A man acquitted by a jury of murdering Detroit Jewish leader Samantha Woll has been granted parole — and Wayne County's prosecutor is pulling every lever to keep him behind bars anyway. The case lays bare a system that can't secure a conviction but refuses to loosen its grip once it has you.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos was found not guilty of first-degree murder last July after a five-week trial and five days of jury deliberations. He was convicted only of lying to police, drawing an 18-month to 15-year sentence as a habitual offender. He's served roughly two years and eight months. The Michigan Parole Board decided he should go home. Prosecutor Kym Worthy disagrees, and her office has blocked his release three times since July 1.

Defense attorney Purna Krishnamoorthy laid out the pattern: Jackson-Bolanos was first set for release July 1, but prosecutors sought emergency court intervention just before that date. A second release was scheduled for July 29. The day before, a warrant dropped — tied to a 2020 incident involving two felony counts of resisting and obstructing police and an open-container charge.

Here's the twist: Worthy's own office now admits those 2020 charges were authorized without her knowledge and have been dismissed, according to the Detroit Free Press. Krishnamoorthy isn't buying it. "This was an extremely high-profile case. There was extreme amounts of resources that were put into this case. I find it unbelievable that their office wouldn't be keeping tabs on every movement made in this case at all times," she said.

The prosecutor's office declined to respond to the "vindictive" characterization but confirmed it asked a judge to keep Jackson-Bolanos locked up while it appeals the parole decision. Assistant prosecutor Maria Miller said the office is challenging parole "through the appropriate means of seeking leave to appeal from the Circuit Court and not in the press."

There's more. After the jury acquitted on murder and deadlocked on felony murder and home invasion, Judge Margaret Van Houten dismissed the deadlocked charges, citing the Supreme Court's 2009 Yeager v. United States precedent. Worthy's office appealed that dismissal, lost at the Michigan Court of Appeals, and is now petitioning the Michigan Supreme Court — which is the basis for fighting his parole.

CBS News framed the standoff as a procedural dispute between defense and prosecution. The Free Press provided the critical context: the 2020 charges that conveniently appeared the day before release, the habitual-offender sentence enhancement, and the prosecutor's losing streak on appeal. Both outlets noted the core fact — a man cleared of murder remains caged despite a parole grant.

Samantha Woll was fatally stabbed in her home in October 2023. Her killer has not been held accountable. Meanwhile, a man a jury said didn't do it can't walk out the door. The parole board — the institution actually empowered to make release decisions — has spoken. An elected prosecutor is simply overriding it through procedural attrition.

"Justice is not defined by whether the prosecutor's office gets the outcome it wants," Krishnamoorthy said. The question is whether anyone in Michigan's system agrees with her.