Maryanne Godboldo speaks at rally July 7, 2011 during the long campaign to free herself and her daughter Ariana Godboldo-Hakim.
Heroic mother stood off military police assault in 2011 to prevent seizure of her child, administration of dangerous drugs
Received global acclaim, award from Citizens Commission on Human Rights International
By Diane Bukowski
May 30, 2013
(l to r) Atty. Allison Folmar, Maryanne Godboldo, Mubarak Hakim, Penny Godboldo, and their supporters celebrate Judge Ronald Giles’ dismissal of criminal charges against Maryanne Aug. 29, 2012.
DETROIT – A Michigan appeals court has re-instated felony charges against Maryanne Godboldo, a mother who became a world-renowned hero for resisting a Detroit police military team which broke into her home without a judge’s order March 24, 2011, to seize her 13-year-old daughter Ariana Godboldo-Hakim.
The court directed the city’s 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles, who dismissed the earlier charges, to rule on evidence he suppressed as “the fruit of a poisonous tree.” Godboldo’s attorney Allison Folmar said a date for a hearing has not yet been set.
Attorney Allison Folmar speaks to media in July, 2012.
“It is ironic that these charges are being re-instated at the same time that the trial of the officer who killed seven-year-old Aiyana Jones in 2010 is beginning,” Folmar said. “If the police had gotten in, there is no question in my mind that today Maryanne and Ariana would both be six feet under. The police were not coming to get anything cleared up, they were coming with guns drawn, and somebody was about to die.”
After an 11-hour stand-off and Godboldo’s eventual surrender, the police took custody of Ariana at the request of state Child Protective Services worker Mia Wenk. Wenk testified during a custody hearing that she wanted to force Godboldo to administer the dangerous anti-psychotic drug Risperdal to her child, despite a medical order which gave Godboldo the right to take Ariana off the drug at any time.
Police tanks roll down Linwood to seize Maryanne Godboldo’s child Ariana on March 24, 2011.
During the stand-off, police tanks rolled down Linwood, reminiscent of Detroit’s 1967 rebellion, and officers with assault weapons and helicopters surrounded Godboldo’s modest west-side home, where she cared for her mother and her daughter.
The case exposed the State of Michigan Child Protective Services system for seizing children in great numbers without judicial review, particularly in poor communities and those of color. It brought to light the rampant use of anti-psychotic drugs on children everywhere, frequently at the urging of medical institutions funded by the pharmaceutical industry.
Some of Maryanne Godboldo’s family members at Hartford Memorial Church rally shortly after her release from jail in 2011. Her sister Penny is third from left.
Godboldo said, “We are remaining strong in prayer, and Ariana is coming along under the circumstances. But it has been hard, because [my sister] Penny’s husband Steve died in February, and then another brother-in-law died. We lost my oldest sister last year, and now Penny is caring for our mother.”
The Godboldo family is known thoughout the city. Penny Godboldo, who teaches dance at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, has been a mainstay in the Justice4Maryanne Committee.
After the police assault, the family, including the child’s father Mubarak Hakim, fought a battle on two fronts, one for for Maryanne’s freedom, and for Ariana’s release from a juvenile psychiatric facility, where she was held for six weeks and medicated with four different drugs. The hospital also forcibly removed the child’s prosthetic leg, which she has worn since she was able to walk, due to a birth-related amputation, and allegedly subjected her to other abuse.
36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles dismissed all charges against Maryanne Godboldo Aug. 29, 2012. He was later upheld by Wayne Co. Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bill.
On the second front, they successfully conducted a lengthy campaign to end family court supervision of Ariana, facing down predominantly white social workers including Mia Wenk, prosecutors, and judges.
On Aug. 29, 2011, the city’s 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles emphatically dismissed the criminal charges against Godboldo, after extensive preliminary exam proceedings. The charges consisted of discharging a weapon in a building, felonious assault, assaulting or obstructing a police officer, and possession of a firearm.
“We are talking about a person’s constitutional rights including the right to liberty, subjecting them to an order that is grossly inadequate and incorrect,” Judge Giles said. “It is ridiculous to go in to remove in this court’s opinion somebody’s children based on THIS order. It does not even express any situation where we have exigent circumstances where it says the child is at risk. There was no imminent threat of death or severe physical harm. Therefore I am going to quash this order and everything thereafter is null and void. It is the fruit of the poisonous tree.”
Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bill upheld the dismissal, reiterating Judge Giles’ concerns.
Despite those rulings, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, herself the mother of a daughter Ariana’s age, pursued an appeal, which was filed far out of the time limits but granted regardless. It was heard by a panel composed of Judges William C. Whitbeck, Donald Owens, and Karen Fort-Hood on July 10, 2012.
“Both the United States and Michigan constitutions ‘guarantee the right of persons to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures,’” the appeals court held May 29, 2013. “To comply with this requirement, police officers must have a warrant to conduct a search, or must be able to establish that their conduct was ‘within one of the narrow, specific exceptions to the warrant requirement.’ If officers violate the Fourth Amendment while obtaining evidence, the evidence is not admissible as substantive evidence in a criminal proceeding.
Police with assault weapons prepare to storm Godboldo home March 24, 2011.
“However, the trial court need not suppress evidence of crimes that the defendant commits when reacting to an illegal search or seizure: [T]he exclusionary rule does not act to bar the introduction of evidence of independent crimes directed at police officers as a reaction to an illegal arrest or search. If a defendant commits an independent crime in the officers’ presence—even during an otherwise unlawful search or seizure—the officers may lawfully arrest the defendant, and any evidence seized pursuant to that arrest is admissible.” (Click on Godboldo COA decision 1 and Godboldo COA decision for full text.)
Detroit cop Kevin Simpson, one of three who broke down her side door in March, 2011, at belated evidentiary search for bullet hole Aug. 20, 2011.
The prosecution contended that Godboldo fired a warning shot while inside her house after three officers broke her side door down and ascended a stairwell to break down a second door, which she had barricaded with a refrigerator. Police obtained a search warrant after the fact, and found a gun and bullets in the home.
During the extensive preliminary exam, officers who broke into the home admitted that seizing children at the request of Child Protective Services was not in their scope of duties, and that the only evidence of a shot being fired was plaster dust on one officer’s shoulder, and a loud noise.
Technicians did not conduct a search of the home to find a bullet hole and other evidence until months later. The prosecution did not even attempt to enter any results of that search into evidence.
The Michigan Supreme Court upheld Angel Moreno, Jr.’s right to physically resist cops breaking into his home without a warrant.
Since the exam, the Michigan Supreme Court retroactively upheld the “common-law” right to resist unlawful arrests, warrantless home invasions, and other unlawful conduct by the police, in a landmark 5-2 ruling on Aug. 29, 2012, People v. Moreno. They threw out an earlier appeals court decision, People v. Ventura, which held that individuals could NOT resist illegal police conduct.
Several of the charges Godboldo faced involved the statute in question, MCL 750.81d.
“The whole purpose of the preliminary exam is to weed out bad charges,” Attorney Folmar said. “Maryanne couldn’t be guilty of resisting and obstructing the police because they have to lawfully come in the name of the law. Name one law they came in the name of. Once that’s weeded out, regarding the other charges, not one person testified that Maryanne herself fired a gun, including Judge Deborah Thomas, who the appeals court cites.”
Folmar said an appeals court is supposed to give preferential weight to the opinion of the judge who actually heard the testimony in the case. She said she believes Judge Giles “will look at the facts and the law and abide by the law.”
The Justice 4 Maryanne committee has a website at http://www.justice4maryanne . They say more information on events to defend Maryanne Godboldo against this latest attack will be forthcoming.
Video: CCHR Human Rights Awardee Maryanne Godboldo
Maryanne Godboldo receiving a Human Rights Award from actors Danny Masterson and Ethan Suplee at the CCHR International annual human rights awards banquet in Los Angeles. Former Human Rights awardees include members of Congress, state legislators, psychologists, medical doctors, attorneys, whistleblowers, civil and human rights activists.
RELATED ARTICLES FROM VOD:
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/12/13/double-victories-for-maryanne-godboldo-and-family/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/08/30/9604/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/08/16/jury-rules-against-maryanne-godboldo-in-custody-trial/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/08/07/u-s-johnson-johnson-wrongly-marketed-risperdal-to-kids/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/08/03/another-shock-no-judge-authorized-ariana-godboldos-removal/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/07/27/shocking-new-details-in-godboldo-police-stand-off-case/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/05/06/judge-orders-godboldo-daughter-home-to-family-may-6/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/05/02/pack-court-hearing-may-4-to-demand-ariana-godboldos-release/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/04/14/%e2%80%9ci-want-my-daughter-back-now%e2%80%9d/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/04/08/mother-wins-indefinite-stay-of-criminal-proceedings/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/04/08/justice-4-maryanne-free-ariana/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/03/29/community-rallies-behind-mother-accused-of-stand-off/
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In the U.S. citizens are frequently charged with no crime but “resisting arrest.” That’s ridiculous. In order to be resisting arrest, the officer must first have some reason to “arrest” the subject. If the officer isn’t arresting the person for a valid reason, than s/he is simply committing an assault and unlawful detention under color of law. In Canada a citizen’s right to resist an unlawful arrest is respected by the courts. It is tragic that this is not the case in the United States. (Think about it: are you comfortable with our Canadian neighbors being safer from police abuse than we are in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?)
In Mrs. Godboldo’s case, the officers had absolutely no right to commit the violent home invasion that was in progress when she allegedly fired a shot. In the United States the officers’ claim that they “heard a shot” justified all the crimes they had committed up to that point and validated the horrifying escalation of abuse that followed. We’re just plain crazy if we allow this to continue.
None of us should imagine that we will be safe in our homes if Kim Worthy’s persecution of Maryanne Godboldo succeeds. That’s what MS Worthy is seeking: a negation of all our 4th amendment rights. None of us will ever be safe again, even in our own homes, even if we’re guilty of absolutely no crime and aren’t even suspected of a crime. It won’t matter. If an officer can claim he “heard a shot,” and his co-conspirators can point to the mere existance of a gun and bullets in the home as proof of a shot having been fired, then we have no protection from malfeasant officers whatsoever.
Detroit, you need to get MS Worthy out of office any way you can. Don’t imagine for a minute that this is about race. This is about all our 4th amendment rights. Every citizen in the U.S. is in grave danger in the U.S. as a result of this malicious persecution of Maryanne Godboldo.
Kim Worthy should be ashamed bullying a hero mother who did not want to drug and abuse her child… Why does not she go after the real criminals and the police who hid the rape kits which makes Detroit like the Congo? It seems that this is an problem with an EGO getting in the way of right from wrong. It is easy to attack poor woman and children but not easy to protect the public ran by criminal gangs – she chooses her battles and risks our life and tax payers money for this while another person will be sensely murdered. How do these people get into power!
OVERACTING AND OVER REACHING AND WILL GET WORSE POLICE BRUTALITY
Over-acting over-reaching gun happy police officers is what American has train police officers to be. Firing upwards of 50 to 100 bullets at a unarmed human being is normal practice for many police officers in America! Especially if the person being shot at is black! Police supervisor and the American court system are more likely then not to side with abusive and over-acting police officers! Police brutality is normal in American usually never address or corrected. In many cases it’s encourage! With the new Stop & frisk Laws in many city. Young black children as young as 8 years old are made to drop their trouser and take off their shoes in full view of the public. Adult men are pad search by female officer to further humiliate. Many times handcuffed and made to sit or laid on the ground. Without care of the element snow, rain mud there have been incident where citizen are made to sit in dog mess!
Plainclothes officers “SHOULD NOT” be permitted to stop a citizen on the street or home with out a uniform officer approaching first! In the times we are living in plainclothes police officers jumping out a un-mark car….Is a gang with guns or a robber or rapist in the eyes of a citizen! After the plainclothes NYPD officers murdered “UNARMED” and totally innocent of any crime Mr. Diallo ! Who saw four white men chasing him with guns…Politician and or law enforcement should “STOP” plainclothes officers!
Amadou Bailo Diallo was a black 23-year-old Guinean immigrant in New York City who was shot and killed on February 4, 1999 by four white NYPD plain-clothed officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss. The four officers fired a total of 41 shots at a totally innocent and unarmed Diallo. The Sean Bell shooting incident took place in the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States on November 25, 2006, when three men were shot at a total of fifty times by a team of both plainclothes and undercover NYPD officers, killing one of the men, Sean Bell, on the morning before his wedding. None of the men were armed! Kathryn Johnston 92 years old was an elderly Atlanta, Georgia woman who was shot by 3 white undercover police officers in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006, where she had lived for 17 years. Three officers had entered her home in what was later described as a ‘botched’ drug raid
Police officers learn early in their career that their abusive action are many time laugh at and part of entertainment. As they return to their police departments and tell their stories of abuse! Shari Archibald’s black handbag sat at her feet on the sidewalk in front of her Bronx home on a recent summer night. The two male officers crouched over her leather bag and rooted around inside, elbow-deep. One officer fished out a tampon and then a sanitary napkin, crinkling the waxy orange wrapper between his fingers in search of drugs. Next he pulled out a tray of foil-covered pills, Ms. Archibald recalled. What’s this?” the officer said, examining the pill packaging stamped “drospirenone/ethinylestradiol.” “Birth control,” Ms. Archibald remembered saying.
She took a breath and exhaled deeply, hoping the whoosh of air would cool her temper and contain her humiliation as the officers proceeded to pat her down. The laws governing street stops are blind to gender. Male officers are permitted to frisk a woman if they reasonably suspect that she may be armed with a dangerous weapon that could be used to harm them. A frisk can escalate into a field search if officers feel a suspicious bulge while patting down the woman’s outer layer of clothing or the outline of her purse. She was totally innocent and had nothing illegal on her person. Last year, New York City police officers stopped 46,784 women, frisking nearly 16,000.
Bottom line police brutality and police shooting of unarmed American should be address in the Presidential campaign. The Emprie State Building shooting is a good example of irresponsible gun happy police officer. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said all nine bystanders wounded in Friday’s Empire State Building shooting had been hit with police gunfire. There was no shoot out just cops shooting with no regard for public safety!