MANY WAYNE COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEIR ONLY CHANCE TO AFFECT THE COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S RACE IS AT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY AUG. 4, 2020.

THERE IS NO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE WITH ANY CHANCE OF GETTING THE POSITION BECAUSE WAYNE COUNTY HISTORICALLY VOTES DEMOCRAT. WHOEVER WINS THIS PRIMARY WILL AUTOMATICALLY WIN THE OFFICE IN NOVEMBER. VOTE AUG. 4!

This is part one of a series on Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s history since she took office in 2004. Upcoming stories will focus on her prosecution of Maryanne Godboldo, failure to re-sentence juvenile lifers, and other issues. They will be published this week.

A printed copy of this article is now available. Download at:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/WAYNE-CO-PROSECUTOR-KYM-WORTHY-MUST-GO-VOD-article-1.pdf

KYM WORTHY DOES NOT CHARGE KILLER COPS

By Diane Bukowski

July 22, 2020, updated July 23, 24, and 27, 2020

For description of the cases above, read:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/DETROITERS-KILLED-BY-POLICE-SINCE-1992-1-merged.pdf.

Prosecutor Kym Worthy has published the following on the WCPO website in response to the question:  “I DON’T TRUST MY LOCAL POLICE, HOW CAN I COMPLAIN TO THEM?”

Her answer: “Most departments have experienced officers specifically assigned to handle internal investigations. In our experience, they conduct thorough, unbiased investigations. If you are not satisfied with their processing of your complaint you may make a complaint to the Michigan State Police or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“Serial Killer Kop” Eugene Brown

This author has covered dozens of killings by police in Detroit and elsewhere during the last 20 years, breaking the story of “Serial Killer Kop” Eugene Brown in the Michigan Citizen in March, 2000. Brown killed three men in separate incidents from 1995 to 1999. See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Serial-Killer-Kop-stories-by-Diane-Bukowski-in-The-Michigan-Citizen-3.pdf./

The photos at top show a fraction of those killed by police since then, with dozens more still unnamed because there was never an announcement or investigation by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in their cases. That office is tasked with reviewing all police shooting incidents, including killings.

Candidate Victoria Burton-Harris told the Michigan ACLU in a poll published online that she would refer all police-involved shootings to an independent special prosecutor. A new wave of young prosecutors and prosecutor candidates across the U.S. is taking on their offices’ records of collusion with lying police officers by initiating similar actions.

Kym Worthy said she would maintain the status quo, keeping the power with her office, which has meant no justice for victims or their families since 2004, continuing a pattern set by Worthy’s predecessors.

 

In 2005, Worthy refused to charge “Serial Killer Kop” Eugene Brown, despite the Michigan Citizen’s exposure of the sealed DPD “Shoulders Report,” which  recommended charges against him.  Lamar Grable’s mother Arnetta Grable and father Herman Vallery, with the Detroit Coalition vs. Police Brutality and other family members, went to Worthy’s office and demanded charges but were rebuffed. The families of Lamar Grable and Darren Miller got multi-million dollar lawsuit verdicts/settlements. But killer cop Brown remained free to get a promotion, retire from the DPD, and attend college on taxpayers’ money.

Worthy was the Wayne County Circuit Court Judge at the trial of DCAPB member Cornell Squires’ son in 2000, after he was framed up by infamous Detroit cop William Melendez. She refused to grant a motion for reconsideration by the defense, which cited the fact that Melendez had been convicted of “filing a false report” earlier, a conviction not revealed by the prosecution in violation of Brady v. Maryland.

Worthy refused charges in other cases which generated mass protests and publicity, and/ or resulted in large civil payouts in court: Imam Luqman Abdullah, Aiyana Jones, Tommie Staples Sr., Kevin Kellom, Anthony Clark-Reed, Kevin Matthews, and Janet Wilson, to name a few.

Aiyana Jones, 7, was killed by Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley during a “SWAT” style raid on her home May 16, 2010.

Weekley went to trial after he was indicted on involuntary manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm charges by a grand jury consisting of Presiding Criminal Court Judge Timothy Kenny. But he walked free after several mistrials, with the collusion of Assistant Prosecutor Robert Moran, working under Kym Worthy.

Worthy instead charged Aiyana’s father Charles Jones and uncle Chauncey Owens with second-degree and first-degree murder, respectively, for the killing of Je’Rean Blake two days earlier, the pretext DPD used to storm Aiyana’s home without a warrant. During their trial, two notorious jail-house snitches were used against Jones and Owens, although Worthy has said that she stopped using such sources when she took office, after earlier exposures of wrongful convictions. Prosecutors recently agreed to reduce Jones’ charges and sentence of 40 to 60 years, making him eligible for parole in 2021. See: https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/07/12/charles-jones-dad-of-aiyana-7-killed-by-dpd-pleads-to-lesser-charge-may-be-home-soon/

HAKIM LITTLETON

In the most ecent killing, of Hakim Littleton, 20, by  a “Gang Intel” unit July 10, there has been no release of the names of the four officers involved in his killing, no release of ALL bodycam, dashcam and other videos of the killing, and no further known investigation.

Instead Worthy has colluded with Police Chief James Craig, who called the killing “justified” and ordered attacks on hundreds protesting it.

Riot police deployed tear gas, and arrested eight protesters, seriously injuring many more, sending some to the hospital.  Among those arrested and injured was Nakia Wallace, co-director of DetroitWillBreathe, who was placed in a chokehold, documented in photos and videos.

Worthy has not made any announcement regarding results of the Prosecutor’s office investigation of these incidents, if it even conducted any.

Craig has blasted the #DetroitWillBreathe protesters for their militant actions since the killing of #GeorgeFloyd in Minneapolis May 25.

But on a national and global level, their protests have mirrored many others, which are becoming more militant each day. The increase in militancy has been in response to escalating police brutality at the events.

In Chicago, police knocked out the front teeth of Miracle Boyd, 18, of #Good KidsBad City, as protesters tried to take down a Christopher Columbus monument. Boyd was not involved in any direct action. Her group recently sponsored a protest against gun violence in Chicago, which has been on the rise as the COVID-19 epidemic, unemployment and other ills increase.

Craig published an edited video of the Hakim Littleton killing, containing snippets from police body cameras cobbled together into one, which whipped up a pro-police media storm.

The published video focused on a single frame showing Littleton aiming a gun at the officers. But other frames in the video show that the youth was surrounded by at least four cops brandishing drawn guns before he was killed. Some members of Littleton’s family contended he had the right to defend himself from this onslaught of cops who were mysteriously already on the scene to back up the arrest of Darnell Sylvester.

One Detroiter said, “The video shows why people are terrified of the police. The guy was too young to have experience in such situations.” See analysis of police dashcam/ bodycam video done by the Coalition for Police Accountability below:

NO CHARGES v. POLICE, PROSECUTORS IN  HUNDREDS OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

To much fanfare, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy on July 16 released what she termed a “Giglio-Brady list” of 35 police officers from agencies in Wayne County, most of them from the Detroit Police Department. The list purports to show officers who have been convicted of filing false statements and other crimes involving corruption. It also includes those who have been convicted of federal offenses.

See http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Wayne-County-Prosecutor-Brady-list-issued-7-16-20.pdf

Worthy said in a release, “Last October we contacted all local Police Chiefs, representatives from the Wayne County Sheriff’s, Michigan State Police and Federal agencies.  We asked for a list of their current and former officers that have committed offenses spelled out in the Giglio case for offenses involving theft, dishonesty, fraud, false statement, bias and bribery . . .crimes that can be considered by fact finders in a trial when credibility is being assessed.  In addition, our assistant prosecutors are charged with letting defense attorneys know when an officer on their witness list for a case had Giglio issues or concerns.”

“Because trials will begin again mid-August and September, we thought it was important to send this out to our prosecutors and defense attorneys.  There are currently 35 officers on the list. We are taking the additional step of releasing the list to the public, because in an era of criminal justice reform, it just makes sense. We will repeat this process quarterly and expect to release an updated list in September.”

As judge, Worthy refused to consider Detroit cop William Melendez’ conviction for filing false report, sentenced defendant to 2 to 10 years.

Worthy’s release of the list is ironic. It includes the name of former Detroit police officer William Melendez, who most recently made world-wide news as the Inkster cop who nearly beat Black motorist Floyd Dent to death in 2015.

In the year 2000, Worthy, then a Third Judicial Circuit Court Judge, heard the case of Cornell E. Squires, then 18. He was  charged with the attempted armed carjacking of Melendez and his fellow plainclothes officer.

Melendez, testifying for the prosecution, accused Squires of an armed carjacking attempt on him and another plainclothes cop. Worthy denied a defense motion for reconsideration after the defense discovered that Melendez had been convicted of “filing a false report.”

During the trial, Worthy refused to allow Squires’ father, Cornell Squires, an activist with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality (DCAPB), to introduce the audio portion of his videotape of the arrest. That audiotape included comments from officers called to the scene that they could not find the gun Melendez contended Squires carried.

Squires was charged shortly after his father had lodged a complaint against Melendez’ fellow 4th Precinct officer Robert Feld, for severely beating  him after he asked Feld why he had stopped his son outside their home. The beating was witnessed by the younger Squires and stopped by the senior Squires’ father, who lived across the street. The grandfather died of a heart attack a short time later.

Feld made headlines in 2002 after he was shown assaulting motorist Victor Gonzalez on his police car’s dashcam. He was forced to retire after the prosecutor’s office belatedly noted he had a history of brutal behavior. The Michigan Citizen later published a story on five such brutality lawsuits found in court records.

The senior Cornell Squires passed in 2018 after spending a lifetime fighting cases of wrongful convictions, mortgage and tax foreclosures, and other ills. Doesn’t his son deserve a review of HIS wrongful conviction, the record of which has followed him throughout his life?

Maryland State’s Atty. Marilyn Mosby says may overturn 800 convictions in Baltimore because of Brady violations; NYC police board has released 3,995 officers’ names with 12,056 complaints–what about Kym Worthy?

Under Brady v. Maryland (U.S. Supreme Court 1963),  prosecutors are obliged to provide all “exculpatory” evidence to the defense, which would tend to show the defendant’s innocence. Part of that obligation means they must disclose to the defense details about police officers who have committed crimes, lied on the job or whose honesty has been called into doubt.

New young prosecutors across the country such as Maryland State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby have used their Brady lists essentially to wage war on corrupt local police departments.

They are thoroughly investigating all criminal cases involving officers convicted of such crimes. In Mosby’s case, she prioritized cases involving  incarcerated individuals, and later announced that she may have to throw out 800 or more convictions.

Last year, USA Today and the Chicago-based Invisible Institute investigated the compliance of thousands of thousands of prosecutors’ offices across the country. They reported in part, “A USA TODAY Network investigation found that widespread failure by police departments and prosecutors to track problem officers makes it impossible to disclose that information to people whose freedom hinges on the integrity of law enforcement. . . .Thousands of people have faced criminal charges or gone to prison based in part on testimony from law enforcement officers deemed to have credibility problems by their bosses or by prosecutors.

Their report detailed dozens of such individual cases.

See: https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/11/18/hundreds-of-police-officers-are-proven-liars-some-still-help-send-people-to-prison-usa-today/  and   https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/us/baltimore-police-corruption-cases/index.html

ProPublica publishes names of 2,995 NYC police officers, 12,056 complaints released by Civilian Citizen Review Board. WHAT ABOUT KYM WORTHY?

In response to the repeal of a state law that kept police disciplinary records secret, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio earlier promised to post  a database of complaints against NYC police officers filed with the Civilian Citizens Review Board. The database was released to the American Civil Liberties Union, but a judge enjoined the ACLU from publishing it until a hearing Aug. 18.

Meanwhile, however, ProPublica obtained the list and has gone forward with its publication.

The result: the release of 3,996 OFFICERS’ NAMES AND and 12,056 COMPLAINTS, involving FORCE 7,636 allegations (An officer used excessive or otherwise unnecessary force); ABUSE OF AUTHORITY 20,292 allegations (An officer used police powers to take unwarranted actions, such as an unlawful search); DISCOURTESY 4,677 allegations (An officer engaged in rude or profane behavior toward a civilian), and OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE 753 allegations (An officer used one or more slurs relating to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability).

ProPublica reported, “The board provided us with the closed cases of every active-duty police officer who has at least one substantiated allegation against them,” ProPublica reported. “The records span decades, from September 1985 to January 2020. We have created a database of complaints that can be searched by name or browsed by precinct or nature of the allegations.”

Read more about this data → | Related: We’re Publishing Thousands of Police Discipline Records That New York Kept Secret for Decades →

“Worthy believes the police can police themselves.”

In a Wayne County For the People/Color of Change online forum June 28, candidate Victoria Burton-Harris said that she and other defense attorneys have been trying for years to get Worthy to publish a Brady list so they could properly vet police officers testifying in their clients’ cases, but to no avail. She said that Worthy would release only a few names at a time.

The website #NotWorthy, at https://www.notkymworthy.com/ says, “Worthy believes the police can police themselves. She allowed the police to choose their own officers to put on the “Untruthful” [Brady] list and then championed herself as a reformer when she made the list public three weeks before the election. The police officers who gave false testimony in Davontae Sanford’s case weren’t on the list. Who else isn’t on it? We’ll never know as long as Worthy is the prosecutor since she won’t do her job and investigate officers who lie.”

The page is sponsored by the Chicago-based Vote Liberation, which says on its website, “Vote Liberation is a political committee for people who are directly impacted by the criminal legal system. We support candidates who will be accountable to ending mass incarceration and defunding the police. We want elected officials who will work with us to build a future where there is no need for prisons and punishment–where we can thrive and be free.” See https://www.voteliberation.org/.

Since Worthy’s release of her purported Brady list, MDOC prisoners are clamoring to get copies to see if police officers involved in their cases are on the list.

VOD interviewed a Detroit paralegal in contact with many prisoners, who asked not to be identified because he is involved on background work their cases. He questioned why numerous other cops are not on Worthy’s Brady list, particularly detectives who are the DPD’s chief investigators.

“I now see major federal constitutional claims,” he told VOD. “Prosecutor Kym Worthy has publicly stated that she is proud of the fact that her CIU has exonerated 20 defendants who had been wrongfully convicted in Wayne County. But why are the police officers in those 20 exoneration cases not on her Brady list? She also has blocked defendants from proving their innocence in cases involving falsified evidence from the Detroit Police Crime Lab by placing a five year limit on claims involving convictions from 2003 to 2008. when does a prosecutor’s policy outweigh a Federal Constitutional right to due process?”

See: https://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/06/23/families-demand-worthy-must-go-free-prisoners-convicted-on-falsified-crime-lab-evidence/

DESMOND RICKS–DPD investigators David Pauch, Donald Stawiasz falsified crime lab evidence

Detroit Crime Lab falsified evidence in 100’s of cases: Desmond Ricks was one

There are over 3,000 cases involving likely falsification of crime lab evidence, many going back decades. Worthy’s office along with the State Appellate Defender’s Office (SADO) conducted a review of the claims from 2003 to 2008 only, and selected four as candidates for retrial, not exoneration. Of the four, three were re-convicted on the same evidence, including Jarrhod Williams, whose case resulted in the closure of the crime lab after it was shown that crime Lab Technician Kevin Reed had falsified evidence.

The paralegal cited the CIU’s exoneration of Desmond Ricks in June 2017. Ricks was wrongly convicted in 1992 of second-degree murder based on reports from Detroit Police Investigators David Pauch and Donald Stawiasz that bullets from the victim’s body came from a gun Ricks possessed.

After the Michigan Innocence Clinic initiated an investigation in 2015, the prosecution sent them photos of  bullets different from the ones used at trial. A state expert said that at least one of the bullets came from another gun. Ricks’ attorney Wolfgang Mueller won a $1 million wrongful conviction claim from the state for his client, and is also pursuing his claim in federal court.

THELONIOUS ‘SHAWN’ SEARCY: AP Patrick Muscat, DPD officers Dale Collins, David Pauch, Kevin Reed

David Pauch and Kevin Reed were still on the job and responsible for evidence that helped convict Thelonious “Shawn” Searcy of murder in 2004.

That evidence was shown to be falsified during an evidentiary hearing on his case in 2018, covered extensively by Voice of Detroit.

Also involved in Searcy’s conviction were Asst. Prosecutor Patrick Muscat and Detroit police officer Dale Collins. The two were key players in the wrongful conviction of Davontae Sanford, aged 14, for four murders in 2007 which Vincent Smothers had repeatedly confessed to.

DPD Detectives David Pauch and Donald Stawiasz are not on Worthy’s list. Neither are Kevin Reed nor DPD Sgt. Dale Collins. After Sanford’s conviction, AP Patrick Muscat went on to become head of Worthy’s first “Conviction Integrity Unit” in 2009. He said in a resume that he  tried over 100 homicide jury trials and countless other capital trials during his tenure. Will Worthy investigate those “countless” cases to see what others are tainted by Muscat’s falsifications?

Despite the testimony of the confessed actual killer, Vincent Smothers, Judge Timothy Kenny denied Searcy’s motion for a new trial and claim of innocence in December, 2018. The Michigan Supreme Court sent the case back to the Appeals Court, which had summarily denied Searcy’s claim, with orders to review the case again and give a detailed report on the facts involved. Searcy has tested positive for COVID-19 while awaiting the COA hearing.

Kenny was also the trial judge who re-convicted Jarrhod Williams. At Searcy’s hearing, he said in an off-hand remark that he did not think the crime lab should have been shut down.

“Those 20 exonerations Worthy bragged about also constitute newly discovered evidence under the Michigan Supreme Court’s revision of Court Rule 6.508(D)(2),”  the paralegal VOD interviewed said further. “That now allows for the trial court to consider claims that have been decided against the defendant if s/he has some form of new evidence which could cause a different opinion.”

What about the “Ring of Snitches”–hundreds more still in prison due to false testimony at their trials. Will Worthy set them free?

He cited the infamous “Ring of Snitches” which was publicly exposed in news articles beginning in the late ’90’s. The informant ring was operated by DPD officers on the ninth floor of DPD’s old headquarters at 1300 Beaubien at least beginning in the early ’90’s. Police hosted prisoners there for lengthy times, providing perks including food, time out on the streets, and sexual favors, in exchange for their perjured testimony based on information the prosecutors fed them.

RAMON WARD: DPD Officer Monica Childs, “snitches”   Joe Twilley, Oliver Cowen, AP Janet Napp

“What about his ‘ring of snitches’ claim?” he asked. “Where are those police officers on her Brady list?  This case constitutes newly discovered evidence because his case proves that this was taking place, thus, the newly discovered evidence.”

Ward spent 26 years in prison based on the perjured testimony of two notorious “jail-house snitches,” Joe Twilley and Oliver Cowen, and a false, unsigned confession presented into evidence by former Detroit police officer Monica Childs, according to court records.

Those snitches and others were responsible for up to 100 convictions during the early ’90’s alone, according to an affidavit from another informant, Edward Allen. Recent estimates show that up to 80 percent of Wayne County prisoners convicted in that era were innocent. Kym Worthy became the Chief Prosecutor in 2004, but she began work with the Prosecutor’s office in 1984 and should have been familiar with the “Ring of Snitches” and other exposes that took place prior to 2004.

Ward told reporters on his release that he knew many other people during his time in prison who are still behind bars.

See: https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/02/28/ramon-ward-family-celebrate-release-after-27-yrs-on-false-conviction-when-will-100s-more-be-freed/

CARL HUBBARD: AP James Gonzalez, DPD Sgts. Joann Kinney, Ronald Gale

Carl Hubbard, also incarcerated since 1992, is one. His conviction of murdering Rodnell Penn was based almost solely on a coerced statement by a childhood friend, Curtis Collins, who testified that he saw Hubbard near the scene of the crime in the same time frame. Assistant Prosecutor James Gonzales, who is still on Worhty’s staff, ordered Collins arrest during the trial after he recanted that testimony on the record the following day.

In a sworn affidavit, Collins said, “. . .I did not witness Carl Hubbard fleeing from where Mr. Rodnell Penn was found dead. “Sergeant [Joann] Kinney forced me to falsely testify at the preliminary examination that Carl Hubbard was running from the scene. . .I was threatened by Homicide Officers Sergeant Kinney and Sergeant [Ronald] Gale with being charged with the murder of Mr. Penn if I didn’t say that I saw Carl Hubbard at the murder scene of Mr. Penn.”

Collins reversed his testimony on the third day of trial but said that Asst. Prosecutor Gonzalez , Sergeant Joann Kinney and Sergeant Ronald D. Gale continued to threaten him afterwards.

Kinney was responsible for at least two other frame-ups according to published stories, including that of Thoanchelle Taylor and another of a 12-year-old babysitter, whose coerced confession was thrown out at trial.

Hubbard recently called VOD to say that the Michigan Supreme Court rejected his appeal of Judge Lawrence Talon’s rejection of his motion for relief from judgment. It has since been accepted in the U.S. District Court and District Judge David Lawson asked the prosecutor to respond to the motion.

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/05/05/time-to-free-carl-hubbard-ap-gonzales-jailed-key-pros-witness-after-he-recanted-at-trial/

MUBAREZ AHMED: Why is Sgt. Ernest Wilson, who framed me, still on the force? AP Kenneth King

Below, Mubarez Ahmed, another exoneree, served 18 years in the MDOC for a murder he did not commit. He said “there are hundreds more like me.” (First video). Ahmed has a lawsuit pending in federal court, filed by attorney Wolfgang Mueller in 2018. The complaint names the Detroit Police Sergeant who led the investigation into his case and framed him: Sgt. Ernest Wilson. (Second video).

The complaint says the entire case hinged on a live line-up identification of Ahmed by Izora Clark. It alleges, “Immediately before the live lineup, WILSON showed Ms. Clark a photograph of Plaintiff and told her this was the man they believed committed the murder and was in the lineup. WILSON also [falsely] told Ms. Clark that another witness had identified Plaintiff. See complaint and U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh’s order July 17 denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment  at:   http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ahmed_v_Detroit_Ernest-Wilson_et_al__miedce-18-13849__0001.0.pdf    and   http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ahmed_v_Detroit_Ernest-Wilson-Order-Judge-Steeh-et_al__miedce-18-13849__0042.0.pdf

“WILSON’s statement about another witness identifying Plaintiff as the shooter was completely false; there was no other eyewitness who identified anyone as the shooter, much less Plaintiff . . . Not surprisingly, after the tainted procedure, Ms. Clark identified MUBAREZ AHMED as the shooter. . . .Plaintiff was the only person in the live lineup who wore a beard. , , , ,”Prosecutor (now a 36th District Court judge) Kenneth King relied on the false statements and fabricated evidence contained in the Investigator’s Report and recommended that Plaintiff be charged with the double-murder of Mr. Griffin and Ms. White.”

OTHER NOTORIOUS COPS NOT ON WORTHY’S BRADY LIST

ALL cases involving the officers below should be re-examined for false reports and other misconduct, as was done in Baltimore.

DAVONTAE SANFORD case: DPD officers Michael Russell, Dale Collins, James Tolbert, AP Patrick Muscat

Detectives Michael Russell, Dale Collins, and James Tolbert were directly involved in the frame-up of Davontae Sanford, 14, and 5’5” tall, for four murders in a Runyon St. alleged drug house in 2007. Worthy claims Sanford’s case is still under investigation, despite his release from prison and the confession of Vincent Smothers to the crime.

Russell and Collins stopped Sanford, in his pajamas, the night of the murders. Tolbert was with the group after the stop and later admitted that he  had drawn a diagram of the crime scene. not Sanford as he earlier testified.

DPD reports from that night, dated Sept. 18, 2007,  showed the perpetrator was NOT Sanford. The reports are in a 118-page investigative report by the Michigan State Police.

Two eyewitnesses, Valerie Glover, who hid under a bed while the killings were taking place, and neighbor Jesse King, who lived across the street from the house where the killings took place and fired his gun at the perpetrators as they were leaving, gave descriptions of a different man who was at least six inches taller than Sanford and much older, in his thirties. King knew Sanford from the neighborhood and knew he was not the killer.

The Michigan State Police also noted glaring discrepancies in forensic evidence, including the bullets found at the scene. They cited the Smothers confession. Worthy charged Smothers on eight of the murders but never did so in the Runyon St. case. The State Police called for charges to be brought against Russell and Tolbert, but Worthy never did so.

Collins was also involved in the alleged frame-up of Thelonious Searcy. Wayne County Asst. Prosecutor Patrick Muscat prosecuted both Sanford and Searcy at trial.

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/06/23/msp-wayne-co-pros-kym-worthy-knew-davontae-sanford-was-innocent-for-8-years-not-8-mos/

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/innocence-deniers-prosecutors-who-have-refused-to-admit-wrongful-convictions.html

‘OPERATION BACKBONE:’ Detroit Sgts. James Harris, Willie Volsan, Angela Canoy-Simmons, HPark PSO Julandra Young.

The four were  convicted in 1993 in Federal Court of charges involving running a national  protection racket for wholesale narcotics suppliers, doing business in the Detroit area. They even used Detroit police cars. The charges came after an infamous FBI sting at City Airport, known as “Operation Backbone.”

Involved in the sting was “White Boy Rick” Wershe, an FBI informant recently released from prison in Florida after serving 32 years in the MDOC. Harris was sentenced to 30 yrs. in federal prison, as the chief perpetrator, but was his sentence was commuted after 20 years by former U.S. President George Bush.

In 1972, he and  two other STRESS cops carried out the 1972 Rochester St. Massacre, killing Wayne Co. Deputy Sheriff Henry Henderson, wounding 3 other deputies, and 3 citizens during a poker game in a home. Harris contended he had reason to believe Henderson was a criminal trying to attack him, and later cleared.

Before 1990, Harris was the lead investigator in numerous other cases, including those involving drug charges. How many people are in prison because of his complicity with drug dealers?

EDDIE JO LLOYD, exonerated after 18 yrs

DPD cops Thomas DeGalan, Sylvia Milliner, William Rice, Kenneth Day, D.C. Richard Dungy, Gilbert Hill (Head of Homicide), Lt. Robert Deane.

They framed mental hospital patient Eddie Joe Lloyd in 1984 for the vicious murder/rape of a 16-year-old girl. They elicited a false confession from Dean, who had frequent contact with the DPD giving his ideas on how they should solve cases,and falsified evidence, including an autopsy report.

Lloyd was released in 2002 after Barry Scheck’s  Innocence Clinic got him exonerated on DNA evidence. He died two years later. His family later filed suit to recover damages from their loved one’s wrongful conviction.

MICHAEL MOSLEY, others not yet named by DPD Chief James Craig.

Mosley was indicted in federal court Aug. 2019 for taking A $15,000 bribe from a drug dealer not to pursue criminal charges. Mosley is on the Wayne Co. Prosecutor’s Giglio-Brady list, but DPD Chief James Craig said there are at least 8 others involved. A coalition is monitoring Craig and Worthy’s office for updates.

The Associated Press reported that DPD Chief James Craig boasted that the department was conducting a thorough investigation into internal narcotics trafficking.

“But charges have yet been brought related to the police department’s investigation. The narcotics unit was raided Aug. 22 and files going back a decade were seized along with computers. Members of the unit with five or more years of experience were reassigned.

“The focus of our probe is roughly 10 years,” Craig said. “However, since the raid, we’ve only looked at the past year and a half. So, there’s a lot more material to go through. Sadly, as we continue our probe, we think it’s going to grow in terms of magnitude.”

So far, the investigation has found a half-dozen instances of officers allegedly stealing money from drug dealers and two in which drugs were planted on suspects, the newspaper reported. It also found that money meant to pay informants was stolen and affidavits were allegedly falsified to get search warrants from prosecutors.

The Detroit Free Press reported in February, “On Jan. 30, seven grassroots groups — Color Of Change, Michigan Liberation, The Advancement Project, The Mass Liberation Project, BYP100 Detroit, We the People – MI, and Detroit Action — announced the creation of a joint coalition to demand transparency from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Detroit Police Department.

“Detroit law enforcement, as it stands, is failing the people it claims to serve,” Malachi Robinson, criminal justice campaign director at Color Of Change, told the Free Press.

“Racist policing tactics, a lack of accountability, and rampant corruption are not just tearing our communities apart; they’re fueling a national mass incarceration crisis. Today, we are forming this coalition to take Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Chief of Police James Craig to task and to demand fairness, honesty, and transparency in our justice system.”

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VOTE 4 VICTORIA BURTON-HARRIS AUG. 4

https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaforProsecutor/

https://www.victoria2020.org/

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FREE THELONIOUS SEARCY!!!!

SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

Thelonious ‘Shawn” Searcy is almost at the 10,000 mark. He asks that you help out by clicking on the link below and signing!

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Chief Craig during Operation Mistletoe in 2013, one of massive police sweeps he ordered allegedly to find people with outstanding warrants. Hundreds were arrested, but few were charged.

Wayne County Prosecutor Worthy: End the Corruption: Hold the Detroit Police Narcotics Unit Accountable!