Michael Thompson (l), with Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist. (Photo courtesy Mike McCurdy)

Michael Thompson released from prison at age 70 after serving 25 yrs. of 42 to 60-year sentence on marijuana-related charges

Last Prisoner Project and MDP Cannabis Caucus jointly formed Michigan Cannabis Freedom Coalition

With them, Michael Thompson founded the Michael Thompson Clemency Project

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Ricardo Ferrell

By Ricardo Ferrell, VOD Field Editor

February 25, 2022

In 2021, the Michigan Cannabis Freedom Coalition (MCFC), secured their first major victory, helping free Michael Thompson, a convicted cannabis offender who was sentenced in 1996 to serve 42–60 years on marijuana related charges out of Genesee County, MI.

Mary Bailey of Last Prisoner Project; Mike McCurdy Cannabis Project/Michigan Dems

Thompson, 70, was released one year ago on January 28th, 2021, after being granted a commutation by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Thompson, deemed a model prisoner by Attorney General Dana Nessel, had only incurred one misconduct report in his entire 25 years of incarceration.

“It was truly inspiring to watch Michael walk out of those doors and immediately issue a powerful statement to the press about the inhumane conditions of Michigan’s prisons and to promise to fight for those he left behind,” said Mike McCurdy, Chair of the Cannabis Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party. Cannabis Caucus of the MDP (michigandemscannabis.com)

McCurdy, working in conjunction with Last Prisoner Project (LPP) managing director Mary Bailey, co-founded the MCFC. The two were able to see their work manifest itself when Thompson walked out of a prison in Jackson. Last Prisoner Project – Cannabis Reform Nonprofit

Michael Thompson speaks to media on his release from prison, surrounded by family members. Photo/ J. Scott Park MLive.com

It was 4:30AM on a brutally cold winter morning when Thompson walked out of the prison gates in Jackson, Michigan to an awaiting crowd of press, family and supporters.

“Twenty-five years is a long time,” Thompson said, struggling to control his emotions.

“Hopefully those left behind can be helped, guys who shouldn’t be there, like guys still in for marijuana, they shouldn’t be in there. I just hope somebody can hear me, especially those dealing with prison reform. There are a lot of things that need to be done. Those guys are human beings and the way they treat them is not good. It’s not just about me, it’s about thousands of guys that need help and we need to quit talking and start doing something about it.”

Since that fateful morning, Bailey, McCurdy and their coalition have strongly advocated for the release of all cannabis prisoners including Rudi Gammo, another convicted cannabis offender serving time in a Michigan prison who’s currently being considered for release.

Rudi Gammo and family

In 2021, Gammo, with the help of McCurdy and Bailey, pushed on the outside to have his application for commutation looked at by the Michigan Parole Board.

Gammo was charged under a RICO statute for operating grow houses in Detroit and received five and 1/2 years. His earliest release date isn’t until 2023. It is ironic that just a few months after he was shipped off to prison, Michigan passed legislation making it legal for citizens to possess recreational marijuana.

Michael Thompson, with McCurdy, founded the “Michael Thompson Clemency Project” (MTCP), which recommends review and consideration for possible commutation by Gov. Whitmer, in the cases of other incarcerated individuals many of whom Thompson served time with.

Among those who Thompson and McCurdy are pushing for, is the late Robert Cannon Jr., a co-organizer that worked with Thompson to put together the George Floyd ‘Celebration of Life’ while housed at the Muskegon Correctional Facility. This incredible act of resistance was recently a featured story on the National Public Radio Snap Judgment. The show was dedicated to Cannon’s memory. Sadly, Cannon died in prison although his name was being considered for release. Advocates like McCurdy and Thompson have vowed to remember him and fight hard at gaining the release of others in recognition of Cannon. https://snapjudgment.org/episode/the-feast/

Robert Michael Cannon, Jr.

“…For me personally, to watch daily the diversity of all the beautiful hearts come together to say in one voice, they have had enough, gives some of us hope that one day those same people will bring to light the great injustice Michael Thompson received…” – Robert Michael Cannon Jr. (from an article by Sarah Gersten of Last Prisoner Project).

Ironically, Cannon was speaking Thompson’s freedom into existence, and his spirit shall live on through those of us who can feel his energy flowing within the universe. The work of McCurdy, Thompson and others must be applauded, as their efforts include bringing a sharp focus on unfair sentencing practices and over-incarceration. These factors have undoubtedly contributed to the build-up of 2.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S., with some 40,000 behind bars for cannabis offenses.

Video interview of Michael Thompson by FOX WILX Jan. 29, 2021

MTCP is currently advocating for dozens of people to be released. Among those with clemencies already, or soon to be on Governor Whitmer’s desk awaiting her signature are: Donald Williams, Horace Peterson, Rudi Gammo, Corey McCullough, Keith Stinson and LeRoy Washington. MTCP is urging the governor to sign the petitions immediately, invoking the adage that “Justice delayed is Justice denied.”

Let us all embrace the same hope that Robert Cannon expressed, when he advocated from the inside for Thompson’s freedom. The work of the Michael Thompson Clemency Project and the Michigan Cannabis Freedom Coalition is moving forward and making a real difference in reforming this broken system.

MICHAEL THOMPSON CLEMENCY PROJECT: 

https://www.mtclemency.com/

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Paul Davis, serving life without parole for 2004 murder, says he is innocent, framed by crooked cops including LaNesha Jones (video above), prosecutors

A mother recanted her ID of Davis in 2017, saying police threatened her and five juveniles ages 12 to 16 to get false IDs of Davis

Lanesha Jones, Officer in Charge, fired by DPD trial board in 2009 after being charged with felony aggravated assault off-duty 

David Pauch, ballistics tech for Detroit Crime Lab, shuttered in 2008, testified at trial, but no physical evidence presented

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For a print version of this article, go to: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/LIFER-PAUL-DAVIS_-FRAMED-BY-DETROIT-COPS-APA-WHO-SENT-CHILDREN-TO-CPS-JAIL-TO-GET-FALSE-TESTIMONY-_-VOICE-OF-DETROIT_-The-citys-independent-newspaper-unbossed-and-unbought.pdf

Ricardo Ferrell

By Ricardo Ferrell

VOD Field Editor

With Diane Bukowski, Editor

DETROIT — Despite there being no physical evidence linking him to a 2004 homicide, and the use of juvenile witnesses taken from their mother to force their false testimony, Paul Davis, now 40 years old, still languishes behind bars for the 2004 murder of Larry Snipes, Jr. on Spokane Avenue in Detroit.  He has always unequivocally denied he committed that crime.

PAUL DAVIS

“My husband has been suffering in prison for almost two decades for something he did not do,” Shannon Davis told VOD about her husband. “The justice system failed him terribly. The officers involved were corrupt, his attorney was grossly ineffective, and the evidence was inconsistent. With all this, he couldn’t have received a fair trial.”

Attorney Robert Goldman of Dickstein & Lewis, PLLC, wrote a detailed nine-page letter to Valerie Newman, head of the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit, urgently asking her to accept Davis’ case. He had reviewed available court files and other documentation.

He noted first that Davis was in Taylor, Michigan at the time of the murder.

“Tamika Holmes gave a witness statement to Detective J. Wolff indicating that she, along with [three other adults] and their children, were at her home in the Pond Village Apartments in Taylor, Michigan with Paul Davis at or around the time of the alleged murder,” Goldman wrote.

Holmes testified at trial, but the others were never called by Davis’ defense attorney George Davos. (See complete letter from Goldman at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Paul-Davis-memorandum-to-CIU.pdf.)

Instead, DPD Detective Sgt. Lanesha Jones, who was the Chief Investigative Officer (CIO) on the case, DPD Officer Kurtiss Staples, and Asst. Wayne Co. Prosecutor Suzette Samuels elicited statements from a mother and five juveniles ages 12 to 16, who were staying or visiting at the Spokane address. The prosecution’s entire case was later based on the children’s testimonies, despite gross inconsistencies and failures to identify Davis at in-person line-ups and in court testimony.

(L to r) AP Suzette Samuels, DPD Sgt. LaNesha Jones, Judge Craig Strong–kidnappers??

Court records show that these “public servants” threatened to have Child Protective Services (CPS) take the children if they didn’t cooperate. Even though the children signed typed witness statements for Sgt. Jones, they were abruptly taken from their mother and placed in foster homes. It is not known if they were ever able to return.

Wayne Co. 3rd Circuit Court Judge Craig Strong ordered the 13-year-old child incarcerated at the Wayne Co. Juvenile Detention Center to ensure his testimony, after he ran away from his foster home. Strong signed petitions from AP Samuels to have the other children held under bond to force them to testify.

Judge, AP sent child to Wayne Co. Juvenile home to ensure testimony.

Atty. Aaron Z. Gordon Jr., who interviewed the 13-year-old, said the child asked that the prosecution protect him from the defendants’ family when he testified. Several of the other children didn’t show up at trial. To bolster the remaining children’s testimony, Sgt. Jones testified FOR them at length, reporting what she claimed they told her and addressing issues like their demeanor at the time of their conversations with her.

Denise Henry, the mother of most of the juveniles, did not testify at trial. In 2017, Henry signed a notarized statement stating that she and her children were coerced and pressured by authorities to provide false statements and testimonies against Davis. Henry stated she only did this because Officers LaNesha Jones and Kurtiss Staples threatened to have Child Protective Services take her children away. She included a handwritten letter to Davis begging his forgiveness and recalling the intense distress to her family caused by the officers’ actions. 

OTHER CHARGES AGAINST DAVIS CASE COPS, TECHS

LANESHA JONES —The DPD fired Sgt. Lanesha Jones in 2009 after a trial board unanimously recommended her dismissal (see WXYZ video at top of story). She had been charged with felony aggravated assault while off-duty, causing severe wounds to a woman’s forehead at Flood’s Bar in downtown Detroit. The charges were later reduced to misdemeanors. She was later hired at the Highland Park Police Department and became Deputy Chief, despite WXYZ’s expose′, but she was laid-off in 2012 according to published reports.

Jones was among DPD defendants cited in the 2006 frame-up and wrongful incarceration of Elroy “Lucky” Jones, which resulted in the City of Detroit’s $1.5 million settlement of a civil lawsuit.

DETROIT CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM March 16, 2016: $1.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH ELROY LUCKY JONES; Defendants included Lanesha Jones.

Elroy Lucky Jones is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.

The lawsuit cited defendants including Lanesha Jones. It alleged long-time DPD Detective WIlliam Anderson targeted Elroy Jones because he believed, falsely, that the man killed his nephew, then recruited other officers to systematically frame him.

After Elroy Jones’ conviction, the Detroit Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF), including DPD and the U.S. Department of Justice, discovered and charged the (alleged) real killer during the VCTF investigation of the “7 Mile Bloods” gang. (See video above.)

Family of Jarrhod Williams, whose case led to shut-down of crime lab, at Detroit People’s Task Force march in 2011. VOD/DB photo

DAVID PAUCH — Pauch worked in the Detroit Crime Lab as a ballistics examiner. The lab was shut down in 2008 after discoveries by Michigan State Police (MSP) that it had more than a 10 percent error rate, likely caused by faulty and/or falsified work.  

Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy, with the State Appellate Defenders Office, reviewed Crime Lab evidence collected over the decades before the discoveries.

But Worthy decided to focus only on convictions from 2003 to 2008. At least 1200 prisoners victimized by faulty crime lab evidence remain incarcerated in the Mich. Dept. of Corrections.

Pauch himself has been found to have falsified and/or tampered with evidence in multiple cases. Other crime lab techs including Claude Houseworth have been cited in many cases that have managed to make it to the level of exoneration.

Desmond Ricks and Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy each were affected by faulty and/or falsified testimony from Pauch.

Desmond Ricks was exonerated in 2018 after spending 25 years in prison, with the help of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, including director Dave Moran who vigorously fought to get his client freed. Ricks was wrongly convicted in 1992 of 2nd-degree murder based on reports from Pauch and another crime lab tech. They reported that bullets from the victim’s body came from a gun Ricks possessed, but the Innocence Clinic investigation found that was not the case, after the prosecutor’s office sent them photos of the fatal bullets fired from a different gun. Ricks won a $1 million wrongful conviction claim from the state.

Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy–Pauch was also involved in the case of Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy. Searcy was released to home confinement last year after 17 years in prison, under a definitive Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that was highly critical of the roles Chief Judge Timothy Kenny and AP Patrick Muscat played at the original trial and an evidentiary hearing.  The COA cited the duo’s claim that bullets from the victim’s body were “unrecognizable.”

During an evidentiary hearing, it was revealed that a .40 caliber bullet taken from the victim’s body had been concealed in an evidence envelope labeled “9 mm. casing.” The prosecution had claimed the murder weapon was a .45 caliber gun and that the bullets were “too deformed” to identify.

Darrell Siggers–One of the earliest exonerations due to crime lab errors was that of Darrell Siggers, who had been serving life without parole since 1984 before his exoneration in 2018. Siggers and his attorney Wolfgang Mueller filed a $150 million lawsuit against former Detroit police detective Joseph Alex, and the estate of Detroit Crime Lab technician Claude Houseworth. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith just denied a motion by Alex asking for dismissal of the case. Goldsmith’s ruling gives extensive information relating to Siggers’ exoneration.

See:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Microsoft-Word-19-12521-Siggers-v.-Alex-et-al-op-denying-mot-for-reconsideration-abf-v6-cc.docx.pdf

Houseworth had testified that a bullet fragment was found near Siggers’ apartment, but a police report said no evidence was found there. Bullet casings were found at the crime scene location instead. Houseworth also testified that the bullet taken from the victim matched a bullet taken from a gun that was recovered, but there was never a match.

PAUL DAVIS/Family photo

PAUL DAVIS:  Lewis-Dickstein attorney Goldman wrote, “Physical evidence was never presented at trial; APA Suzette Samuels only admitted Pauch’s statements into evidence to corroborate her witness testimony that the deceased was shot with a .45 caliber weapon. Moreover, due to ineffective counsel at the time of trial, no experts on ballistics or trajectory were questioned with respect to the questionable collection and analysis of the evidence asserted by Mr. [David] Pauch.”

Goldman cited Pauch’s testimony on paper laboratory records introduced as People’s  Exhibits 5-8, citing one .38 caliber lead bullet, a .45 caliber metal-jacketed hollow point bullet, and a microscopic comparison of two .45 caliber spent casings supposedly showing they came from the same gun. All the evidence was sent to the property section “pending recovery of a suspected weapon,” which was not produced at trial.

Goldman wrote further, “People’s Exhibit 8 indicates the two spent shell casings tested by Pauch in Exhibit 7 contained no readable prints found. These results are extremely relevant in light of facts now known regarding David Pauch and his history of falsifying and/or otherwise tampering with evidence in question in homicide investigations, such as the case of Mr. Desmond Ricks.”

DPD HOMICIDE FILE ‘DOES NOT EXIST OR CANNOT BE LOCATED.’

“It should be noted . . . that the Detroit Police Department’s homicide file relative to this matter does not exist or cannot be located,” Goldman notes. “The information as provided below is a result of years of efforts to collect what documents are available; with an impression a great deal more was removed or destroyed by their absence and/or inability to be produced. . . ”

Scott Lewis being interviewed by Fox 2 News reporter.

“Of extreme concern in this matter is the finding of the record or file being entirely void of any valid warrant, autopsy photos, pictures of the victim, victim clothing photos, blood samples, photos of shell casings and other investigatory evidence which would customarily be found in a homicide investigation file and prosecution.”

Davis hired noted private investigator Scott Lewis to obtain his homicide file and Child Protective Services records. Lewis’ FOIA request was denied, other than receiving two police incident reports which contained minimal information. An appeal was filed and again the request was denied.

Davis himself wrote to VOD about his CIU Application:

Valerie Newman, head of CIU, at rally for Davontae Sanford, exonerated in 2016. VOD/DB photo

“1. On or around April 6, 2021, I received a letter from Valerie Newman indicating that I needed to file an application with the CIU soon or my file would be closed. Thereafter, I quickly filed an application with the CIU.

2. On April 27, 2021, one of my attorneys Robert Goldman emailed Ms. Newman asking to prepare an application on my behalf. She responded back stating that she preferred to have a memorandum of law filed by attorneys.

3. On June 25, 2021, my attorney Mr. Goldman filed a memorandum with the CIU on my behalf. Valerie Newman accepted my memorandum and said my case was pending.

4. On July 17, 2021, my attorney sent Valerie Newman alibi witness affidavits and FOIA request and denial responses. She responded back that same day stating that the materials will be added to my file.

5. Since then I’ve been having my attorney check-in with the CIU once a month. I also had Claudia Whitman call the CIU on my behalf last month regarding my case and hiring experts. Valerie said to wait on the experts and be patient because it’s a process.”

One supporter says, “Paul Davis, and many others like him have been wrongfully convicted and those convictions must be overturned in an expeditious fashion, so they can be reunited with their families, where they so rightfully belong. Anything other than exonerating Davis and the hundreds or thousands more would be a blatant disregard of both the State and U.S. Constitutions, and the meaning of justice Under the Color of Law.”

Related:

MICH. SUPREME COURT NIXES WORTHY’S APPEAL OF STRONG COA RULING IN THELONIOUS SEARCY CASE | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Man exonerated in ’84 slaying sues ex-Detroit cop, lab tech’s estate (detroitnews.com)

LIFER KENNETH COOPER FIGHTS 2001 CONVICTION; NO PHYSICAL, EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE; BRADY VIOLATIONS | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

TASK FORCE CONTINUES BATTLE TO EXPOSE CRIME LAB CRIMES; WANTS ALL AT COUNCIL MEETING JULY 19 WHEN WORTHY ASKS FOR RENEWAL OF FUNDS | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

VOD/DB photo

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VOD’s staff lives on limited fixed incomes or is incarcerated. We are not paid; we publish the newspaper pro bono. Help keep us afloat by chipping in so stories on this Prison Nation and Police State, and related matters, keep coming! Any amount is appreciated.

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DPD’s William Rice/Monica Childs Squad 7 tag team engineered Brayboy conviction, has been involved in multiple wrongful convictions

Childs cited for coerced confessions and “snitch” witness testimony in multiple cases

Rice on Wayne County Prosecutor’s “Giglio-Brady list” for running a criminal enterprise,and two counts of perjury

To watch Brayboy’s court hearing on a date to be determined after Feb. 22, go to Hon. Thomas M. J. Hathaway – YouTube

UPDATE

Judge Hathaway postponed the Jan. 24 hearing to allow the prosecutor a chance to respond to the defense’s motion for relief from judgment (filed in Aug. 2021) by Feb. 22, 2022.  The hearing should take place on a date to be determined after Feb. 22.

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By Diane Bukowski

January 22. 2022

Gary Brayboy MDOC Photo

DETROIT —   Gary Brayboy has been serving life without parole since 1993, one of hundreds caught up in the Detroit Police Department’s “Ring of Snitches,” which snared Black men using jail-house and street informants, witness round-ups and intimidation, and coerced confessions, through the 1990’s continuing into the 21^st century.

“I am unlawfully condemned to die in prison for a crime I did not commit,” Brayboy wrote to VOD. “There is overwhelming new evidence of Detroit Police Department corruption in my case, involving Monica Childs, William Rice and others.”

A private investigator who has researched dozens of such cases involving police department corruption estimates that 80 percent of Wayne County defendants sentenced to prison in the era involved are actually innocent.

Atty, Wolfgang Mueller, who has filed multi-million-dollar lawsuits for many exonerees, told Channel 7, “It was the Homicide Section in the 1990’s and early 2000’s frankly running rogue, doing what they wanted to.”

But to date, virtually none of the prosecutors and police officers responsible for these acts have been prosecuted for their crimes.

Judge Thomas Hathaway

After jumping through endless hurdles in state and federal court systems, Brayboy will appear in front of Wayne 3^rd Judicial Court Judge Thomas Hathaway this Mon. Jan. 24. Attorney Adrienne Young of the State Appellate Defenders Office will argue in a supplemental motion for relief from judgment that his conviction should be vacated, and a new trial granted.

Brayboy was found guilty of the charges of Felony Murder, Armed Robbery and Felony Firearm, and sentenced to life without parole in 1993. The charges stemmed from a Dec. 1992 robbery/murder in a basement known for after-hours gambling. Larry Tennison was shot and killed during the robbery, and one other person was shot in the leg. None of the surviving witnesses in the basement could identify Brayboy or his co-defendant Keith “Mooky” Griffin.

Involved in Brayb0y’s conviction was the Detroit Police Department’s Squad 7 homicide tag team including Lt. William Rice and Det. Monica Childs, both of them linked to multiple wrongful convictions in recent years. (See Channel 7 News report at top of story.)

“During the investigation into Tennison’s death, DPD Squad 7 homicide officers arrested several witnesses, held them for days without warrants and threatened them in order to obtain statements,” SADO Investigator Julianne Cuneo wrote in a memo to her superiors.

“Brayboy’s co-defendant Keith Christopher Griffin was interviewed repeatedly. Griffin’s third statement, given to Detective [Monica] Childs, became the only direct evidence identifying and incriminating Brayboy.”

The names of Squad 7 homicide officers Monica Childs and her superior, then Lt. William Rice, both involved in Brayboy’s conviction, have surfaced repeatedly as others caught in the web of informants have been exonerated, one by one. They include Larry Smith, Ramon Ward, and Bernard Howard, whose cases are referenced in the Channel 7 News report at the head of this story.

Exonerees (l to r) Larry Smith, Ramon Ward, Bernard Howard

Also cited in Brayboy’s motion for Relief from Judgment (MFRJ) are the cases of exonerees Justly Johnson and Kendrick Scott, which also involved Childs’ actions, and an Oct. 28, 2021 Michigan Court of Appeal opinion in the case of Mark Craighead.

It upheld his claim that “potential impeachment evidence” regarding former DPD Detective Barbara Simon’s alleged misconduct discovered after his previous motions was “newly discovered evidence.” See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/COA-356393-PEOPLE-OF-MI-V-MARK-T-CRAIGHEAD-Opinion2-Per-Curiam-Unpublished-10_27_2021.pdf

Rice is now listed on the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Giglio-Brady list of police officers not to be trusted to testify due to previous convictions and disciplinary actions. He spent two years in prison on federal charges for running a criminal enterprise related to housing mortgages, and two counts of perjury. See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Wayne-County-Prosecutor-GIGLIO-BRADY-LIST-12-7-2020-2-1.pdf.

Atty. Adrienne Young

In the Motion for Relief from Judgment which will be argued in court Jan. 24, SADO attorney Young writes, “In her June 2021 interview with SADO’s Julienne Cuneo and Angie Jackson, Ms. Childs said, ‘it is plausible that Griffin was the shooter’ and she believes had he gotten a fourth statement he would have confessed. Additionally, Mr. Griffin’s statement evolved, with Mr. Griffin’s first statement not implicating Mr. Brayboy at all, to ultimately pinning Mr. Brayboy as the principal.”

The motion claims Detective Childs had “a common scheme of misconduct that involves multiple interviews and recording the final, false statement in her own writing. The same steps were taken in this case.”

It concludes, “Gary Brayboy respectfully requests that this Court grant the motion for relief from judgment, vacate his judgment of conviction, and order a new trial.”*

Related:

Ring of Snitches: How Detroit Police Slapped False Murder Convictions on Young Black Men (truthout.org)

Innocent Blacks Seven Times More Likely To Be Wrongfully Convicted Of Murder Than Innocent Whites – The Seattle Medium

LARRY SMITH FREED, JOINING OTHERS FRAMED BY DETROIT POLICE, PROSECUTORS USING ‘RING OF SNITCHES’ | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

WRONGFULLY CONVICTED AND UNLAWFULLY IMPRISONED: MICHIGAN RANKS 2D IN U.S. WITH EXONERATIONS | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

RAMON WARD, FAMILY CELEBRATE RELEASE AFTER 27 YRS. ON FALSE CONVICTION; WHEN WILL 100’S MORE BE FREED? | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

 VOD’s staff lives either on limited fixed incomes or is incarcerated. We are not paid; we publish the newspaper pro bono. Help keep us afloat by chipping in so stories on this Prison Nation and Police State, and related matters, keep coming! Any amount is appreciated.

      DONATE TO VOD

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(Contact editor for details on other ways to send funds, at 313-825-6126 or diane_bukowski@hotmail.com.)

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Above: families who say their loved ones were wrongly convicted rallied outside the Frank Murphy Hall in Detroit June 4; Darrell Ewing and Derrico Searcy’s brother Shawn Searcy of “Operation Liberation” organized rally.

Judge says “Brady” ruling does not apply in Ewing-Searcy case, upholding prosecutor, but she will entertain further motions, next hearing March 9

Defense atty. Blase Kearney: “The court’s denial of the ability to have an evidentiary hearing is tantamount to adopting the prosecutor’s factual representation—a finding of fact.”

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By Diane Bukowski

January 18, 2022 

Judge Darnella Williams- Claybourne

DETROIT—During a Jan. 10 pre-trial hearing on the cases of Darrell Ewing and Derrico Searcy, Wayne Co. 3^rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Darnella Williams-Claybourne denied two defense motions to dismiss and/or compel further evidence disclosure under Brady v. Maryland. That is a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which mandates that prosecutors and law enforcement officials promptly provide all exculpatory evidence, favorable to the defense.

In the motions, defense attorneys Lillian Diallo and Blasé Kearney contended that the prosecution concealed Tyree Washington’s Feb. 2017 Mirandized, videotaped confession to the 2009 murder of J.B. Watson, the crime for which Ewing and Searcy were convicted. That confession was given to the Michigan State Police and forwarded to the Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County Prosecutor.

As part of his motion, Kearney asked the Court to hold an investigative evidentiary hearing on the case, but the Judge also denied that request.

The Michigan Court of Appeals vacated the Ewing and Searcy convictions October 22, 2020, in the wake of previous rulings by multiple federal and state courts that the two Detroit men deserved a new trial, because jury members illegally engaged in gang-related research about Washington on the internet that led them to discount third-person testimony about his confession.

Top: Darrell Ewing (l) Derrico Saarcy (r) Bottom: Wayne County Pros. Kym Worthy

“I don’t see where Brady applies to post-conviction settings,” Judge Williams-Claybourne said, noting she had extensively researched applicable case law.  “Even if Brady does apply—from what I saw—I did not see where dismissal is the remedy.”

The Judge did grant a request from Ewing’s attorney Lillian Diallo to require the prosecution to provide all copies of the Detroit Police Department’s “progress notes” on the cases by January 19,  and left the way open for defense motions to reconsider her rulings. She set a date of March 9 at 1 p.m. for the next hearing.

Ewing has been studying the law and taking courses for a paralegal degree since his incarceration in 2010.

He continued, “God willing, on March 9th, when she gives her ruling, I hope the honorable Judge, who graciously gave us another shot, will use all of the power at her discretion to send a strong message to the Wayne County Prosecutor repudiating this travesty of justice: ‘enough is enough!'”

Ewing noted that Wayne County has the second highest number of wrongful convictions in the country, and asked, “How many more innocent men and women are they doing this to?”

Ewing and his family helped organize a rally June 4 outside of the Frank Murphy Hall attended by hundreds of others who say their loved ones have been wrongfully convicted.

During the hearing, Ewing spoke directly, citing two cases which he said showed there were rulings that Brady is applicable in similar situations. VOD’s review of one case, Tennison v. City and County of San Francisco, 2009, found it eerily similar to the circumstances of the Ewing-Searcy conviction.  In 1989, J.J. Tennison and Antoine Goff were convicted for the murder of a young man which the prosecution claimed was related to gang wars. The only witnesses who testified at trial to identify the defendants were two children, girls 11 and 14 years old. Another man afterwards confessed to the murder.

Courts thew out the convictions in proceedings after trial, citing Brady. Tennison later won a $4 million wrongful conviction settlement and was fully exonerated after the prosecutor filed for dismissal of the case.

They said the prosecution did not report a $2500 payment to the witnesses under a “secret witness” program,  and concealed the Mirandized confession of another man to the crime.

During the four-hour hearing, Judge Williams-Claybourne cited many cases that she said led her to believe that Brady does not apply in post-conviction proceedings, such as District Attorney’s Office for the 3rd Judicial District v. Osborne (U.S.2009). See link below story.

The defense countered that the ruling in Osbourne was basically that Brady was not the proper forum for the case, not that Brady was barred from all post-conviction proceedings.

She also cited a 2013 Court of Appeals opinion on the case, saying the courts already knew of Washington’s confession.

She quoted from the opinion in part, “Washington contended that the prosecutor in this matter indicated a lack of interest in having him testify at Ewing’s and Searcy’s trial ‘because they had who they wanted. Washington indicated a willingness to waive his ‘Fifth Amendment rights of self- incrimination’ and to “tak[e] full responsibility and consequences of my actions.'” See:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/People-v.-Searcy-Ewing-COA-2013.pdf

A review of that opinion shows that most of it related to the juror misconduct, deeming it harmless error. The entire opinion was overturned later, in opinions by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood and the Sixth Circuit Court, which cited the juror misconduct and ordered an evidentiary hearing on the case.

In 2019, Wayne 3rd Circuit Judge Michael Hathaway ordered a new trial for Ewing and Searcy. His ruling was strongly upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Asst. Prosecutor Kam Towns contended that dismissal of the case is not a proper remedy, and neither is an evidentiary hearing, in part because witnesses testified at the 2010 trial that they knew Washington was responsible for the murder of J.B. Watson.

Wayne Co. AP’s Kam Towns (l), Jon Wojtala (r).

“We provided all the exculpatory information to the defense,” she said, claiming that neither she nor AP Jon Wojtala knew of the 2017 confession by Washington to the State Police until they received the criminal case file from the Detroit police officer in charge in 2020.

“It is important to understand that the entire basis for appeal had to do with jury misconduct, Towns said. “There is nothing in case law that can support an evidentiary hearing. . . The remedy is a new trial, based on the rogue actions of jurors. Not the fact that the jury listened to alleged confession of Mr. Washington and still convicted him.”

According to trial transcripts reviewed by VOD, Washington himself did NOT testify at trial, which would have allowed the jury to hear from him directly and judge his demeanor. Despite claims in the affidavit presented by his attorney to Towns that he would testify, he took the Fifth Amendment and did not. He did provide a videotaped interview to Private Investigator Scott Lewis, six months after he gave his confession to the Michigan State Police.

Searcy’s attorney Blase Kearney said regarding his motion to compel, that the legal claims in addition to Brady also include a due process violation, [a U.S. constitutional issue], and Michigan Court Rules related to discovery and professional conduct.

Attys. Blase Kearney, Neighborhood Legal Defense (l), Lillian Diallo, Legal Warriors, PLLC (r).

“I think that the court’s denial of the ability to have an evidentiary hearing is tantamount to adopting the prosecutor’s factual representation—a finding of fact. . . The Officer in Charge (OIC) is not conducting any further investigation—that’s WRONG. . .the government has decided not to act to investigate further. That adds an element of nefariousness to the OIC. There are questions that have a constitutional character to them, including factual questions. That requires an evidentiary hearing.”

Judge Williams-Claybourne cited the original Brady ruling only, but did not refer to subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that expanded the scope of Brady, including Cone v. Bell (U.S. 2009): A prosecutor’s pre-trial obligations to disclose favorable or impeaching evidence “may arise more broadly under a prosecutor’s ethical or statutory obligations” than required by the Brady/Bagley post-conviction “materiality” standard of review.  A “prudent prosecutor [should] err on the side of transparency, resolving doubtful questions in favor of disclosure.” (Below)

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US SUPREME COURT Rulings on Brady violations 

Brady v. Maryland (U.S. 1963) held that a prosecutor under the 5th and 14th Amendments has a duty to disclose favorable (exculpatory) evidence to defendants upon request, if the evidence is “material” to either guilt or punishment. 

Giglio v. United States (U.S. 1972): Required reversal of conviction due to non-disclosure of immunity agreement given to prosecution witness; “evidence of any understanding or agreement as to a future prosecution would be relevant to [co-conspirator’s] credibility and the jury was entitled to know of it.” Said “impeachment” evidence on witnesses is to be treated as exculpatory evidence under Brady.

United States v. Agurs (U.S. 1976): Prosecutor has a due process duty to disclose evidence about a victim’s criminal record, with noted exceptions.

United States v. Bagley (U.S. 1985): A prosecutor’s duty to disclose material favorable evidence exists regardless of whether the defendant makes a specific request. “Favorable evidence” is “material” if there is a reasonable probability that disclosure of the evidence would have produced a different outcome at trial.

Kyles v. Whitley (U.S. 1995): Accused entitled to a new trial because the prosecution’s failed to comply with the due process obligation to disclose material evidence favorable to the accused. That evidence raised a reasonable probability that its disclosure would have produced a different result. Even if the prosecutor was not personally aware of the evidence, the State is not relieved of its duty to disclose because “the State” includes, in addition to the prosecutor, other lawyers and employees in his office and members of law enforcement. 

Strickler v. Greene (U.S. 1999): A Brady violation occurs when: (1) evidence is favorable to exculpation or impeachment; (2) the evidence is either willfully or inadvertently withheld by the prosecution; and (3) the withholding of the evidence is prejudicial to the defendant. 

Cone v. Bell (U.S. 2009): A prosecutor’s pre-trial obligations to disclose favorable or impeaching evidence “may arise more broadly under a prosecutor’s ethical or statutory obligations” than required by the Brady/Bagley post-conviction “materiality” standard of review.  A “prudent prosecutor [should] err on the side of transparency, resolving doubtful questions in favor of disclosure.” 

District Attorney’s Office for the 3rd Judicial District v. Osborne (U.S.2009): Prosecution’s duty to disclose applies only to evidence suppressed at trial, not evidence suppressed post-conviction. In this case, Plaintiff sought post-conviction release of DNA evidence through a civil lawsuit although he had not pursued the state’s established remedies for release. The USSC said Brady v. Maryland was not the proper format for Osborne to bring his complaint.

Smith v. Cain (U.S. 2012): Impeachment evidence must be disclosed when other evidence is not strong enough to support conviction. 

Wearry v. Cain (U.S. 2016): The prosecution’s failure to disclose material evidence violated the death row inmate’s due process rights because the newly revealed evidence sufficed to undermine confidence in the inmate’s conviction.  The only evidence directly tying the inmate to capital murder were two witnesses’ “dubious” and “suspect” testimony.

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Related:

The cases of Ewing and Searcy have been featured on various national wrongful conviction websites, including a series of six episodes in which legal criminal conviction experts have reviewed the Ewing-Searcy case and found it woefully wanting in evidence to convict.

Darrell Ewing | Actual Innocent Prisoners

Rico Searcy | Actual Innocent Prisoners

Undisclosed Podcast (undisclosed-podcast.com)

https://www.unjustandunsolved.com/post/episode-8-darrell-ewing

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Related documents:

U.S. SUPREME COUT RULING BRADY V. MARYLAND: at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Brady-v.-Maryland-__-373-U.S.-83-1963-__-Justia-US-Supreme-Court-Center.pdf

Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct: at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Rule-3.1-3.9-Advocate-Mich.-R.-Profl.-Cond.-3.1-3.9-_-Casetext-Search-Citator.pdf

District Attorney’s Office for Third Judicial District v. Osborne:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/08-6-District-Attorneys-Office-for-Third-Judicial-Dist.-v.-Osborne-06_18_09.pdf

Tennison v. City and County of San Francisco: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Tennison-v.-City-and-County-of-San-Francisco-570-F.3d-1078-–-CourtListener.com_.pdf

Michigan Court of Appeals ruling affirming order for new trial in Darrell Ewing, Derrico Searcy cases: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/2-Darrell-Ewing-COA-opinion-10-13-20.pdf

Transcript of Judge Michael Hathaway’s order for a new trial: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Darrell-Ewing-Derrico-Searcy-Remmer-Hearing-Transcripts.pdf

6th Circuit ruling on Michigan AG’s appeal of District Court ruling:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ewing-6th-CC-2-5-19-compressed.pdf

Judge Denise Page Hood’s opinion on remand from 6th Circuit Court: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Opinion-on-remand-Ewing_v_Woods__miedce-15-10523__0016.0.pdf

U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood’s order for new trial:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Darrell-Ewing-habeas-corpus-grant-1.pdf

 VOD’s staff lives either on limited fixed incomes or is incarcerated. We are not paid; we publish the newspaper pro bono. Help keep us afloat by chipping in so stories on this Prison Nation and Police State, and related matters, coming! Any amount is appreciated.

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