Under oath, ex-DPD detective says cops rewarded unreliable jailhouse informants (wxyz.com)
U.S. District Ct. Senior Judge David Lawson says multiple counts against DPD officer Monica Childs likely valid, Larry Smith civil suit can proceed
Lifer Gary Brayboy, who has spent 30 years in prison, still fights conviction, citing Childs’ coercion of chief prosecution witness against him, her record in cases of exonerees Larry Smith, Bernard Howard, Ramon Ward
By Diane Bukowski
January 1, 2024
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DETROIT — Detroit Police Detective Monica Childs (now retired) has been cited in multiple wrongful convictions in Wayne County, and to date has not faced criminal or civil penalties.
But on Dec. 19, U.S. District Court for the Eastern Michigan Senior Judge David Lawson allowed multiple counts against her in a civil lawsuit brought by exoneree Larry Smith., Jr. to survive a motion for summary judgement brought by the defendants.
Lawson dismissed claims against Wayne County and various other police officers and prosecutors, but said the claims against Childs can proceed to trial. Smith told VOD that he is still pursuing action on the other claims in higher courts.
“There is abundant evidence in the record, which, if believed, easily shows that Childs fabricated critical incriminating evidence offered at trial against Smith and conspired with [AP Robert]Donaldson to do so,” Lawson wrote.
“Moreover, Edward Allen testified that Childs visited him while he was ‘in residence’ as an informant for the Detroit Police Department, and that defendants Childs and Donaldson solicited Allen to testify falsely that Smith had confessed his involvement in the Hayes murder.
“. . . .Allen further testified that Childs supplied the discovery package from Smith’s case so that he would be able to testify accurately about details of the case, despite the fact that he never had met Smith and did not know anything about the Hayes murder.”
Judge Lawson includes further testimony from Edward Allen which says the “Ring of Snitches,” at the behest of police officers and prosecutors, victimized multiple defendants, from the 1980’s through the 1990’s.
Childs was also cited as a key player in the convictions of exonerees Bernard Howard (shown in photo at top) and Ramon Ward.
Meanwhile, Gary Brayboy, a Michigan lifer who has spent 30 years in prison, and says Childs coerced the chief witness to testify against him in 1992, is waiting for a hearing in the Michigan Court of Appeals. Wayne Co. 3rd Circuit Judge Nicholas Hathaway denied his Motion for Relief from Judgment May 12.
“The Court finds that the articles and evidence of other exonerees do not relate directly to Mr. Brayboy’s case,” Hathaway said. “There is nothing to show that any wrongdoing by Ms. [Monica] Childs actually occurred here beyond mere speculation.”
VOD covered Brayboy’s case two years ago, when he had a hearing pending before Judge THOMAS Hathaway. See: LIFER GARY BRAYBOY, FRAMED BY DETROIT SQUAD 7 COPS INVOLVED IN EXONEREE CASES, IN COURT MON. JAN. 24 | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought
Judge Nicholas Hathaway changed his legal last name from Brobak to Hathaway when he married Judge Dana Hathaway. Judge Thomas Hathaway retired shortly after his groundbreaking rulings in the case of exoneree Thelonious Searcy, including the dismissal of all charges against Searcy with prejudice. He cited the prosecution’s repeated and blatant violations of Brady v. Maryland, in withholding exculpatory evidence.
In his pleadings, Brayboy has cited the Smith, Howard and Ward cases as well as those of exonerees Justly Johnson and Kendrick Scott, and of Mark Craighead. In those cases, other DPD officers including Barbara Simon were key players.In the Craighead case, the Court of Appeals agreed with the defendant that Simon’s role in other cases was legally germane to his case, and that it would have resulted in a different verdict.
“The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it held that the newly discovered evidence proffered by defendant was admissible as evidence of a scheme, plan, or system under MRE 404(b), a panel of Judges Cynthia Diane Stephens, David H. Sawyer, and
Deborah A. Servitto.
“MRE 404(b)(1) provides as follows: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, scheme, plan, or system in doing an act, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident when the same is material, whether such other crimes, wrongs, or acts are contemporaneous with, or prior or subsequent to the conduct at issue in the case.”
The Craighead court also found, The new evidence would make a different result probable on retrial. “[T]he evidence that must be taken into consideration when assessing a claim of newly discovered evidence is not simply the evidence presented at the original trial, but also the evidence that would be presented at a new trial.” People v Johnson, 502 Mich 541, 571; 918 NW2d 676 (2018) (citation omitted).”
Below is an excerpt of Edward Allen’s deposition in the case of Larry Smith.
In the deposition of Jonathan Hewitt-El, he repeatedly cites the role of Wayne 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Kym Worthy (now Wayne Co. Prosecutor), as he tried to back out of testifying falsely as the only prosecution witness in a murder case.
He was supposed to falsely testify at trial, known to both the Prosecutor and his attorney, but changed his mind. He swears Judge Worthy tried to force him to reverse his decision not to.
From 1994 until January 2004, Worthy was a judge on the Wayne County Circuit Court. In 2004, Worthy was appointed Wayne County Prosecutor by the judges of the Wayne Count County Circuit Court bench to replace now Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who resigned to become the head of the Detroit Medical Center.
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