Joseph Morrison was convicted in 2022 of gang membership felonies, felony firearm and providing material support for terrorist acts in relation to his alleged role in support of a kidnapping plot of the Democratic governor that prosecutors said was led by Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. during the COVID-19 pandemic. Morrison was sentenced to four to 20 years in prison on the gang and terrorism support convictions and two years on felony firearm.

But the three-judge appellate panel on Tuesday ruled that kidnapping, under the letter of Michigan law, is not considered a "violent felony" and therefore cannot be presented to a jury to establish a terrorism-related charge.

The panel ? made up of Judges Thomas Cameron, Mark Boonstra and Brock Swartzle ? vacated Morrison's conviction and remanded the case back to Jackson County Circuit Court for a new trial. All three judges are appointees of Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder.

"Given that the trial court specifically instructed the jury to consider kidnapping as a violent felony and that the jury heard considerable testimony about the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, the likelihood that defendant was actually convicted, at least in part, on an invalid basis tainted the jury's verdict," according to the unanimous decision.

Michael Faraone, an appellate attorney for Morrison, said he was happy with the decisions and added, "It's always a great day when a court delivers justice."

"In over 30 years of practicing law, I have never reviewed a trial more violative of due process than this one," Faraone said.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office handled the case, said the decision, released just two days after arguments in the case, was "completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible." The judges' decision "diminishes and whitewashes" the case, Nessel said, and "sends a deeply dangerous message, in a fraught and perilous time."

Nessel's office plans to appeal the ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court.

"For the panel to declare that kidnapping is not a violent felony strains all legal credibility and insults the intelligence of every person in this state," Nessel said. "The court twists itself into a knot using legal and linguistic gymnastics in order to liberate dangerous criminals using convoluted definitions of the crimes upon which they were convicted."