Family and friends of Michael DeGraffenried turned out in force for the continuation of his evidentiary hearing in front of Judge Tracy Green Oct. 8, 2024; his mother (at corner next to man in black/white T-shirt) flew in from Texas. DeGraffenried’s son Semaje Manning is at her right. Others told VOD they came from out-of-state and many said they grew up in Inkster with Degraffenried.
“MICHAEL DEGRAFFENRIED WAS NOT THE PERSON WHO SHOT ME”– Willie Wimberly, seriously injured, was never called to testify at trial
“I’ve been fighting my case since the day I was arrested” –Degraffenried testifies re: co-defendant’s accusation that Inkster cop Darian K. Williams Walker coerced false statement from her
Inkster Police OIC Sgt. Darian K. Williams was convicted of extorting money from drug dealers at time of Degraffenried trial, sentenced to prison
Atty. Tiffany Howell asks Judge Tracy Green to order that their Inkster PD personnel files be provided to defense under Brady v. Maryland
Judge Green to rule on relief for DeGraffenried Mon. Nov. 11, 2024
By Diane Bukowski
October 21, 2024
Atty. Tiffany Howell (l) presents the case of Michael Degraffenried (seated) Oct. 8, 2024.
DETROIT — “Michael DeGraffenried was not the person who shot me,” Willie Wimberly testified firmly at the long-delayed second half of an evidentiary hearing in front of Third Circuit Court Judge Tracy Green Oct. 8.
DeGraffenried is serving a term of 30-50 years for a drive-by shooting June 15, 1999 on Florence St. in Inkster. The shooter seriously injured Wimberley and killed Alondre Davis.
“”[Inkster police officers] Darian Williams and Gregory Hill came to my house, showed me photos, and Greg Hill mentioned Michael DeGraffenried’s name to me,” Wimberley said. “I told them no he was not the person who shot me. I did not identify him at the preliminary exam, and I was never interviewed by his attorney or the prosecutor or subpoenaed to testify at the trial. I was 16 back in 1999 and was traumatized by the shooting.”
Willie Wimberley testifies on behalf of Michael DeGraffenried Oct. 8, 2024.
Wimberley said he knew DeGraffenried because he lived down the street from him. He said he saw the face of the shooter as he dove off his bicycle but could not identify him. He said the bullet that hit him traveled up his leg to his pelvis and is still lodged there, causing continued problems. He said doctors told him he could have died if the bullet had gone any further.
Wimberley also testified that his cousin Broderick Ward told him that he had ID’d Degraffenried as the shooter during during court proceedings, but Wimberley said Ward was not present during the shooting. He also said Degraffenried was not there.
Defense Attorney Tiffany P. Howell requested that Judge Green order the production of Inkster Police personnel files on Williams and Anthony Abdallah under disclosure rules mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland. Judge Green said she will rule on the matter at a hearing Nov. 11.
Inkster exonerees George Clark (l) and Kevin Harrington (r), with exoneree Alphonso Clark.
Vicki Yost, previously Inkster Police Chief and now a private investigator, testified Inkster detective Anthony Abdallah was involved in the cases of exonerees George Clark and Kevin Harrington. She said she discovered Officer Williams was charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion in federal court in Chicago in December, 2001.
In fact, as VOD reported previously, Williams’ conviction involved extorting money from drug dealers from May, 1999 through December, 2001, before the drive-by shooting in June, 1999, and continuing through Degraffenried’s trial in December, 2000.
“At trial, the Government presented evidence that from May 1999 through December 3, 2001, Steele conspired with co-conspirators Darian Williams, Ernest “Newt” Butler, and Andre Patterson to extort money from drug dealers through wrongful use of fear and under color of official right, U.S. District Court Judge Am7. .At the time of the conspiracy, Williams was employed by the Police Department of Inkster, Michigan and held the rank of Detective Sergeant.” See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Daryl-Steele-et-al-inc-Darian-Williams-US-District-Court-opinion-and-order.pdf
Tiya Manning is the mother of Degraffenried’s son Semaje Manning, who was present at the hearing Oct. 8.
Originally a co-defendant in the case, she testified in Dec. 1999 at a “Walker” hearing that Sgt. Damian Williams’ threatened and coerced her into falsely identifying Michael DeGraffenried as the shooter, Atty. Howell said.
Manning said Williams told her to alter her first statement to Sgt. Gregory Hill, which she said was the truth, to another version implicating herself and DeGraffenried. She said the second statement was a lie. (
Atty. Howell then called Degraffenried himself to the stand.
Judge Tracy Green
“I been fighting my case since the day I got arrested,” Degraffenried said. “I was arrested thirty minutes after the shooting, I saw my girl friend’s car on a tow truck and stopped to check on her. But before I could make it halfway up the street—the police saw me, and arrested me. At time of shooting, I was was escorting my grandmother to the Inkster police station because my little cousin was arrested.”
He said he went inside the police station momentarily as he walked his grandmother in, and talked to an officer there at the front desk, in full view of monitoring cameras. He said he asked his lawyer Samuel Yura obtain the video from inside the station to verify his alibi, but that Yura never produced
Michael Degraffenried testifies Oct; 8, 2024
Degraffenried’s motion cites “ineffective assistance of counsel” as one ground for relief.
“I spoke to Yura twice, once when I was first arrested, and once while I was in the county jail,” DeGraffenried said. “The first time he was just coming in, the next time I spoke with him was maybe a week or two before trial.”
He said Yura never interviewed the numerous people who witnessed the drive-by shooting, including Wimberley, and never subpoenaed Wimberley.
“I asked him to interview Wimberley, I wanted everybody at the scene to be interviewed, but he never did,” Degraffenried said. “I asked him to talk to them, take photos of the house. If it was a trial prep it had nothing to do with me.”
Defense Atty. Tiffany Howell
Atty. Howell asked, “Were you aware that Tia Manning had a Walker hearing, where she accused Damian Williams of harassment, and went int0 detail. Were you aware she accused the shooter of being Ramone Williams?” Degraffenried said not until years later.
Records show that Tia Manning and Ramone Williams never testified at trial, but had their preliminary exam testimony read into the record.
Degraffenried said he witnessed Inkster Sgt. Gregory Hill examining Manning’s car in the police station, apparently conducting a gunshot residue test, but that his defense never got the results of the test
He said he did not know about Manning’s Walker hearing or Wimberley’s final account of the shooting until years after he had already filed post-conviction appeals. He said that he discovered Manning’s Walker hearing testimony when he was doing research in the prison law library, and that he hired private investigator Scott Lewis to interview Wimberley, not knowing what Wimberley would say.Asked him to interview—he didn’t testify at my trial, I was charged with shooting him.
Atty. Howell concluded by asking Wimberley, “Were you the shooter June 15, 1999?” he replied, “No I was not.”
RELATED:
**********************************************************************************
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00 and other expenses. VOD is a pro bono bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
Please DONATE TO VOD at:
https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod
CASH APP 313-825-6126 MDianeBukowski
***********************************************************************************
