24-05-2025
Cop killer loses bid to get out of sentence
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — Nearly 30 years after he went to prison for killing a Grand Haven police officer, Keith L. Harbin continues to try — unsuccessfully — to have his life sentence nixed.
For the second time this year, a panel of Michigan judges has refused to grant a 'motion for relief' filed by the 52-year-old cop killer.
His latest rejection came on May 22 from the Michigan Supreme Court. Justices wrote that the relief Harbin was asking for is prohibited by state law.
The Court of Appeals in February also said it would not revisit the case.
Harbin, locked up at a state prison in Macomb County, has tried unsuccessfully to have various convictions and sentences tossed.
He's argued unsuccessfully that his constitutional protection against double jeopardy was violated and that he should have been given a change of venue.
Harbin was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Grand Haven Public Safety Officer Scott Flahive. Flahive was gunned down Dec. 13, 1994, by Harbin after Harbin escaped from the Ottawa County Jail.
Prior to killing Flahive, Harbin severely beat an Ottawa County Jail guard before making good his escape.
Harbin was assisted by others in the escape. During a traffic stop on Beacon Boulevard, Harbin, hiding in the back seat, fatally shot Flahive with a hunting rifle.
Flahive's memory is honored with a monument in Grand Haven. In December 2019, a section of US-31 was renamed 'Officer Scott Flahive Memorial Highway' in his honor.
Flahive had served with the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety for four years when he was killed.
His name was read aloud earlier this month at a police officers' memorial service in Grand Rapids.
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