the Central Michigan Correctional Facility in Gratiot County, will be released within 21 days, said attorney William Branch who represented him during the appeal process. “It was an unfortunate situation — an unfortunate combination of a particular fellow on probation and a particular probation officer,” said Branch, who was appointed to the case through the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System. “There was nothing malicious here — there was nothing threatening, and it ended up with Mr. Eichler going to prison.”
The case sets precedent, which is a rarity, said the attorney. “In the future, courts can use this case for precedent — not many criminal cases get published. This is significant, because it lays out for the future standards to hold the probation officer to and what they’re expected to put up with.”
The probation officer could have gone before the judge and requested that Eichler’s probation be revoked and that he continue serving out his time in the county jail, because he was not a good candidate for probation, said Branch. “That is what I would expect to see happen — not to go in and say, ‘We’re going to charge you with new felonies and send you to prison.’ Not everybody is a good candidate for probation. Perhaps Mr. Eichler wasn’t. They could have simply said, ‘We can’t deal with this guy’ and revoke his probation. It’s not that unusual.
“Mr. Eichler’s problem is that he talks too much — blatantly. I’m sure that it has affected his life. She could have gotten him into some type of counseling program,” he said of the probation officer. “They didn’t do that — they charged him with felonies and he winds up in prison.”
Eichler was represented by defense attorney Ravi Gurumurthy during the trial in Mason County. The appeals attorney said Gurumurthy did a good job of “laying out the groundwork for the argument in the trial court.”
Eichler was prosecuted as a habitual offender. In 2022, he was sentenced in Mason County for a conviction of attempted assault with a dangerous weapon to one year in jail with credit for 231 days served and 18 months probation.
According to Michigan Department of Corrections records, Eichler was convicted of stalking and using computers to commit a crime in Berrien County in 2019 and was ordered to three years probation. In 2008, he was convicted of assault and battery and breaking and entering/illegal entry in Kent County, receiving a one year and three month probation term.
Former prosecutor Kreinbrink previously said there are also misdemeanor stalking convictions on his criminal record.
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