ANN ARBOR, MI — A Michigan court has upheld the sentence of a man convicted of killing a retired Ann Arbor postal worker in 2019.
The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence of Christopher Michael Cheatham, now 29, who was sentenced in January 2022 to 18 to 40 years in prison for the slaying of Richard “Dick” Fortune several years prior, according to a draft opinion published in July.
Cheatham was found guilty of second-degree homicide, two felony counts of stealing a financial transaction device and one misdemeanor count of receiving and concealing stolen property less than $200.
Cheatham argued in his appeal that testimony on the results of Fortune’s pacemaker, which was used to show the time of his death, should not have been admitted into court. He also argued his defense failed him by not calling the appropriate expert witnesses.
