Sherrone Moore Cleared: Shocking Charges Dismissed in Groundbreaking Decision

Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore celebrated a significant legal triumph on Friday when accusations of home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering against him were thrown out.

Accompanied by his supportive wife Kelli, Moore, a father of three, attended his court session three months after allegedly intruding into an apartment occupied by his personal assistant, Paige Shiver, and menacing her with a knife.

Moore, dismissed by the Wolverines earlier that day due to purported involvement with Shiver, reportedly seized butter knives and kitchen scissors, threatening self-harm at her residence on December 10. Prosecutors allege he told Shiver, “My blood is on your hands.”

On Friday morning, Moore arrived at the courthouse hand-in-hand with Kelli for a hearing to assess the legitimacy of his arrest warrant, initially scheduled for 11 a.m. Instead, Judge J. Cedric Simpson convened privately with both prosecutors and Moore’s legal team for 90 minutes before an announcement of a recess until 1:30 p.m.

The hearing finally commenced in Washtenaw County later than expected, around 2:30 p.m., where it was revealed that charges of felony home invasion, misdemeanor stalking, and misdemeanor breaking and entering against Moore had been dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

In exchange for the dismissed charges, Moore has agreed to plead no contest to two new misdemeanors: One count of malicious use of a telecommunications device in context of a private relationship and another count of trespassing.

Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore landed a huge victory in court on Friday 

Charges of home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering against Moore were all dropped

Sentencing for the two additional charges has been set for April 14 at 2pm.

Malicious use of a telecommunications device in context of a private relationship is punishable by up to six months in prison, while trespassing is punishable by up to 30 days in prison.

‘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,’ defense attorney Ellen Michaels told reporters after the hearing.

‘After the court granted our motion for a Franks hearing (where a defendant can challenge the truthfulness of statements made by law enforcement in a search warrant affidavit), 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.’

Moore – whose wife Kelli has stood by him throughout the scandal – was first arraigned on December 12 on the charges of third-degree home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering.

He pleaded not guilty and, back in January, his lawyer said the charges were based on an effort by a staff member to get a financial windfall from the school’s ‘deep pockets.’

In a court filing, Michaels wrote: ‘This Court is not confronted with a close call or a technical defect… it is confronted with a prosecution that never should have begun.’

Moore was accused of breaking into the home of his former assistant Paige Shiver (pictured). She is alleged to have had an affair with the football coach

Shiver, who no longer works for the University of Michigan, has never confirmed the affair 

On February 17, Moore was first handed a lifeline when Simpsons scheduled this latest hearing to examine police procedure leading up to the arrest. ‘[The] defendant’s due process may have been violated,’ the judge said.

Moore’s defense team argued that his arrest warrant relied on false and misleading statements and asked for the charges to be dismissed. 

In what he described as a ‘glaring’ omission, Simpson said law enforcement failed to indicate that the female staffer was Moore’s employee when they were securing charges.

That professional connection could potentially undermine the misdemeanor stalking charge by offering an explanation as to why Moore would need to repeatedly make contact with the alleged victim.

‘It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose,’ Michaels said at the hearing, as quoted by the Detroit Free Press.

Authorities did include comments made by the woman’s lawyer to police accusing Moore of misconduct. And, as Simpson explained, this may have violated his rights.

‘What worries me is the magistrate did not get that opportunity [to hear more information],’ Simpson said, as quoted by 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.’

Although Simpson said he thought law enforcement omitted details and included others as ‘an intentional misdirection to the court,’ he went on to explain that police motivation doesn’t change the question of a potential rights violation.

On February 17, Moore was handed a potential lifeline by Judge J. Cedric Simpson (pictured)

Moore’s latest hearing was scheduled to examine police procedure leading up to his arrest

‘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 does not dispute that he turned up at Shiver’s apartment, but claims there is no evidence that she had 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.

She accused Shiver’s personal lawyer, Heidi Sharp, of giving information to police to ‘villainize Mr. Moore and maximize the chances of obtaining a large settlement from the deep pockets of the University of Michigan.’

The prosecution said it wanted to hear from the detective, the victim, and officers on scene. The defense, meanwhile, was slated to hear from the detective and the officers.

Moore coached the Wolverines for two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before quitting to become coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

Kyle Whittingham, who coached Utah for two decades, is the new Michigan coach.