14A District Court, Michigan

Judge Tabbey was appointed in April 1997 then elected to the bench and was appointed Chief Judge of 14A District Court January 1, 2008.  He currently presides at the 14A-2 District Court in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  After starting in general practice, he served Washtenaw County as an Assistant Prosecutor from 1983 through 1992 and as a Special Assistant Public Defender in 1993.  He then served Jackson County as Senior Assistant Prosecutor, Chief Trial Attorney, and Chief Assistant Prosecutor.  In his nearly 13 years of public service as a prosecutor, Judge Tabbey specialized in prosecuting high tech economic frauds and was declared a Computer Crime Expert in 1990 by the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan.  In 1990 he became the legal consultant to the Michigan Computer Crime Task Force, and continues as liaison to the FBI National Law Institute at Quantico, Virginia.

Judge Tabbey received his B.A. in Criminal Justice in 1978 at Michigan State University, Honors College, and his Juris Doctor in 1981 at Wayne State University.  In 1990, he graduated from the FBI National Law Institute at the FBI National Academy.  He has received Certificates of Appreciation, Crime Prevention Citations, and a Community Service award for his efforts in providing training and information resources to the local state and national law enforcement community.

Judge Tabbey lectures for many law enforcement, bar and judicial associations, universities, and corporations concerning information piracy and privacy issues.  He consults on technology/legal issues with the Michigan State Police; FBI; U.S. Secret Service; numerous other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies; the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Defense.

Judge Tabbey has created computer/telecommunications crime investigation and prosecution courses and has provided instruction for the Financial Fraud Institute at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the Communications Fraud Control Association, and numerous colleges and universities.  He also serves the Michigan Judicial Institute on the District Court Academic Advisory Committee.

Judge Tabbey was a founding member of the International Working Group on Computer Evidence and member of the Security Institute Special Interest Group; the Communications Fraud Control Association; the High Tech Crime Investigation Association; the Dearborn Security Network; the Information Systems Security Association; the Washtenaw County, Venzeti Hamilton, and State Bar Associations; and the National Eagle Scout Association.  Judge Tabbey is Past-President of the Wayne State University National Alumni Association.  A past chair of the Information and Technology Committee, and current Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan District Judges Association, he represents the MDJA on the Michigan Criminal Justice Information Systems Policy Council, and serves on the Judicial Conference Committee for the State Bar Association.

Judge Tabbey’s writings have been published in “Computers & Security”, the “Computer Law and Security Report” (Oxford, England) and the “Communicator” (Washington, D.C.).  He consulted in the creation and production of the “Law Enforcement Video” by MCI Corp.; the “Computer Security Video”, part of the KDN Corp. Crime Check Series; and the “Cell Phone Fraud Video” by the Michigan Sate Police.  In 1996 he authored Michigan’s new computer/telecommunications crime laws, which became national model acts through ALEC in 1997.