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DAN GILBERT’S GUANTANAMO BAY? Detainees in CJC Jail denied contact with lawyers & family, subjected to brutal conditions

On Sept. 10, a ground-breaking protest outside the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center was held on behalf of Ricky Rimmer and hundreds of victims of criminal frame-ups by Detroit cops and Wayne County prosecutors. (Full video and story coming later this week.) Meanwhile, multiple articles have been published in the mainstream media about dire conditions in the CJC Jail, built by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock firm for $670 million, mostly from public tax dollars.  Demetris Knuckles-El was at the Sept. 10 protest. He and his organizations are now calling on the public to rally at the new Criminal Justice  Center Friday, Sept. 20 from 12 noon to 2pm to support our detainees.

Some of more than 60 supporters of Ricky Rimmer who turned out Sept. 10 in front of the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center at 5301 Russell in Detroit.

‘IT’S TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE INSTEAD OF A DREAM” (excerpt)

By Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press —“While Wayne County officials tout the new Criminal Justice Center that was six years in the making as “cutting edge” and “state-of-the-art,” union officials and defense attorneys describe last week’s opening as riddled with problems.

Atty. Lillian Diallo

Among the issues include days-long lockdowns of inmates in crowded cells because there haven’t been enough deputies to cover the larger new complex, a union official and defense attorney told the Free Press. That has led to incidents of fighting and inmates breaking fire sprinklers and causing flooding in protest, said Allen Cox, President of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

“The first day out, it’s fights, flooding and everything. It’s turned into a nightmare instead of a dream,” Cox said last week.

Lillian Diallo, president of the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association, said inmates are protesting conditions inside the new facility by refusing to leave holding areas for their court hearings. Three days ago, Diallo said an inmate reported having to defecate and urinate in a bag because the plumbing inside cells was not working.

Atty. Brian Brown/DN photo

“It’s like “Shawshank Redemption” or something,” Diallo said, referring to the movie.

Diallo and defense attorney Brian Brown said they have been forced to wait hours before meeting with clients because there’s currently only five visiting rooms available in the new complex. In the old jail, there were two to three visiting rooms for detainees to meet with their attorneys on every floor, Brown and Diallo said.

Diallo said she and other attorneys couldn’t enter the building on Wednesday; she said deputies told her it was because of staffing shortages. And on Saturday, Diallo said jail staff never brought her client in for a visit through video call. She said she waited on the call for her client for two hours.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2024/09/10/wayne-county-criminal-justice-center-jail-detroit/75082216007/

RELATED:

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2024/09/06/justice-for-ricky-rimmer-victims-of-dpd-cop-wcpo-crimes-tues-sept-10-new-criminal-justice-center/

https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/wayne-countys-new-jail-struggles-with-fights-floods-suicide-attempt

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2024/09/10/inmate-fights-protests-at-new-wayne-county-criminal-justice-center-prompt-pledge-of-changes/75161113007/

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210218-exposing-life-inside-the-worlds-most-notorious-prison

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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.

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Jamario (Mario) Mitchell (ctr.), brother Kevin Mitchell (l), Father Victor Mitchell (r).

Jamario Mitchell has motions for new trial, relief from judgment, Walker  hearing pending before WCCC Presiding Judge Donald Knapp

Mitchell was convicted of  Homicide-Felony Murder, other charges on December 10, 2001, sentenced to life without parole on Jan. 7, 2002

For 23 years, courts have denied him a ‘Walker’ hearing to challenge ‘confession’ that DPD Sgt. Isaiah Smith read t0 trial jury 

Sgts. Smith, Reginald Harvel were widely exposed in local, national media coverage of DPD witness and suspect “dragnets.”

Mitchell’s jury never heard that DPD removed Smith and Harvel from Homicide related to the 1997 detention of Janetta Toles;  both cops admitted to their unconstitutional acts in Toles depositions, lawsuits v. City of Detroit

Witness dragnets,  decades of other constitutional violations including denial of access to attys. by DPD led to U.S. Justice Dept. consent decree declaring federal oversight of DPD from 2003-2013. 

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By Diane Bukowski

August 11, 2024 (updated August 25, 2024)

Ed. note: Jamario Mitchell greatly assisted VOD in the legal research for this story by identifying case law and background documentation f0r matters including the 2003 DOJ Consent Decree imposed on DPD. Mitchell’s family also provided transcripts from his preliminary exam and trial, as well as a copy of the DPD Homicide file, which were reviewed for this story.

Jamario Mitchell. 19, after 2001 arrest/DPD photo

DETROIT– For 23 years, Michigan courts have denied Jamario Mitchell  a “Walker” evidentiary hearing to challenge an alleged “confession” that Detroit Police Department  (DPD) Sgt. Isaiah “Ike” Smith read t0 his trial jury on December 6, 2001.

Mitchell is serving a life without parole sentence for the “felony murder” of Vito Davis on Detroit’s east side Feb. 19, 2001.  That ‘confession’ was the chief evidence used against him. Osiris Cuesta, the only prosecution eyewitness, testified during the trial hat Mitchell was not present at the actual murder scene. 

“The only thing Defendant signed under the behest of Officer Smith was what he was led to believe was a release form,” Mitchell says in his motions for a new trial/evidentiary hearing, now pending before Third Circuit Court Judge Donald Knapp. “Defendant was also led to believe that after he signed the form he would be released. . . after sitting in a filthy cell and psychologically traumatized for several hours.” (See links to motions at end of story.)

Wayne Co. pros. Kym Worthy, former DPD Chief James Craig, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (formerly Wayne Co. Pros. 2001-04.)

Mitchell also says Smith lied when he claimed he never requested an attorney. He said Smith denied him phone calls to his family members to obtain an attorney during his detention.

Neither Smith nor then Wayne Co. Prosecutor Mike Duggan disclosed  to Mitchell’s jury that Smith had been demoted from DPD’s Homicide Unit March 29, 2001 related to unconstitutional witness dragnets used to coerce false confessions and statements from suspects and witnesses while holding them incommunicado. 

Case of Janetta Toles, witness arrested in 1997

Smith and Sgt. Reginald Harvel admitted to those  practices during widely-publicized depositions in the 1997 case of Janetta Toles, a young mother arrested on murder charges, held by the two cops in DPD headquarters lock-up for four days.

The two officers also admitted to their actions in a civil lawsuit against the City of Detroit filed June 12, 2001, swearing that DPD trained them to commit the illegal acts. They won a cash settlement, but little has been done since to address the untold numbers of men and women still in prison because of such actions. See link to lawsuit at end of story.

“Mayor Michael Duggan was in charge of the Wayne County Prosecutor Office when the US Dept. of Justice consent decree investigation started, but he allowed corrupt DPD officer Isaiah Smith to coerce witnesses to make false statements, tamper with evidence, and falsify statements,” Mitchell wrote to VOD.

“From 2000 until now, hundreds even thousands of people were forced to go to trial without having all the facts. Can we say 23 years later that Mr. Mitchell had a fair trial? Ask Mr. Mike Duggan, ask Kym Worthy. . . How about we ask Jeffrey Collins, Department of Justice?”

Decades of unconstitutional DPD practices including  the witness dragnets and conditions of confinement including denial of access to attorneys led to the U.S. Department of Justice “Consent Decree” imposed in 2003, which established federal oversight of DPD through 2013.

Mitchell says in his motions that the failure by Detroit police and the prosecution to disclose Smith’s history to the jury violated U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Brady v. Maryland (1963), and  Giglio v. United States (1972). 

He also cites United States v. McClellon (2017), a ruling by U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Judge David Lawson, ordering a new trial for defendant Lazell McClellon, who had been charged with two weapons offenses. DPD officer Charles Lynem was the OIC. McClellon discovered that Lynem was under investigation for false reports of felony weapons possession charges during his trial, before the case went to the jury.

Mario Evans MDOC photo

Mitchell’s motions for a new trial, relief from judgment, and a Walker evidentiary hearing,  cite new evidence, including the witness dragnet scandal, and Smith’s clearly perjured testimony in the case of Mario Evans (Case No. o1-o333). Evans, like Mitchell, has been serving life without parole on murder charges he denies.

During Evans’ trial, on January 2, 2002, Smith said he had never held anyone in custody just to get a statement. He went on to deny that he was suspended from the DPD Homicide Unit at the end of March, 2001, and re-assigned to the telephone crime reporting unit, despite broad media coverage showing he was lying.  Evans’ defense attorney asked the questions, but the trial judge barred admission of the testimony. A screenshot of Smith’s testimony is below. Read the actual pages at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Smith-testimony-Mario-Evans-2.pdf  

Evans told VOD. “The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office knows that homicide investigators and police officers have been committing perjury, withholding evidence, tampering with evidence and breaking the law.

Valerie Newman, CIU Director (l): Wayne Co. Pros. Kym Worthy (r)

“Why haven’t the Wayne County Prosecutors and the Conviction Integrity Units reopened cases that these known corrupted officers have testified in, where it came down to the credibility of these officers?

“This nightmare [of my conviction] all came from false confessions typed out by Detroit homicide investigator Sgt. Isaiah Smith. Prosecutors knew that Sgt. Isaiah Smith  admitted to using arrest as a investigation tool and was removed from the homicide section back in March of 2001 for this.” 

          Mitchell denied Walker hearing for 23 years

WCCC Judge Prentis Edwards Sr.

“Walker” hearings have been a bedrock of Michigan criminal law since a 1965 Michigan Supreme Court ruling mandating them as part of due process under the U.S. Constitution. 

Mitchell’s trial attorney Rita Young filed a motion for a Walker hearing April 27, 2001 with Mitchell’s trial judge Prentis Edwards Sr. writing . . .”the police took two alleged written confessions from the Defendant while he was in custody under the following  circumstances: Denial of counsel upon request, and as a result of promises, threats and coercion . . .the Defendant contends that his statement was illegally obtained in violation of his Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”  

WCCC Presiding Judge Donald Knapp

Edwards held a “Walker” hearing for Mitchell’s co-defendant Aljarrau Akins, but not for Mitchell, which was scheduled for the same day. Edwards blind-sided Mitchell’s trial attorney with a letter Mitchell had sent him about Young, then got her to agree to remove herself, despite Mitchell’s plea  that he wanted her to remain to hold the hearing. 

The motion was never withdrawn, but Edwards did not follow up to see that the hearing was held.  

Court records show that Edwards later denied Mitchell’s motion for a new trial Nov. 15, 2002 and a motion for relief from judgment (MFRJ) August 18, 2001. On July 24, 2015, Edwards’ successor judge James A. Callahan denied another MFRJ July 24, 2015. Presiding Criminal Court Judge Donald Knapp denied a subsequent MFRJ August 22, 2020. 

Records show that Mitchell’s pro se motions remain pending, a Motion for a New Trial and one for an Evidentiary Hearing filed July 13, 2023, and his motion for an amendment to include new evidence filed July 16, 2024.

Trial history in case of Vito Davis homicide  

Map of 14201 Glenwood (red arrow)

Mitchell was 19 when he and co-defendant Aljarrau Akins, also 19, were charged with first degree felony murder,  armed robbery, and felony firearm for the death of Vito Davis, 19, outside 14201 Glenwood on Detroit’s east side, the home of Antwan Banks, on February 19, 2001.

Banks and another man, Osiris Cuesta, were charged as well. A fifth man, Kenyon Bailey, was held but never charged.

The prosecution’s theory of the case was that Banks recruited several men to rob Davis of his jewelry, car rims and other possessions outside of Banks’ home. They were told Davis would be in a 2001 silver Cadillac. Banks’ former girl-friend was dating Davis. One of the men threatened Davis with a gun from outside the passenger window, as he sat in the driver seat. He hit the gun on the window and it fired, shattering the window and killing Davis with one shot to his leg that hit an artery. No murder weapon was presented at trial.

Reviewing the homicide file, VOD noted the sad irony that the Cadillac was actually a rental car, possibly rented to impress Davis’ date that night.

DPD Sgt. Isaiah Smith was the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the investigation into the murder. Court records show that Smith and fellow officers conducted sweeps of the neighborhood, arresting suspects and witnesses in dragnet style. Bailey and Akins rode with the officers to identify the residences of  individuals they claimed were involved.

Old DPD HQ 1300 Beaubien

At DPD headquarters, 1300 Beaubien, Smith and other officers first informally interviewed the individuals who were arrested. Smith testified that he reviewed the interviews and decided which contents were “true,” then re-interviewed the individuals,  creating final statements which had  “Constitutional Notifications of Rights” forms attached.

Osiris Cuesta testified at the Smith/Akins trial that he and Akins approached the victim’s car from the passenger side. He said Mitchell “abandoned” the robbery and was far down the street when it happened. He claimed Akins had the gun involved which discharged when he knocked on the passenger window. However, Akins said in his testimony that Cuesta had the gun.

In exchange for Cuesta’s testimony, Judge Prentis Edwards Sr. reduced his charges from felony murder to “assault with intent to rob armed” and sentenced him to 81 months to 11 years. No forensics identifying the actual gun were part of the prosecution’s case.

Court records show that Banks was convicted of “assault with intent to rob armed,” after a jury acquitted him of felony murder and second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 15-25 years in prison, but VOD could not locate further records. He is not shown on the state’s OTIS offender website or on the Third Circuit Court website.

Mitchell and Akins were convicted of the three charges by a jury and sentenced to life without parole by Wayne Third Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards, Sr. on January 7, 2002. (Mitchell’s conviction of armed robbery was later vacated by the state Court of Appeals.).

RELATED DOCUMENTS, provided by Jamario Mitchell

Jamario Mitchell’s pro se motions for new trial, relief from judgment, and evidentiary hearing:

 http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Jamario-Mitchell-Motion-for-RJ-Newly-Dis-Ev-2.pdf   

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Jamario-Mitchell-Motion-for-New-Trial-2-1-23-2.pdf

Isaiah Smith’s civil lawsuit against the City of Detroit:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Isaiah-Smith-lawsuit.pdf

U.S. Department of Justice Consent Decree with attachments

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/US-DOJ-Consent-Decree-and-attachments2.pdf

DPD  Criminals Attachment

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/DPD-Criminals-attachment.pdf 

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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.

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5TH AMENDMENT U.S. CONSTITUTION

Above: Lillian Diallo, Board Member of Wayne Co. Criminal Defense Attys. Assn: “It’s Done!” explains why other Bolanos-Jackson charges must be dismissed, decries “use immunity” given to Samantha Woll’s ex-boyfriend

Michael Jackson-Bolanos attorneys file for dismissal of remaining murder and home invasion charges after acquittal of 1st and 2nd degree murder

Cite “Double Jeopardy” outlawed by U.S., Michigan Constitutions

Hearing on motion, sentencing on “concealing facts and misleading police” charge set for Friday, August 9

By Diane Bukowski, VOD Editor

July 31, 2024

Petition · Stop the retrial of Michael Jackson Bolanos and release him from incarceration – Detroit, United States · Change.org

Michael Jackson-Bolanos with co-counsel Purna Krishnamoorthy

DETROIT — When a jury acquitted Michael Jackson-Bolanos of First-Degree Premeditated Murder July 18, they acquitted him of all murder charges, say his attorneys Brian Brown and Purna Krishnamoorthy.

On July 23, they filed a motion to dismiss the remaining felony murder and home invasion charges on double jeopardy grounds.

Third Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten will hear the defense motion Friday, Aug. 9. She said she needed the time to research applicable law in the case.

On the same day, she plans to sentence Jackson-Bolanos for “concealing facts and misleading the police,” the jury’s only guilty verdict.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos testified extensively in his defense.

“The acquittal followed a jury trial at which the jury acquitted Mr. Jackson-Bolanos of 1st degree premeditated murder and the lesser included offense of second-degree murder, but asserted that it could reach no verdict on the charge of first-degree felony-murder and the lesser included second-degree murder and first-degree home invasion,” says the motion.

“Given the jury’s verdict, any felony murder charges and home invasion charges must be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. *US Const. Ams V, XIV; Const 1963, Art. 1, Sec. 15, Arizona v. Washington 434 US 437 (1978); People v. Lett, 466 Mich 206 (2002).”  Lett is a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that says in part:

Screenshot of Michael Jackson-Bolanos jury verdict form rendered July 18, 2024 

See complete defense motion and statement of facts:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/jackon-bolanos-double-jeopardy-motion-and-statement-of-facts-July-23-24.pdf

Samantha Woll, Pres. Downtown Detroit Isaac Agree Synagogue

Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Jackson-Bolanos with the murder of Samantha Woll, president of the Downtown Detroit Isaac Agree Synagogue, on December 13, 2024.

“This is an extraordinarily sad and tragic case,” Worthy said. “Since October 21st, the date that Samantha Woll was killed, there has been painstaking, diligent, and tireless work done by the Detroit Police Department and my office. Investigations like this take time and we do our best to never rush to judgment.”

After those charges were filed, before any legal proceedings, the family 0f Samantha Woll profusely thanked the prosecution and police for identifying her killer.

Understandably aggrieved at her heinous, brutal murder, they sat through every day of the pre-trial and trial proceedings.

Samantha Woll family members at Jackson-Bolanos trial. Photo/Detroit News

However, when the jury acquitted Bolanos-Jackson of first-degree murder July 18, they said in a joint statement, “We are stunned and deeply saddened by the outcome of this trial, as there is overwhelming evidence that Michael Jackson-Bolanos took our beloved Samantha’s life.”

But Jackson-Bolanos’ jury, his attorneys, and three legal experts who appeared on CBS News Detroit saw the case differently. Lillian Diallo, a board member of the Wayne Co. Criminal Defense Attorneys Bar Association (video at top), Rick Convertino, who has been both a prosecution and defense attorney, and Gino Vicci each appeared on CBS News, adamantly challenging the prosecution’s case.

Judge Van Houten

Convertino called it “the weakest prosecution case he has ever seen,” and predicted an eventual acquittal.

The Woll family, in their statement, said they do not believe that the race of Michael Jackson-Bolanos should be an issue in his arrest and conviction, but to many Detroiters and others who are Black, the issue is glaringly apparent.

Jackson-Bolanos is being tried in front of Judge Margaret van Houten, who is white, and served on the Dearborn Heights City Council for 14 years before her tenure. She was appointed to the Circuit Court by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and ran for election in 2014. She was a law clerk for former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra, an active member of the right-wing Federalist Society

His Asst. Prosecutor, Ryan Elsey, is white and lives in Livonia, where the population is 80 percent white and only 4 percent Black. Wayne Co. Chief Prosecutor Kym Worthy is Black, but her record on behalf of Wayne County’s Black population, particularly its youth, is abysmal.

Davontae Sanford (l) WC Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

Worthy has vehemently fought to maintain juvenile life without parole sentences,  outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), throughout her tenure as Wayne County Prosecutor. She still denies that  Davontae Sanford, 14 in 2009 when he was charged with the murders of four adults, is innocent, despite the subsequent dismissal of his charges and a $7.9 million settlement of his wrongful conviction.

Jeffrey Herbstman in 2022 with Samantha Woll.

Samantha Woll’s white, well-to-do ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Herbstman fled to Kalamazoo from Detroit, and confessed to police there that he had killed her. He was released with little investigation, claiming he was delusional when he confessed.

Herbtsman testified at length for AP Ryan Elsey and then was cross-examined by defense attorney Brian Brown. No psychiatrist or other medical expert was called by the prosecution to back up his claims. He was granted “use immunity” to testify at the Jackson-B0lanos trial, a practice which Attorney Lillian Diallo questioned in her interview with CBS News (above).

CBS News expert Gino Vicci commented on Herbstman’s testimony below.

Defense Attorney Brian Brown, who is Black, put the issue of race  front-and-center during his cross-exam of Herbstman, noting that Elsey appeared to act as a defense attorney as he questioned Herbstman.

Petition · Stop the retrial of Michael Jackson Bolanos and release him from incarceration – Detroit, United States · Change.org

Comments typifying 133 others from Facebook post by Jay Love

Related:

MICHAEL JACKSON-BOLANOS TESTIFIES AT WOLL MURDER TRIAL; DEFENSE GIVES STUNNING CLOSING ARGUMENTS.

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2024/07/12/michael-jackson-bolanos-testifies-at-woll-murder-trial-defense-gives-stunning-closing-arguments/

RAILROAD OF MICHAEL JACKSON-BOLANOS IN SAMANTHA WOLL MURDER? DEFENSE: INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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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.

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RELATED STORIES:

(All motions, briefs, etc. in Rimmer case are linked in the stories below)

RIMMER CASE: JUDGE’S DAD, DPD SGT. MICHAEL BLOUNT, & SGT. JAMES HARRIS BOTH ON S.T.R.E.S.S., MAYOR’S SQUAD | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

JUDGE BLOUNT DENIES RICKY RIMMER’ S MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL, HEARING ON RACIST COPS, NEW WITNESSES | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

“MOMMALOVE!” CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF LOVIE MAE RIMMER FEB. 26-27, MOTHER OF RICKY RIMMER-BEY | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

MICH. LIFER RICKY RIMMER CITES RACIST, VIOLENT HISTORY OF DPD COPS HAIDYS, HARRIS IN MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

MICHIGAN LIFER RICKY RIMMER-BEY: CONVICTED DRUG DEALER COP JAMES HARRIS FRAMED ME FOR MURDER | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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URGENT. Funds  regularly needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00  or VOD and 13 years of its stories will be taken off the web.  VOD is a pro 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:

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UPDATE JULY 12, 2024: JURY DEADLOCKED. CBS News legal expert Rick Convertino, who predicted a quick acquittal, still calls the prosecution’s case “the weakest” he’s ever seen (above.)

 CBS NEWS DEFENSE EXPERT PREVIOUSLY PREDICTED ACQUITTAL

DEFENSE ATTY. BRIAN BROWN’S BRILLIANT CLOSING ARGUMENTS 

DEFENSE PLAYS ATTY.-CLIENT JAIL CONVERSATION FOR JURY (below)

VOD was not able to cover this trial in person due to time constraints, but is publishing key videos from other media, focusing on defense presentations

Mainstream media has covered prosecution’s case in detail; go to YouTube (Search “Samantha Woll trial”) to watch those portions of the trial

Why did Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy bring this case on such scant evidence against a poor Black man after a well-to-do white man confessed?

Police officers who took stand included Stephen Kue, fully exposed as a liar by Channel 7 Investigator Ross Jones

Police claimed Jackson-Bolanos never said he accidentally came upon and touched Woll’s body; but DPD officer tells atty. he DID tell him that

CROSS-EXAM OF WOLL’S EX-BOYFRIEND JEFFREY HERBSTMAN

DPD OFFICER: Jackson-Bolanos DID tell him he saw, touched Woll’s body

Samantha Woll, Pres. Isaac Agree Synagogue

GUEST EDITORIAL By Roberto Guzman, with Diane Bukowski

With her family and community, VOD mourns the tragic loss of Samantha Woll, a beautiful vibrant young woman and Isaac Agree Synagogue president. We call on police and prosecutors to target the real perpetrator of her brutal, horrific murder.

July 12, 2024

Marvin Cotton’s mother Ms. Fortune with paralegal Roberto Guzman at 2016 press conference on Davontae Sanford’s release. VOD photo.

Detroit — At a time when all the party balloons, awards dinners, and media frenzy have taken hold with proclamations of the “re-birth” of Detroit, and as officials herald the move of Wayne County courts and prisons to a new Criminal Justice Center and a “new era,”  the case of Michael Jackson-Bolanos proves that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

There before us in real time is another wrongful conviction unfolding right before our eyes, in the wake of dozens of exonerations of men and women in Wayne County who were railroaded by the Detroit Police Department in league with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office. Like Larry “Butter” Smith, who just won an $8.9 million settlement from the city after spending 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, nearly 40 exonerees spent many decades in prison.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos and his atty. Brian Brown as the jury begins  deliberations July 10.

There are thousands more remaining in Michigan’s prisons who were similarly railroaded. Private Investigator Scott Lewis estimates that up to thirty percent of the state’s prisoners are likely innocent. During the period of the 1990’s and the “Ring of Snitches,” estimates of wrongful convictions go up to eighty percent.

But now unfolding before us in real time is another wrongful conviction, that of Michael Jackson-Bolanos. We must not let this happen as a result of our neglect and complacency. If this was happening in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the community would be rising up in anger and horror. Here again, another innocent Black man finds himself tangling with a powerhouse of corrupt and deceitful police and prosecutors intent on framing him for the murder of Samantha Woll, synagogue director and leader in the Jewish community.

This is nothing but an effort to appease public pressure to bring someone to justice. Anyone. Just do it. Make Michael Jackson-Bolanos the scapegoat, their sacrificial lamb, handed over on a silver platter.

Poster from 2020 Victoria-Burton Harris campaign for Wayne County Prosecutor.

But where is their evidence? Other than their belief that his color and presence in the area of the victim’s home made him a likely suspect in the minds of overzealous cops and prosecutors? They found two specks of blood on the sleeve of his jacket, invisible to the naked eye, and pounced on that. This is despite the fact that there was a common-sense innocent explanation for it as exposed by his testimony and defense attorney Brian Brown’s brilliant presentation of his case.

Namely, that in the course of committing petty vehicular crimes in the area, Jackson-Bolanos stumbled upon the dead victim, and obviously concerned for her safety, checked her vitals and got those specks of blood on his jacket. This was enough for cops and prosecutors to pounce, deapite the fact that the apartment where Samantha Woll was brutally attacked and stabbed eight times to to death while fighting for her life, was covered in blood, as was her body.

Two specks of blood don’t fit the facts. Even to an average citizen. But unfortunately, police and prosecutors aren’t just average citizens. They are power-tripping arrogant egotistical maniacs who care nothing about innocence, and especially not a Black man’s innocence.

Inset: Davontae Sanford with mother Taminko on his release in 2016; Background: Roberto Guzman (l) with Sanford ‘s family after a 2012 appeals court hearing. The COA ruled in his favor, but Worthy appealed again and the Mich. Supreme Court reversed it, leaving this child to suffer more years in prison. VOD photo.

In the case of Michael Jackson-Bolanos, we are reminded again of the rushes to judgment that have typified the career of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who many people are hailing as a hero with a heart for justice. But she is just the opposite of that. She rushed to file false murder charges against yet another innocent young Black man without questioning the scant evidence presented to her by the Detroit Police Department, with its shameful history of framing hundreds of others over the years.

Davontae Sanford was a 14-year-old child when he was  snatched from his mother and similarly framed by Detroit Police in league with Prosecutor Kym Worthy in 2008. He was charged with the murders of four adults in an alleged drug house.

It was only after his mother led a determined battle to free her child that the truth of his innocence finally came out; but he had spent nine years in adult prisons subjected to torture and abuse by prison personnel.

New Wayne Co. Criminal INJUSTICE Center?

The Michigan State Police cited Detr0it police reports from the night of the crime in which eyewitnesses described another man who did not fit Sanford’s description. That man, Vincent Smothers, later confessed. Charges against Sanford should have been dismissed WITH PREJUDICE, but Worthy would agree only to dismissal WITHOUT prejudice, according to Attorney Julie Hurwitz. To this day, Worthy will not admit Sanford is innocent.

Today, Worthy’s supporters continue to praise her and urge the public to trust her. Their lies, and their fanciful claims of a new day in Wayne County courts have only emboldened her arrogant power to do as she pleases. Today Jackson-Bolanos stands falsely accused of murder. Hopefully, the jury will acquit him, deadlock, or at least hang with only one juror who like me knows and feels what innocence is when we see it. Only then will  justice ring true. Jackson-Bolanos’ story will be the one worth telling. Not the lies. Not the praise for abuse of power. Hopefully, Jackson-Bolanos will not have to wait years for his exoneration as did Davontae Sanford.

RELATED:

DETROIT PAYS $2 MILLION TO SETTLE COMPLAINT VS. DPD’S STEPHEN KUE, ALREADY HIT WITH 85 COMPLAINTS

https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/detroit-pays-2m-to-settle-latest-lawsuit-against-troubled-sgt-hit-with-85-complaints

RAILROAD OF MICHAEL JACKSON-BOLANOS IN SAMANTHA WOLL MURDER? DEFENSE: INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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