The City of Birmingham, Alabama in Jefferson County.
Jefferson County, Ala., took a big step toward resolving its historic bankruptcy case on Tuesday, saying it had reached an agreement to refinance most of the debt at the heart of its financial breakdown.
The refinancing would save the county hundreds of millions of dollars and position it to emerge from bankruptcy in a matter of months, according to people briefed on the negotiations. But the terms must still be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge, and the county must clear several other hurdles before it can emerge from bankruptcy. Lawyers for the county are scheduled to present details of the agreement in federal bankruptcy court in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Workers at Detroit’s sewage treatment plant struck in Sept. 2012 to make the bankers, not the workers, pay for Detroit debt crisis. DWSD debt results in part from predatory lending and swap deals.
The deal, according to the people briefed on the negotiations, covers about $2.4 billion of Jefferson County’s total $3.078 billion in sewer debt, which was issued to pay for significant repairs needed to bring the county into compliance with federal clean water laws.
The interest due on the sewer debt shot up during the financial turmoil of 2008, and the repayment schedules accelerated sharply, leaving the county unable to pay. The repairs went unfinished as well.
The county also had other debt outstanding when it declared bankruptcy, for a total of $4.2 billion, making it the biggest municipal bankruptcy in United States history.
Governmental bankruptcies are rare and usually involve small single-purpose authorities and districts, not large, complicated counties with a lot of debt. Experts in public finance have been watching Jefferson County closely to see what kind of legal precedent it will set. Some were concerned that the successful application of Chapter 9 bankruptcy rules to municipal debt could cast a pall over the municipal bond market.
Residents of the county, for their part, have worried that they would bear the brunt of the bankruptcy, through lower property values or higher taxes or rates paid for county services.
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
The refinancing agreement covers debt held by creditors that include JPMorgan Chase, which holds about $1.22 billion of the sewer debt, the biggest block; three bond insurers; and seven hedge funds, according to a term sheet circulated in a meeting of the county commission on Tuesday.
The terms call for these creditors to receive about $1.84 billion for the $2.4 billion of debt they now hold. The concessions were weighted most heavily toward JPMorgan, the term sheet said, “to increase the recovery of other sewer creditors.”
The bank is giving up $842 million, or about 70 percent, of the face value of its debt, according to people briefed on the negotiations. Just before declaring bankruptcy in 2011, the county abruptly rejected a previous package of concessions that called for JPMorgan to give up about $750 million.
Joe O’Keefe of Fitch Ratings and Stephen Murphy of Standard and Poor’s pushed predatory $1.5 billion POC debt to UBS AG and SBS Financial on Detroit in 2005. Then Detroit CFO Sean Werdlow (l) was hired by SBS shortly thereafter. Then Deputy Mayor Anhony Adams is seen at right. Why hasn’t the City of Detroit sued UBS AG and SBS for THIS fraudulent deal?
JPMorgan was widely expected to make big concessions as part of any bankruptcy settlement, because some former officials of the bank were found to have been involved in improprieties in connection with a county debt refinancing in 2002 and 2003. That refinancing involved a complex package of variable-rate bonds and derivatives called interest-rate swaps.
AFSCME Local 207 DWSD workers picketed against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over privatization there. Kilpatrick is now in prison in a bribery case related to the Synagro sewage sludge deal, but Synagro’s exec is out after serving only 11 months. No other corporate or banking execs involved were ever jailed.
A lawsuit by the county against JPMorgan over the improprieties, still active in state court, would be resolved as part of the proposed agreement. In 2009, JPMorgan agreed to forgive all the termination fees the county owed on the swaps, or about $647 million, to settle a complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bank also paid the county $75 million under the same settlement.
Despite those concessions, residents of Jefferson County have still often complained that they were treated inequitably because several of their elected officials went to prison as a result of the refinancing, while no one from the bank was convicted of a crime. They have railed in particular against the possibility that their sewer rates would go up to allow the county to pay sewer debt that many now see as illegitimate.
On Wednesday, the federal bankruptcy judge, Thomas B. Bennett, is also scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit arguing that much of the debt was issued in violation of the state Constitution and should be voided, not restructured or repaid.
Birmingham residents demand no increase in sewer rates as part of bankruptcy deal.
In addition, the Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee for small creditors, has asked Judge Bennett for a full independent review of the sewer system’s finances, as well as what it has called “poor planning, gross incompetence, waste, graft, corruption or fraud in connection with the construction, repair or rehabilitation” of the sewer system since 1997.
The term sheet indicated that the sewer fees for county residents would indeed rise, by 7.41 percent a year for the first four years of the refinancing deal. After that, they could rise by as much as 3.49 percent a year, depending on variables like inflation and new federal clean-water regulations.
Still, members of the county commission said the new agreement was significantly better than what they could have won without the bankruptcy filing. The five-member commission approved the terms in a 4-to-1 vote.
If the refinancing goes forward, the county’s public creditors on the sewer debt will be offered a choice: either 80 cents for every dollar of sewer debt they now hold, if they relinquish all other claims, or 65 cents on the dollar with the right to pursue their own claims, either against the county or its bond insurers.
As the nation’s strongest bank, JPMorgan Chase used to be known for carrying special sway with regulators. Now it increasingly finds itself in the cross hairs of federal authorities.
New York magazine cover: Bernie Madoff, Monster, and the People Who Enabled Him.
At least two board members are worried about the mounting problems, and some top executives fear that the bank’s relationships in Washington have frayed as JPMorgan becomes a focus of federal investigations.
In a previously undisclosed case, prosecutors are examining whether JPMorgan failed to fully alert authorities to suspicions about Bernard L. Madoff, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter. And nearly a year after reporting a multibillion-dollar trading loss, JPMorgan is facing a criminal inquiry over whether it lied to investors and regulators about the risky wagers, a case that could accelerate when the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other authorities interview top JPMorgan executives in coming weeks.
A recent misstep points to the growing friction between JPMorgan and regulators as well as to the concerns within the bank. JPMorgan misstated how the bank may have harmed more than 5,000 homeowners in foreclosure, according to several people briefed on the matter. The bank’s primary regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is expected to collect a cash payment from the bank to remedy the flawed review of loans, these people say.
The bank acknowledges its broad regulatory challenges. “We get it, and we are dealing aggressively with these issues,” said Joe Evangelisti, a JPMorgan spokesman.
Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (r) has a close relationship with the Obama administration.
The mortgage errors, while by themselves relatively minor, have heightened concerns within JPMorgan because they come on top of the other investigations. The increased scrutiny presents a challenge for the bank and its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who was widely praised for steering JPMorgan through the 2008 financial crisis, leaving it in far better shape than its rivals. Among some executives at the bank, the worry is that the unwanted attention will undercut Mr. Dimon’s authority in Washington.
“Jamie and other executives feel terrible that the bank’s self-inflicted mistakes have put regulators in an awkward position,” Mr. Evangelisti said. He added, “We are wholly to blame for our errors and are fully cooperating with all authorities to make things right.”
Mr. Dimon has already testified before Congress and apologized for the trading losses. In response to last year’s trading blowup, the bank has also worked to root out the problems, shuffled its top executives, bolstered its risk controls and brought in a new head of compliance.
JPMORGAN CHASE PROFITS BEAT THE S&P 500 in 2013
The bank’s board, which halved Mr. Dimon’s compensation in January, recently reiterated its support for him as both chairman and chief executive. JPMorgan, whose shares have soared in recent months, has recorded record profits for the last three years.
But as JPMorgan seeks to address its legal woes and restore its credibility in Washington, the bungled review of troubled mortgages could present a setback for the bank. The problems stem from January, when JPMorgan and other big banks agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement over foreclosure abuses. As part of the pact, the bank agreed to comb through each loan file to spot potential errors, a process that the regulators will use to help determine the size of the payouts to homeowners. Continue reading →
Presence of children, toys in front yard, disregarded
Day three: Aiyana’s grandmother Mertilla Jones expected to testify
June 4, 2013
By Diane Bukowski
Detroit SWAT team officers.
DETROIT – The first days of testimony in the trial of Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley for the killing of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, 7, three years ago, painted a chilling picture of the inhumane militarization of the Detroit Police Department for use in the poor, predominantly Black neighborhoods of the city.
According to testimony, the raid involved “Special Response Team” officers in full black “battle dress uniform” (BDU), including flak vests and helmets, bullet-proof shields in one hand and MP5 submachine guns in the other, entering the house after throwing an incendiary grenade through the front window. They had led a procession of police cars to the house in a “Bearcat” armored tank. Only seconds into the raid, Weekley shot Aiyana through the top of her head.
Aiyana’s father Charles Jones stands by blood-soaked couch where she died, under window shattered by grenade, the morning of her killing.
Aiyana’s mother Dominika Stanley and two officers testified that afterwards, police forced her, Aiyana’s father Charles Jones, and grandmother Mertilla Jones to sit on the blood-soaked couch where Aiyana had been killed, “for hours.”
“They sat me on the couch my baby was killed on,” Stanley said. “They didn’t allow me off the couch until they took me to the hospital. The doctors came and talked to me and told me my baby didn’t make it, three hours later.”
As Stanley testified, the pink and purple Hannah Montana blanket Aiyana had been sleeping under lay on the floor in front of the witness stand after she identified it.
At first weeping uncontrollably and covering her face, Stanley said she and Aiyana’s father Charles Jones, with their toddler sons, were sleeping in a back room when she heard loud noises, screaming, and Charles’ mother Mertilla Jones crying, “They killed Aiyana.”
Dominika Stanley on stand June 3, 2013.
“I walked out after Charles did,” Stanley testified. “I saw police. They had guns and flashlights all in my face. They didn’t say anything to me. I dropped to the floor.”
Other testimony identified the loud noises as the sound of a “flash-bang” grenade thrown through the window over which Aiyana and Mertilla were sleeping on the couch, and the discharge of an MP5 submachine gun fired by Weekley. During the audio portion of videotapes taken by A & E’s “First 48” TV crew, which were shown to the jury June 4, the grenade blast and two gunshots can be heard, followed shortly afterwards by what sounds like six more gunshots in rapid succession.
Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Depiction of MP5 paramilitary machine gun like that used by Weekley.
The technician also testified that he later returned to the house to leave a copy of the search warrant, which had not been done earlier.
During Stanley’s testimony, her father Jimmie Stanley, her uncle, and many others from her side of the family listened in sorrow, later expressing outrage at how she was treated during cross-examination.
Jones and Stanley family members rally on courthouse steps March 8, 2013.
Weekley’s attorney Steve Fishman grilled her about why she and her children had been staying at Mertilla Jones’ home on Lillibridge, where the SRT raid happened.
Fishman asked her if she knew Chauncey Owens, who lived in the upstairs flat with Aiyana’s aunt LaKrystal Sanders, if she was told Owens killed Je’Rean Blake, 17, on May 14, and if she knew he had a criminal record.
Robert Moran
“Would you have let your children stay there if you knew that?” Fishman asked, essentially blaming her for her child’s death.
He then grilled her about her earlier deposition in a civil suit brought by Charles Jones as personal representative of Aiyana, pointing out supposed discrepancies. Depositions of family members in the civil suit were taken by the City of Detroit before Prosecutor Moran intervened, preventing the depositions of officers involved and blocking any further progress on the suit.
After the May 3 hearing, in the hallway, Stanley’s uncle cried out furiously, “Why did any of that matter? They killed her baby!”
The family reported that Moran did not go over their pending testimony with them until one and a half weeks prior to the beginning of the trial May 28. They said they had not spoken with anyone from the prosecutor’s office during the years since Aiyana’s death. Several months ago, family members went to the office to ask to speak with Moran, and were promptly thrown out of the building by police.
Chauncey Owens
Family members said no victim’s advocate has ever been assigned to them, although many clearly still need grief counseling.
Both Moran and Fishman, in their opening statements and later during testimony, focused extensively on the killing of Je’Rean Blake, as if Chauncey Owens had already been convicted. He is, however, still awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges in the case.
Both depicted him as a vicious adult murderer with a criminal background who shot an innocent teen-ager to death just for looking at him. They showed a photo of Blake, a student at Southeastern High School, in his ROTC uniform. Fishman said he and his friends had gone to the Motor City Marketplace liquor store at St. Jean and Mack after school to get “candy and ice cream.”
According to previous court records, however, independent witnesses said a large crowd of about 40 young people was in the parking lot of the store that day. Others from the neighborhood have said that the teens had a habit of challenging older men entering the store. One acquaintance of Blake’s told VOD that he belonged to a gang, although she said that did not justify anyone’s death.
Joseph Weekley on Detroit SWAT website.
In his opening statement, Moran said Weekley was solely responsible for Aiyana’s killing, but stressed that it was not deliberate. He said SRT officers are extensively trained in raid tactics, including “trigger discipline,” and that Weekley’s gun could not have fired unless he pulled its trigger, which is specially fashioned to require a strong pull.
He did not give any motive for Weekley’s firing the gun, leaving the floor open for Fishman to contend that Weekley should have been charged with first-degree murder if he deliberately pulled the trigger. Fishman contended that Mertilla Jones knocked into Weekley’s gun, and that she has given several different versions of how he killed Aiyana, essentially blaming her for Aiyana’s death.
“Officer Joe Weekley did not walk into that house and shoot Aiyana Stanley-Jones without somebody doing something to that gun,” Fishman said. He said Weekley had just left his own six and eight-year-old daughters prior to engaging in the after midnight raid.‘
Mertilla Jones with photo of Aiyana.
Mertilla Jones is expected to testify June 5, and is likely to face a grueling cross-examination from Fishman. She has been in poor health, and is grieving for the loss of two of her sisters since Aiyana’s death. She has also been suffering what is likely post-traumatic stress syndrome after watching her grandchild shot to death in front of her eyes.
Detroit Police Homicide Sergeants LaTonya Brooks and Robert LaLone testified in detail June 4 about the military operation, which took place only one and a half days after Blake’s death, following a hurried and apparently faulty investigation. Their testimony was supplemented by portions of the videotape shot by A & E’s “First 48” crew, which was shadowing the squads with the permission of “higher-ups” in the department, according to Brooks.
The “First 48” had a Detroit crew which specifically targeted situations where homicide suspects are detained in the first 48 hours after the crime. Officer Weekley and other members of what was originally called “Detroit SWAT” are featured as stars on A&E’s website.
Toys in the front of the porch are also seen in evidence photos shown to jury at trial, but Moran did not point out the toys. Blood stains on the porch and sidewalk were pointed out by an evidence technician in separate testimony. They resulted from SRT officers rushing Aiyana out of the house before her family could see and hold her as she died. Photo taken May 16, 2010 by Diane Bukowski.
A prime topic of discussion during the testimony and during portions of the videotape was whether any children were present in the house.
Brooks already knew Mertilla Jones’ family, having been the officer in charge of the earlier prosecution of Jones’ son Norbert Jones, and likely knew that many children were part of the large extended Jones family. Jones has eight children, and 22 grandchildren, many of whom frequently visit her at her house.
Brooks was asked, and discussion was held during a videotaped briefing just before the raid, about the presence of children. Brooks denied seeing any during a brief drive-by.
JoAnn Robinson and her grandson Mark Robinson the morning of Aiyana’s killing. Mark said he told the raid team children were in the house. JoAnn was in the house at the time of the raid, and died a year later partly out of grief.
However, she testified that when homicide and SRT arrived at the house for the raid, she was assigned to take charge of Mark Robinson, a grandson of Mertilla’s sister JoAnn Robinson.
An officer had thrown him to the ground while he was returning to the house from walking his dogs. Robinson said at a press conference held by Attorney Geoffrey Fieger shortly after Aiyana’s death that he told the officers there were children in the house.
When officers came out of the house with Aiyana in their arms, Brooks said Robinon told her, “They shot Aiyana.” She told him that had not happened. She also said that a family member, who VOD has found was Aiyana’s aunt, LaKrystal Sanders, came out and tapped her on the shoulder because she knew her from her brother Norbert Jones’ case. Sanders asked if Aiyana was alright.
Brooks said she later discovered Aiyana had been killed, but could not remember who told her.
SRT member Tim “Malibu”:Dollinger/ photo from A&E website.
During Lalone’s testimony, other portions of the videotape were played including parts of the briefing. An officer, likely SRT member Timothy Dollinger according to testimony, is asked whether there are any kids in the house. He fails to say yes or no.
“We don’t know,” he said. “Our people went out there earlier. There was just a mess of people out there. That’s a pretty hot neighborhood.”
Photos of the house taken during surveillance and shown to the jury showed a tricyle and other toys to the side of the front porch, but neither the prosecution nor the defense pointed out the toys during their exams of the witnesses. The toys were still there later that morning when this reporter went to the scene to interview the family.
Bearcat style armored vehicle like that used by SRT team in Jones raid.
References are also heard on the videotapes to “baby’s daddy,” and other derogatory, racially-loaded terms about the family and neighborhood during the briefing.
One officer says they have no arrest warrant yet for Owens, but plan to get it once he is “in custody.” Another says a source says Owens has an AK-47, that the house is owned by the city due to non-payment of taxes (the house was rented), and that it “looks like narcotic activity” is taking place there.
The officers joke that Owens was supposed to be going to the Motown “Hoedown” that evening, but apparently “ixnayed” that plan. They say he has an “extensive” criminal history, including violent assaults.
Officer with shield in one hand and submachine gun in the other, as testimony showed Weekley entered the house.
“He had b and e’s (breaking and entering), and contacts with narcotics,” says one officer. There is a reference to “crack.”
According to court records, charges of assault with intent to kill and operating a chop shop against Owens were dismissed earlier, while other charges from 1998, 2003 and 2005 involve motor vehicle violations for which the defendant received sentences of probation. Owens never served time in the state prison system, as one officer implied, and has no drug charges or b and e’s on his record according to the Third Judicial Circuit Court website.
SRT officer Raymond Trammell testified that while assigned to direct surveillance of the home, he saw Owens and another man exit the premises and walk a half-block distance to E. Canfield. He said Owens, who was walking in the street, passed directly by his car. He said he did not arrest Owens because he was “not comfortable” since Owens was a murder suspect, and that the job was assigned to another “take-down” unit.
Throughout the briefing, officers are heard saying “Fuck” this and that. Officer Brooks jokes that “I’ve got my heater in my car” and says “I know these folks.” Another officer says they’re conducting the raid at that hour because by 7 a.m., people like the Jones are “hung over and fucking sleeping.”
Aiyana’s grieving classmate Diamond Hardy, 7, shows photo as father grieves in front of shattered window Photo by Diane Bukowski
Brooks testified that it was the Homicide Division’s common practice to use SRT as their “enforcers” in executing search warrants. She said that after two witnesses identified Owens as the shooter in the Blake case, activities proceeded with lightning speed. A search warrant was signed by 36th District Court Judge Sidney Barthwell at his home shortly before the May 16 raid. She and other officers said the search warrant was for both the upper and lower flats at 4054 and 4056 Lillibridge, since Chauncey Owens had been seen coming out of both entrances.
According to the Brooks, a staging area was established at Wayne County Community College off I-94 and Conner, where both Homicide and SRT members were briefed.
On the videotapes, officers are heard being told at 12:26:19 a.m. May 16 where the nearest hospital, St. John’s, is and how to get there. The raid takes place at 12:43 a.m.
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.
Aiyana Jones’ mother Dominika Jones (second from left,) with her uncle Dazmond Ellis (l), cousin Markewell Robinson, and aunt La’Kia Sanders gather outside family home May 29, 2013, the evening the trial against her killer, Officer Joseph Weekley, began.
Only one African-American on jury
Aiyana’s father jailed since Oct. 2011
May 30, 2013
Aiyana Jones/photo from her mother’s Facebook page.
DETROIT – More than three years after Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley shot seven-year-old Aiyana Jones to death as she lay sleeping, his trial on charges of manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm has begun, in front of a Wayne County Circuit Court jury with only one Black member.
“I am happy and relieved that the trial is finally starting,” Aiyana’s mother Dominika Jones said. “But I want Charles [Aiyana’s father] home.”
Weekley, a resident of the well-t0-do suburb of Grosse Pointe, has been free on personal bond since killing the little girl during a horrific military-style midnight raid on the family’s home in a poor east-side Detroit neighborhood, while cameras from A & E’s “First 48” rolled, on May 16, 2010.
The morning of Aiyana’s death, Charles Jones is comforted by his aunt JoAnn Robinson, now deceased, and her son Mark Robinson. Mark warned the raid team there were children in the house before they entered; toys were strewn on the front yard. Behind Mark’s head is window shattered by stun grenade; couch where Aiyana died is next to Charles.
But Charles Jones has been jailed on charges of first-degree murder since October, 2011. The charges, based primarily on a “jail-house snitch” third-party statement, were brought one and a half years after the killing of Je’Rean Blake, 17, on May 14, 2010.
“It’s just so wrong that it took so long,” Mertilla Jones, Aiyana’s grandmother, who was sleeping with Aiyana when Weekley shot her, said. “My family is not going to be whole until we are all re-united and can grieve for Aiyana together. I raised eight children, two daughters and six sons, and they never gave me a whole lot of trouble. When my sons got older, many became fathers and are taking care of their children.”
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran is handling the case against Weekley as well as the case against Charles Jones. He did not challenge the composition of the 13 member jury, which was seated May 30, although forty-two percent of Wayne County’s population is African-American.
APA Robert Moran.
P.O. Joseph Weekley
The remaining 12 jurors are white. One lives across the street from Weekley in well-to-do suburban Grosse Pointe. Many of the jurors said they have family or friends on police forces in Detroit and elsewhere.
During the May 30 hearing, Moran read off a list of witnesses, including 25 Detroit police officers and seven state troopers.
He named only seven civilian witnesses, including six family members, one of whom, Aiyana’s great-aunt Joann Robinson, has been deceased. There were, however, numerous other family members on the premises during the raid, as well as neighbors who saw it. He did not include as a witness Police Officer Kata-Ante Taylor, who ran Aiyana out of the house before her family members could hold her. Taylor killed 18-year-old Artrell Dickerson in 2008, shooting him in the back as he lay on the ground according to eyewitnesses. The city paid $1.5 million to settle the family’s lawsuit in the case.
Joseph Weekley’s attorney Steve Fishman said he is “proud” to represent him.
“Many witnesses are joint witnesses,” defense attorney Steve Fishman said. “They will likely be winnowed down.” He and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway several times expressed admiration for Moran’s handling of jury selection.
The jury voir dire was conducted by all three, with the attorneys largely using the opportunity to lay out their theory of the case. Moran stressed that Weekley is not charged with a deliberate act.
“He did not wake up in the morning and decide to go out and kill a seven-year-old child,” Moran said.
However, Denessa Westbrook and her family won a federal court settlement last year against Weekley and other members of the same Special Response Team that raided the Jones home, related to a similar raid in 2007.
Detroit SWAT team officers in 2006 photo op.
“Defendants entered the home and did not knock or announce their presence,” that suit alleged. “Immediately upon barging into the home, Defendants had their guns blazing and they began shooting. There were children and an infant present in the home. Without any justifiable reason whatsoever, Defendants shot the Plaintiffs’ two dogs, while a child was in the same room as the dog. Defendants wrongfully detained Plaintiffs for nearly an hour. Defendants had their guns pointed at Plaintiffs and the child and infant.”
Mertilla Jones earlier told VOD that police pointed guns at Charles Jones’ other children when they arrested him in 2011.
Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway.
Fishman asked jury members whether they believed that Officer Weekley should be held accountable for the circumstances of the raid, which he said was planned by Weekley’s superiors, who have not been charged.
Throughout Weekley’s numerous pre-trial proceedings, Moran, Fishman and Judge Gray Hathaway have appeared to collaborate.
With the assent of both attorneys, Hathaway repeatedly postponed a ruling on a defense motion to dismiss the case until what she termed the “companion case” involving Jones was tried. Charles Jones is still awaiting a ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court on whether the third-party “jail-house snitch” statement can be used against him at trial.
Hathaway finally ruled against the motion to dismiss on March 8 and set the jury trial date.
Wayne Co. Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Kenny.
Likewise, all three concurred in eliminating large parts of the physical evidence from the case.
On Oct. 29, the two attorneys told Judge Hathaway that transcripts of testimony by police officers, detectives and two family members would be the chief records presented at the trial. They agreed everything from the grand jury hearing held by Chief Judge Timothy Kenny should remain sealed.
“We didn’t provide photos, evidence technician reports and sketches, firearms reports and the autopsy report [to Judge Hathaway] because we felt they were not important to the theory of gross negligence,” Moran told the judge then.
Expert depiction of Aiyana’s killing based on second autopsy report.
During a press conference shortly after Aiyana’s death, Attorney Fieger said a second autopsy showed that she was shot through the top of the head, as she lay sleeping, from the direction of the doorway, not in the throat as the Wayne County Medical Examiner originally contended. The Medical Examiner later concurred with the second autopsy findings.
Detroit police contended after the shooting that it was accidental, that Weekley had already entered the room and was shoved by Mertilla Jones, causing his weapon to discharge.
Demo of flash-bang grenade.
Hathaway told the jury that they will be taken to view a demonstration of the use of the “flash-bang” grenade in controlled surroundings during the trial. Fishman has contended that the grenade further disoriented Weekley as he entered the home. Moran assented to the demonstration.
Opening statements and testimony in the trial, which is expected to last two to three weeks, will begin Monday, June 3 at 9:30 a.m. Supporters of Aiyana Jones and her family, including several who picketed outside the Frank Murphy Hall in downtown Detroit March 29, are asking people to pack the courtroom.
Protesters demand justice for Aiyana and her father Charles Jones during lunch break at trial May 29, 2013.
VOD: WHERE IS DETROITERS’ OUTRAGE TODAY, THREE YEARS AFTER WE DID NOT RISE UP AGAINST THE POLICE SLAUGHTER OF A 7-YEAR-OLD CHILD?
The misleaders and naysayers in Detroit, being used by the police and courts, have deliberately whipped up hostility against Aiyana Jones’ family on radio talk shows and elsewhere, although support for the family remains world-wide. The video below, by Kenny Snodgrass, recalls the outrage present several days after Aiyana’s death. At the beginning, Mertilla Jones is seen weeply loudly before becoming overcome and returning to the house. Charles and Dominika Jones are also seen embracing. Many of Aiyana’s large extended family participated in the candlelight vigil, but a woman who was not a relative said others were there and considered themselves part of the family as well. Imam Dawud Walid says he will ask U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the case. No federal investigation ever happened.
THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS OF BOB MARLEY’S PERFORMANCE OF “WAKE UP AND LIVE.” He calls out “RISE YE MIGHTY PEOPLE!” and admonishes, “Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy!” Our entire city is being taken from us now by the wealthy white power structure through their divide and conquer strategy.
Support the struggle for justice for Aiyana and Charles Jones and their family members. Pack the courtroom during the trial against killer cop Joseph Weekley!
From the Mayoral Campaign of Krystal A. Crittendon
March 28, 2013
While some candidates were up in Mackinac, rubbing elbows with the people who designed the current attack on Detroit residents’ fundamental right to vote, candidate for Mayor of Detroit, Krystal Crittendon is here in the D, reminding Detroit residents of the importance of the August 6th primary election.
In the video below, Atty. Crittendon explains why she feels running for mayor is important despite the Emergency Manager takeover by the state, which enables EM Kevyn Orr to overrule all branches of city government.
Mayoral candidate Tom Barrow and his supporters at earlier appeals court hearing on his challenge to the 2009 mayoral election which put Dave Bing (and eventually EM Keyvn Orr) in office.
Mayoral Candidate Wages Court Battle Seeking a “Legal, Not Political, Decision”
DETROIT (May 30) — Mayoral candidate Tom Barrow, in just minutes, will take the next step in his fight to remove opponent Mike Duggan from the August 6th primary election ballot by going directly to the Wayne County Circuit Court. Barrow filed suit this morning seeking a Mandamus order to force the Detroit Elections Commission to remove Mike Duggan’s name from the primary ballot.
“Last week all we got was a ‘political’ decision,” said Barrow, 64. “No one is above the law, so this week we are seeking a ‘legal’ decision based on a plain reading of our city’s Charter, the case law and legal precedents, not political trickery.”
Mayoral candidate Mike Duggan earlier celebrating his turnover of the DMC to the for-profit Vanguard Health System, 70 percent owned by a Wall Street hedge fund. Duggan bailed out as CEO of the remaining governance agency recently, before hundreds of lay-offs of DMC workers were announced. He also recently left the board of Gov. Rick Snyder’s Educational Achievement (Apartheid) Authority.
Barrow has asked for an emergency hearing on the residency issue and a declarative judgment to settle the plain language interpretation of the Detroit’s charter meaning of the words “at the time of filing” which means the moment an office seeker files documents to become a candidate (Barrow’s plain reading) or does it mean “by a filing deadline date which could be weeks later [May 14]”, which is the position of the Duggan campaign.
Barrow, joined by Citizens United Against Corrupt Government and led by community activist Robert Davis is challenging the 2-1 vote by the Detroit Election Commission. The city’s election board is comprised of the Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, City Council President Charles Pugh and the Interim Corporation Counsel Edward Keelean. Pugh was the only dissenting vote citing the “plain language of the City Charter”.
Detroit’s Corporation Counsel Edward Keelean, who took the place of Krystal Crittendon after she was fired due to her stance against Miller Canfield and other legal contracts.
Unlike the political opinion delivered by the Corporation Counsel and presented at the Detroit Election Commission last Thursday, containing no citations to Michigan law or legal precedents, Barrow’s court filing presents a detailed legal argument complete with multiple supporting Michigan case law and statutes.
Barrow’s original complaint, filed on May 14, 2013, cited Duggan’s deficiency as a candidate when he failed to fulfill the requirement that he be a registered voter in the city of Detroit for one full year “at the time of filing.” Duggan registered to vote on April 16, 2012 after moving from his home in Livonia, but filed his nominating petitions on April 2, 2013, some 14-days before he was eligible (his one year fell on April 16, 2013).
“This is wrong that there is no objective administrative appeal process which could have avoided any candidate having to spend their own dollars to go to court,” stated Barrow, an accountant ,”but the political elite counts on these barriers and fake polling to maintain their status quo power and influence, but I am committed to defeat that set-up and create a new paradigm for our city, which is what we all believed the new City Charter would do in plain English, not legalese, double-speak and coded political terms. Duggan is not above the law and we’ll ask the judge.”
According to the Third Judicial Circuit Court website, oral arguments on Barrow’s lawsuit are to be heard Tues. June 11 at 2 p.m. in front of Judge Lita Popke.
Rev. Edward Pinkney speaks to rally against EM and Whirlpool takeover of Benton Harbor, during protest against the PGA tournament May 26, 2012.
Every American ought to have the right to vote and their vote should mean something. Everyone ought to have the right to clean air and clean water, to integrity and transparency in a democracy, but the citizens of Benton Harbor, Michigan, do not have a democracy. Public land is about to be stolen by corporate power.
Eminent domain—the power to take private property—is often used by the government or by a corporation that works hand and hand with the government to steal property from the citizens. In Benton Harbor, the Whirlpool Corporation, through the city’s new Emergency Financial Manager, Tony Saunders, (who represents Whirlpool, not the citizens) has come up with a scheme. It is to set up a Conservancy Board or Committee that will steal land without the knowledge of the citizens.
Riverview Park, Benton Harbor
They plan to privatize all of Benton Harbor’s 16 parks and outsource all remaining land that Whirlpool does not control. The main parks they want have waterway access. Fisherman Park has a roadway straight to Lake Michigan. Hall Park lies along Ox Creek. Riverview Park is on the corridor along the St. Joseph River. This is simply a land grab. Whirlpool can’t buy the parks outright, so they are setting things up where everything goes through a board that they control. The Conservancy board would be the new owners of the parks. The Conservancy board doesn’t have to go through the City Commissioners. This is an underhanded way to get the rest of the land. The citizen’s will not have a say.
Youth march by Whirlpool office during May 26, 2012 protest against PGA.
There are many questions that need to be answered: How many parks are recognized in the city of Benton Harbor? Where are the parcels located? What parks would be under the jurisdiction of the Conservancy? Will Jean Klock Park, beach and Fishman’s Park be included? How many acres of land do the parks equal? Will all of the parks’ land be under a lease and for how long? The Board must be a 501C3 but it is not. Why? The City Charter requires 2/3 or six votes to sell, lease or vacate roads or alleys. When will this process be introduced or implemented? Will there be a deed transfer? If so who will sign for the land to be released?
Mr. Tony Saunders: Are the city parks considered assets? Is there a budget for the Conservancy? Are their jobs associated with this initiative? If so, how many? Will the specifications go through the Planning Commission or the Planning Economic Development Committee? How will the park Conservancy board, which is made up of all Whirlpool supporters and Benton Harbor haters, comply with the charter, as it relates to the Benton Harbor elected officials and the citizens?
It is exceedingly important that this initiative be vetted and filtered through the Public Safety and Parks and Recreation Committee so that the people will have a say. Right now the people do not have a say. It is time for the people to take a stand. Get involved. Save your community from complete corporate takeover.
Pat Meyer, retired postal worker and union representative, is now working to help UAW members.
Recently AXS-TV broadcasted a show dealing with American workers who have been displaced by foreign workers in this country. The issue we are dealing with is the “temporary” workers of the ACH (Automotive Component Holdings) Corporation who helped Ford Motor Company to make such a miraculous recovery at the expense of their pay and benefits. Unlike the workers in their piece being from foreign countries, it was the corporation which was brought in from another country to lower wages and benefits. The Ford Motor Company seems to have benefitted greatly by “leasing the business” to another company while maintaining control of property, equipment, process, and workers.
These so called “temp” workers have in fact been working in Ford facilities for seven years, many putting in 10 and 12 hour days, six and seven days a week. Of course being a temporary qualifies them to no insurance, half price pay, and no written contract covering them until the September 2011 contract. They have been dues-paying union members the entire time with no representation or contract of their own. Even the barest essential of bereavement pay has been refused to them under the name of helping Ford survive. All along these temporaries have been promised to have preferential hiring rights to Ford, after the new buyer gives consent to releasing them. It seems these temporary employees had been “sold” along with the business to guarantee the new owner could take over with a skilled workforce that would insure the new company could maintain the productivity and quality of Ford standards.
ROBERT CHASE, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS Workers at the Milan Automotive Components Holdings LLC plant in Milan take “mules” off the line where bumper covers are made. The mules hold the covers in place as they go through painting and sealing. Buyouts are expected to trim even more auto manufacturing jobs in Washtenaw County in 2007.
Debi Muncy, a Ford worker, has been proud to pay union dues for almost 30 years. She has given of her family time and financial donations to help support many activities that were and still are of importance to raising standards for working people. She feels that the temporary workers have been treated like second class union workers. She has not paid union dues to support this kind of treatment. Debi is ashamed to see that both Ford corporate execs and union “exec” leadership have prospered in pay rates and bonuses while standing on the back of these workers. At some point the union has stopped representing workers and become the employment agents for this corporation. Any objections to this is met with intimidation by both union and company officials.
As we approach the holidays that say how great America is I’m saddened to know how devalued the American workers have become. Debi states, “I love this country and I loved my union, but until it lives up to its guiding words I feel that all workers have been sold out.”
American workers’ lives are better for having had good paying jobs and benefits, but we must recognize that our workers have worked hard to achieve these goals. Do companies stay great because of their plan of operation alone, or do they become great because of the operation plan along with the hard working people who get up every day and come to work and do a good job? How much profit can a corporation make when it decides it doesn’t need to pay their own workers enough to be able to afford the product they make?
Rob Starks, left, and Dave Breitenwischer discuss the situation of the ACH plant in Saline remaining open after they transferred to other plants.
We feel our country needs to know at what price some of our corporations have prospered. We at the LAWS, INC. have been attempting to find some kind of justice for these workers and have been reminded that many things are wrong even though they are not considered illegal. We feel that it certainly should be illegal to profit from workers’ loss.
I would encourage you to contact viewer@axs.tv immediately and let Dan Rather and his associates know what is happening to you and your fellow workers. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me at kimshee97@att.net or at 269-998-4609.
MILAN WORKERS of A C H
This is written to clearly show how the Milan membership was set aside from any offers presented to other locations. International UAW officials attended meetings here to explain to the membership what their choices would be upon the sale of the Milan location. They were told by rep Jody Dunn that there was no offer of employment to Ford locations. If they wanted to continue to be employed they could choose to sign up with the INERGY AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS. If this was not acceptable, they could be terminated. No offer of work at other ACH locations, still operating at this time. It was not until other ACH plants reached sale agreements that these workers realized that they had been excluded from offers made to other locations. Pay and benefits were affected for these dues-paying members of the UAW.
