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Demonstration in support of California prisoners' hunger strike

From the Black List Pub

Posted by SendMeYourNews on August 22, 2011 at 1:28am

On Wednesday, August 17th, a dozen or so reporters were given unprecedented access to the Secure Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay. Given that there was a near media blackout by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation while the prisoners were actively on hunger strike, this is a testimony to the pressure that’s being placed on CDCR. The tour, coming in advance of the legislative hearing in Sacramento on August 23rd, was also a chance for CDCR to do some damage control in terms of its image.

Links to some articles, audio and images generated by the tour are listed below. 

http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/08/18/28304/inside-pelican-bay-state-…

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/08/18/officials-prison-isolation…

To read first hand information from prisoners about what it’s like to be housed in the SHU, and other writings from the inside go to:

http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/voices-from-ins…

Inside Pelican Bay/ Photo by Julie Small

Prison Officials Say Conditions Will Improve, Inmates Ready to Strike Again

Letter from prison strike leader included

August 18, 2011, 3:07 pm • Posted by KQED News Staff 

By Michael Montgomery

[original blog post available at CaliforniaWatch.org] 

State corrections officials are moving forward with a major policy initiative that could improve conditions and reduce the length of time some inmates spend in controversial isolation units. The changes are being proposed amid threats of another hunger strike by inmates who spearheaded one last month at Pelican Bay State Prison. 

Cell block in Pelican Bay "Secure Housing Unit"/Photo by Michael Montgomery KQED

The policy changes, which still are being worked out, are in line with proposals highlighted in an internal study completed in 2007 by a panel of experts appointed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to interviews and documents. The panel’s recommendations included: 

• Moving to a conduct-based model that punishes inmates for tangible offenses, rather than for mere affiliation with a gang. This approach is widely used in other states and by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
• Ending the practice of indefinite detention of alleged prison gang members and associates in the Security Housing Units
• Ending the practice of automatically sending validated prison gang members and associates to the Security Housing Units
• Creating a “step-down” program inside the Security Housing Units to encourage positive behavior by offering incentives, such as special programs
• Ending the distinction between prison gangs and other threat groups to give the department more flexibility in determining inmate placement in the Security Housing Units

Corrections Undersecretary Scott Kernan said the department is doing more than conducting another assessment of current policy. 

A designated exercise area in the Security Housing Unit (SHU). Inmates in the SHU are only permitted to leave their cells to shower and to exercise in designated areas. Photo: Michael Montgomery/KQED

“I’m not talking about another study,” he said. “I’m talking about making some changes that make the process much more in tune and in line with national best practices. And that’s what the secretary is going to do.” 

Kernan conceded there are “holes” in the department’s policies for gang management and its use of the Security Housing Units. He also said the state was wrong to deny some personal items to inmates housed in the special facilities.

“I think it’s a sign of strength that the department looked at that (Security Housing Unit policy) and was able to admit their mistakes and that we’re moving forward,” he said. 

The policy overhaul could include substantive changes in gang validation criteria and the practice known as debriefing, which requires inmates to divulge gang secrets in order to return to a regular prison cell. 

“We need to come up with a justifiable due-process validation process and debriefing process that makes sense and that’s consistent with the rest of the nation,” Kernan said. 

Prison experts say California’s current policy is outdated, inefficient, legally vulnerable and often targets gang associates who do not pose a major security risk while leaving more dangerous inmates housed in the general prison population. 

Inmate rights groups say the policies are inhumane, leaving some inmates languishing in isolation for decades. The American Civil Liberties Union and others have called on California to adopt practices used in other states, where inmates are locked in isolation only if they commit serious, tangible offenses and for fixed terms. 

Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit has emergency entrance points that allow guards quick entry into the units. The entry points are often mistaken for inmate exercise yards. Photo: Michael Montgomery/KQED

Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit has emergency entrance points that allow guards quick entry into the units. The entry points are often mistaken for inmate exercise yards. Photo: Michael Montgomery/KQED

Kernan emphasized the changes are not a response to last month’s hunger strike and are aimed at improving security for inmates and staff. He said the department is taking a cautious approach and is not considering a mass release of inmates from the Security Housing Units into the general prison population. 

“Any (policy) modification could very well result in serious spikes in violence in the system,” he said. “So we have to do this right.” 

Kernan also said the changes would depend on the governor’s realignment plan being successfully implemented and would need buy-in from the Legislature, unions and other stakeholders. 

Inmates and advocates said that during the hunger strike, Kernan spoke of major policy changes, but in a July 20 memo, he states only that the department was “reviewing” gang validation and debriefing policies. Department sources said the memo was intended to focus on “minor changes that did not require stakeholder review.” 

Kernan is expected to testify Tuesday before the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee. The hearing was called in response to the inmate hunger strike. 

During a media tour at Pelican Bay yesterday, acting Warden Greg Lewis declined to go into detail about the new policy and said any changes would move slowly.

“Change is like an aircraft carrier. It takes many miles to turn an aircraft carrier,” he said. “It (the plan) is going to be thoroughly vetted, thoroughly reviewed. And I foresee some change. I really do.” 

The hunger strike started with prisoners in the D section of the Security Housing Unit. Photo: Michael Montgomery/KQED

Kernan is scheduled to meet strike leaders at Pelican Bay tomorrow, with Donald Specter, head of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office. Kernan said he will inform inmates about the department’s long-term goals and will emphasize that it could take months to develop a detailed new policy for the Security Housing Units.

 But within weeks, a new system could be in place to allow inmates in the Security Housing Units to earn privileges, such as phone calls to family members, craft items and exercise equipment, he said. 

However, it remains unclear whether inmates will be swayed by the department’s new initiative. Pelican Bay inmate and hunger strike leader George Franco wrote a letter warning of new protests if corrections officials don’t move swiftly on changes. 

“We’re only waiting to see if he (Kernan) will keep his word. If not, we will re-enact our hunger strike indefinitely and there is nothing they can say to any of us, period,” Franco wrote.

Franco’s entire letter, and accompanying documents, are included and transcribed below.

KQED has not verified facts in the letter, and note that CDCR Undersecretary’s name is Scott Kernan. (VOD ed.: “Cate/Kernan” refers to Matthew Cate, Secretary of California Dept. of Corrections.) 

Here is a transcription of Mr. Franco’s letter (VOD: click on Pelican Bay prisoner letter to read letter with all attachments. Also click on Statement from Pelican Bay Prisoners’ Collective for earlier letter dated July 22 that summarizes history of strike.)

Mr. Montgomery,

I am in receipt of your postcard on ___
In a few words: he promised the whole five core demands.

I thank you for taking the time out to write to me and it will be my pleasure to answer all your questions, because what we need out there more than anything is the truth. 

Meeting 1: on 7-14-2011 we had our first negotiation with the CDCR secretary Scott Kerhan, it was me and three other negotiators. I personally represented the Mexican (Northern District – optional). Mr. Scott Kernan was very demanding and disrespectful towards us therefore, the negotiators went “no where” we explained to our mediation team what occurred and what to do as a result of this meeting.  Continue reading →

2010 Detroit Special olympics from Tell Us Detroit TV on Vimeo. 

FROM CHRISTAL BONNER

 To concerned citizens, community leaders and parents:

I recently learned that Felicia Baker, director of special education in DPS, is terminating support of the Special Olympics program in DPS.  This would mean hundreds of special needs students would no longer experience the joy of victory, the feel of success, and the confidence gained from competing.  

DPS teacher Christal Bonner

Furthermore, for many students it would signal the end to necessary physical education.  Special Olympics is the only way numerous students get physical exercise.  Moreover, ending Special Olympics in DPS will be a violation of the IDEA Act.  Ms. Baker has yet to inform parents of her intentions to cancel Special Olympics in DPS, or what she plans on doing with $95,000 already allocated by DPS for Special Olympics. 

 I’m a teacher who has been part of the Special Olympics program at Finney High School last school year.  Although, I’m no longer assigned to Finney, I plan to still be involved in Special Olympics at my new school.
 
We (special education teachers involved in Special Olympics) would appreciate any assistance you can give us in getting Special Olympics reinstated in DPS. 

 Please contact Beth, Area 26 coordinator of Special Olympics at (313)505-5177 Christal Bonner (313)350-2393 or Talisha Hurks (313)433-4618  if you have any questions, comments, or, feedback, [or can help out with the campaign to save DPS Special Olympics!]

FROM HELEN MOORE:

Helen Moore at school board meeting April 19, 2010

I have been investigating all morning concerning the changes in special education.  I am trying to get the memo that states that over 3000 special ed. students have not been assigned.  I also need the memo from Roberts that no student is to change schools until after the fourth Friday count.  What a mess.  These students are guaranteed that the system will be prepared for their entrance to their school of choice on the first day of school.  We have a real mess getting ready to occur.  We need to stop it.  Special ed. parents need to send their IEP to Lansing to let them know that they are being illegally denied their rights.  Helen Moore

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

 Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith got it right and also terribly wrong on the James Craig Anderson case. He got it right when he forcefully and boldly minced no words and called the savage beating and killing of Anderson, an upstanding, middle-aged African-American, auto plant employee in Jackson, Mississippi, a racially motivated hate crime. 

Anderson was beaten and then run over by a pick-up truck. Smith said that he would vigorously press for a first degree murder conviction of 18-year-old Deryl Dedmon, Jr. for the crime.

Dedmon has been fingered as the instigator in the killing of Anderson. Dedmon allegedly inspired the beating and killing of Anderson and according to witnesses shouted out “white power” and other racial epithets before the murder. But Dedmon didn’t act alone. He had plenty of help from his white teen peers. 

A surveillance video tape captured them beating Anderson in the parking lot, and they were also in the pick-up truck with Dedmon when he floored it and ran over Anderson. This after a self-admitted night of drinking and carousing, and then in Dedmon’s words they agreed to “go f**k with some ni**ers.” 

This is what Smith got terribly wrong in the case of this brutal murder. He will prosecute only one member of the pack of Anderson’s alleged assailants [in addition to Dedmon]. The charge is simple assault. The others at least as of this writing have not been charged. 

Here’s two what ifs in this case. If Anderson had been white and he had been viciously beaten and murdered by a group of black teens who admitted afterward that their goal was to “f**k with some white people” would they have been sent home to their parents with no charges filed? 

Would the alleged ringleader in such an attack have been prosecuted for first degree murder without the District Attorney giving any hint that he would strongly consider asking for the death penalty if the assailant were convicted? 

This is Mississippi. The state has a long and shameful history of premeditated racial violence against African-Americans. During most of the state’s sordid past, sheriffs, district attorneys, and state officials not only turned a blind eye to the violence against blacks but more often than not egged it on, and in some cases even were directly complicit in committing murderous acts against blacks. 

Mississippi is also very much a death penalty state. And it has had absolutely no reservation in years past of slapping the death penalty on blacks that commit or are simply accused of committing a crime or violence against whites. Countless studies have shown that when blacks commit crimes against whites, they are far more likely to be convicted, serve longer sentences, and if the charge is murder, more likely than whites to get the death penalty. 

The case of Curtis Flowers, charged with the 1996 murder of four persons in Winona, Mississippi in 1996, is a near textbook example of that. Three of the victims were white. Flowers is black. Despite numerous court rulings that Flower’s trial was riddled with bias and errors, prosecutors retried him six times to get a murder conviction and death penalty sentence. 

It’s almost certain that Dedmon’s defense will twist and turn the evidence to present Dedmon as an immature, inebriated, irresponsible teen who in a moment of juvenile passion simply let his emotions run away with him. In other words, Anderson’s death was tragic, but this is hardly grounds to throw the legal book at him. Given the well-established propensity of all-or mostly white juries to give white defendants that commit acts of violence against blacks the full benefit of the legal doubt, there’s no guarantee that Dedmon won’t skip away with a hand slap sentence. 

Anderson’s family has comported themselves with monumental dignity in the face of the brutal and shocking murder. They have kept a low profile, banking that the legal system in their state will bring justice and closure to the case. But given Mississippi’s inexcusable failings in past racially motivated criminal cases, and the infuriating and insulting fact that the other alleged perpetrators of the murder of Anderson will not be charged, this may be a faint hope. 

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is host of the weekly Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour on KTYM Radio Los Angeles streamed on ktym.com podcast on blogtalkradio.com and internet TV broadcast on http://thehutchinsonreportnews.com . Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson.

Submitted by VOD reader Tyrone, and thanks to him for alerting VOD to this story. Video below, stories by CNN and others are after Tyrone’s statement.

James Craig Anderson

 JAMES CRAIG ANDERSON’S OLDER SISTER BRENDA ANDERSON YOUNG: “I have only one thing to tell the media. Go to Brandon, Mississippi and get those other five murderers who committed such a horrendous violent act against my beloved brother, James Craig Anderson!”

Jackson, Mississippi — On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of a white teenagers “Flash Mob” drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate and pure evil: to find and or hurt or kill a black person.

JAMES CRAIG ANDERSON, 49, WAS BEATEN, RUN OVER AND KILLED BY WHITE TEENS IN JACKSON MS JUNE 26, 2011

Authorities say a group of white teens targeted Anderson because he was black. The suspected ringleader, Deryl Dedmon, Jr., 18, has been charged with murder
Dedmon faces possible double life sentence for the murderIn a parking lot on the western side of town they found their black victim. A hard working American citizen that loved his country and his family!

James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, kicking him in his head and chest yelling racial epithets, including “White Power!” according to witnesses.

Daryl Dedmon, Jr., 18, now faces death penalty, but only one other teen has been charged with "simple assault"

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of 12 white teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly.

Killing the black man! Not just beating a black man killing him! To date the Mayor of Jackson has not attacked the parents or blamed them for not watching their children better! There was no going to church and criticizing all white teens! You didn’t hear the Mayor criticizing the dress or all white teens hateful tatoos! There was no telling them they were a disgrace to their race! No teen was told to pull up your pants!

No, only innocent black people are criticized for things they never participated in! I wonder will the Mayor of Jackson have a curfew that punishes all white teens? Will he start a Stop & Frisk program that will really just target white teens?

Still from hotel video shows truck at top center about to run Anderson down

Mississippi officials say it was a racially motivated murder. What the gang of teens did not know was that a surveillance camera was focused on the parking lot that night, and many of the events, including the actual murder of Anderson, were captured live on videotape. There is good reason that the DA sees this as a hate crime.

Shortly after he allegedly drove the truck over Anderson, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing, according to testimony given by some of the teens to detectives.”I ran that n—-r over,” Dedmon said in a phone conversation to the teens in the other car.

He repeated the racial language in subsequent conversations, according to the law enforcement officials.”He was not remorseful he was laughing, laughing about the killing,” said district attorney Smith.

So-called Philadelphia "Flash Mob," who killed no one, dominates national news

The white controlled national media said nothing about the crime. Now the Philly Flash Mob has been in the news for months! Fox News especially is running Mayor Nutter’s attack on black parents and all black teens!

VOD ed: to read story Tyrone refers to on Philadelphia Flash Mobs, click on http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0815/Philadelphia-flash-mobs-black-mayor-takes-aim-at-black-community/ 

Note that no one has been killed in what appear to be expressions of anger over oppression in Philadelphia. Mayor James Nutter, who is Black, has vilified Black youth as a whole, in a scenario very similar to the constant attacks on young Blacks in Detroit by politicians, pastors, and the media, portraying them all as criminals.

VIDEO SHOWS WHITE TEENS DRIVING OVER, KILLING BLACK MAN, SAYS DA 

By Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations Update Aug. 18, 2011 

Hinds County DA Robert Shuler Smith

Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) — The prosecutor investigating the hit-and-run killing of a black man in Jackson, Mississippi, announced he has upgraded the charge against suspect Deryl Dedmon from murder to capital murder. This makes the white 19-year-old suspect eligible for a possible death sentence if convicted. 

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith released a statement that said the upgrade to capital murder was made after new evidence was discovered that supported the allegation that Dedmon committed the crime of robbery during the commission of the killing of James Craig Anderson. 

“It does not change the theory of the case,” Shuler Smith told CNN. “It is still a hate crime.”

The killing — which sparked national attention after CNN obtained and aired exclusive surveillance videothat shows the attack as it took place — is also being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department, federal and Mississippi officials tell CNN. 

August 8, 2011 2:49 p.m. EDT

John Aaron Rice has been charged only with "simple assault;" no other members of Mississippi HATE MOB face charges

Jackson, Mississippi

 (CNN) — On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn  (VOD ed: June 26, to be precise, 69 days before this story aired), two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person. 

In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim. 

James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including “White Power!” according to witnesses. 

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of the teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly. 

Metro Inn where James C. Anderson was murdered is owned by the VIP Lodging Group, a/k/a Best Western; where was their security during this prolonged attack and why shouldn't Best Western be charged as well?

Mississippi officials say it was a racially motivated murder. What the gang of teens did not know was that a surveillance camera was focused on the parking lot that night, and many of the events, including the actual murder of Anderson, were captured live on videotape. 

CNN has exclusively obtained that surveillance tape. The group of teens that night was led by 18-year-old Deryl Dedmon, Jr., of Brandon, Mississippi, according to police and officials. 

“This was a crime of hate. Dedmon murdered this man because he was black,” said Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith. “The evidence will show that.” 

Brandon, MS, where hate mob of teens drove from, is located on Route 20 east of Jackson, MS

Asked if there could be any doubt whether the intent was to actually hurt and kill a black person, Smith responded: “No doubt about it. They were going out to look for a black victim to assault, and in this case, even kill.”

Dedmon led and instigated the attack from early in the evening, he took part in the beating of Anderson, and Dedmon was also the actual driver of the Ford 250 truck that would serve as the murder weapon, according to officials. 

Flag on Rankin County Mississippi court website: shouldn't the entire county government be charged for propagating racist hatred?

As the teens were partying and drinking miles away from Jackson that night, in largely white Rankin County, Dedmon told friends they should leave, saying “let’s go fuck with some n—-rs,” according to law enforcement officials. 

Then, the gang of teens climbed into Dedmon’s green truck and a white SUV Cherokee, and drove 16 miles down Interstate 20, to the western edge of Jackson, a predominantly black area.

The teens would have seen Anderson immediately as they exited the highway, as the parking lot where he was standing is just beside the exit ramp. 

“This is the first business that you get to coming off the highway and so that was the first person that was out here and vulnerable,” said district attorney Smith. 

On the videotape, obtained and reviewed by CNN, the group of teens is seen pulling into the parking lot, and stopping where Anderson is standing, though he is just off camera and not visible. 

The teens can then be seen going back and forth between their cars and Anderson. Witnesses told law enforcement officials this is when the repeated beatings of Anderson took place. 

Frederick Jermaine Carter, lynched in Greenwood, MS. last year; case remains unsolved

Dedmon pummeled Anderson repeatedly as he crumpled to the street, according to officials, though this is not visible in the videotape. Finally, after the beating some of the teens left and some got into the green truck. 

At this moment on the video, Anderson becomes visible, as he staggered into view and walked towards the headlights of the truck. The truck suddenly surges ahead, running over Anderson, then continuing at high speed away from the scene. 

Shortly after he allegedly drove the truck over Anderson, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing, according to testimony given by some of the teens to detectives.

 “I ran that n—-r over,” Dedmon allegedly said in a phone conversation to the teens in the other car. 

Mack Charles Parker, a resident of Poplarville, Mississippi, was jailed for allegedly raping a white woman. A white mob abducted Mr. Parker from his jail cell in April, 1959, beat him, took him to Louisiana and then shot him. Although Parker's abductors were well known and some admitted their complicity to FBI agents, the judge in the case, Sebe Dale – a white supremacist and member of the White Citizens' Council – encouraged the grand jury to return no indictments against the killers.

He repeated the racial language in subsequent conversations, according to the law enforcement officials. 

“He was not remorseful he was laughing, laughing about the killing,” said district attorney Smith. 

Later that morning, James Craig Anderson’s family learned their 49-year-old brother and son died in a hit and run. Only later, when witness statements were taken did they learn the real horror. 

“It appears there is no doubt that this was a racially motivated killing,” said Winston Thompson, the attorney representing Anderson’s family. “The family is still in shock still in disbelief.”

Smith and officials in the Hinds County District Attorney’s office say they plan to indict Dedmon for murder and a hate crime. 

1964 murder of civil rights workers in Nashoba County, MS: Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Shwerner, who were registering voters.

Deryl Dedmon is thin, weighing a mere 130 pounds, and short — at 5 feet; he has straggly blond hair and piercing blue eyes. 

The teen, just 18 years old, has been charged with murder and now faces a possible double life sentence. Calls to Deryl Dedmon’s attorney have gone unanswered. 

During a bond hearing his attorney told the court he saw nothing to back up the “racial allegations.” 

At Dedmon’s home, a girl who answered the door pretended not to know him though the pick-up truck he allegedly used as a murder weapon sticks out of the family’s garage. 

Police say they returned it after the vehicle was processed. A second teen, 18-year-old John Aaron Rice, has been charged with simple assault, for his part in the beating his attorney also did not return calls. 

Neither teen has entered a plea. 

The other teens in the group have not been charged. 

And James Craig Anderson’s family has decided to remain silent for now, trying to come to grips with a crime they thought was in Mississippi’s past: the murder of a man just because he was black. 

Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 10pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here.

March to Metro Inn in Jackson, MS on August 15, where James Craig Anderson was murdered by hate mob June 26

Hundreds Remember Mississippi Hate Crime Victim James Anderson 

by Jorge Rivas  Color Lines

More than 500 people marched in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday to call attention to the murder of 49-year-old African-American James Craig Anderson in what authorities say was a racially motivated hate crime. 

Starting at a nearby church, the march included clergymen, elected officials and supporters of all races who sang “We Shall Overcome” as they marched to the site of Anderson’s murder, the LA Times reported. 

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says seven teenagers left a party together with the intention of finding a black victim to assault. Upon exiting the highway Anderson was the first black man the group saw and they began to attack him in a motel parking lot. In the end, Deryl Dedmon, 18, allegedly ran over Anderson and is being charged with murder. 

“This was a crime of hate,” Smith told CNN last week. “Dedmon murdered this man because he was black.” 

The incident happened on June 26* but it didn’t make national headlines until last week when CNN acquired footage of the incident from motel security cameras that were in the parking lot. 

“We didn’t know the intensity of the crime, and it wasn’t until the release of the video that we really understood the depth of it,” Cassandra Welchlin, who attended the vigil told local news in Jackson. 

“There is a lot of general appall over what took place here,” Ronnie C. Crudup Sr., bishop of New Horizons Church near the motel told the LA Times. “We wanted to get well-minded people, both black and white, together to do something to support this family and this country. This is not indicative of where Mississippi is today.” 

Two 18-year-olds have been charged in the case. Deryl Dedmon, the alleged driver of the green pickup that is seen in the video running over Anderson is charged with murder and remains jailed; bond was set at $800,000. John A. Rice, who prosecutors say is also seen assaulting Anderson was originally charged with murder but now faces a charge of simple assault. He was freed on $5,000 bail. 

“If we don’t tell what is right to our children, someone else will tell their version of the truth,” Crudup said. “I challenge everyone to talk to somebody different every day for the rest of this month about this. We must not forget.”

Fox40 coverage of march by Kourtney Paige

Community members gathered Sunday afternoon for a Candlelight Prayer Vigil to honor the victim of the racially-charged Hit-and-Run.

The vigil was in honor of James Craig Anderson. Marchers walked from New Horizon Church-to the Metro Inn where they lit candles in Memory of Anderson.

Local businessman Kenneth Johnson, says Rice worked for him at a gas station and remembers him using racial slurs while workig there. He says, the teens should be punished.

Johnson says, “I think they need to be given the maximum amount of sentencing, I think that John Aaron Rice, I think his charges need to be upgraded from assault, I do think the other children, that was involved, that was in the truck when this happened need to be brought up on charges as well.”

Mayor Harvey Johnson released a statement about the vigil—saying the city’s prayers and support are with the Anderson family during this time. He says they want to make sure justice prevails in the case. Jackson Police have turned over their findings to the district attorney’s office.

Mertilla Jones, Aiyana’s Grandmother, Speaks About Shooting: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Aiyana Stanley-Jones will never have another birthday/Photo Brandy Baker

Hearing on “protective order” set for Thurs. Sept. 1 @ 2 p.m. in front of Judge Daphne Means Curtis 

By Diane Bukowski

August 18, 2011 

VOD: Hearing on “protective order” likely rescheduled to await results of Chauncey Owens sentencing Aug. 30

DETROIT – The City of Detroit, its Police Department and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office are apparently conspiring to stonewall a civil lawsuit against Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley. The officer shot seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones to death in her home May 16, 2010, as other members of a “Special Response Team” in an armored vehicle threw an incendiary grenade inside. The home, on Lillibridge, is in a desperately poor area on Detroit’s far east side.

Meanwhile, Weekley’s attorneys have filed documents blaming the child’s family and even her neighbors for her death, and maintaining their client’s innocence. 

Killer cop Joseph Weekley

“The First 48” TV series and its producer Kirkstall Rd. Enterprises of New York additionally have refused to provide their videotapes of the assault on the Jones home, which they were filming as it occurred. 

“Plaintiff has been attempting to take Officer Weekley’s deposition since last year,” attorney Geoffrey Fieger, representing Aiyana’s parents, wrote Weekley’s attorney Kenneth Lewis on July 22. 

Aiyana's father Charles Jones, Atty. Geoffrey Fieger, mother Dominika Stanley, and grandmother Mertilla Jones at press conference May 27, 2010

“Defense counsel has stonewalled the discovery process at every turn, forcing the Plaintiff to file several motions with this court in an attempt to obtain the most basic information pertinent to Aiyana’s death. This Court has instructed the Defendant and the City to cooperate with the Plaintiff in the discovery process, yet there has been no substantive discovery to date.” 

Fieger also said, “The prosecutor has not released investigative materials.” 

In response, Lewis filed a motion for a “protective order,” which will be heard by Third  Circuit Court Judge Daphne Means Curtis on Thurs. Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. .in Room 1007  at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Avenue. 

Atty. Kenneth Lewis of Plunkett & Cooney

The motion asks that depositions of Weekley and other police, as well as documentation from the prosecutor’s office, be kept secret, or “sealed.” It claims that Weekley faces possible criminal charges and sets strict limits on the contents of the deposition, which is to take only one hour. “No protective order, no deposition,” Lewis wrote. 

“The Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee (JAJC) vehemently objects to this request on the grounds that the Detroit Police Department needs to provide transparency into what actually happened when Aiyana was killed by its officers,” said JAJC Chief, Roland Lawrence.   

“The family of Aiyana Jones and the citizens of Detroit have been tortured enough, and need some answers.  Any reasonable person will conclude that the Detroit Police, and Mayor Dave Bing and others are hiding something; and that ‘something’ does not smell good.  Both the criminal and civil cases must move quickly to the center stage without further delay.”  

Weekley’s attorneys, from the wealthy law firm of Plunkett and Cooney, are being paid unknown sums by city taxpayers. According to court documents, they have refused to present their client for depositions five times in the last year. 

Arnetta Grable, mother of Lamar Grable, three-time killer cop Eugene Brown's second victim, is forced out of ceremony where he was promoted to sergeant, despite Judge Daphne Means Curtis ruling blocking the promotion

On March 1, Judge Curtis ordered that “depositions take place as soon as possible after completion of the Michigan State Police (MSP) investigation, or as soon as reasonably practical after May 6 regardless of whether the Michigan State Police investigation is concluded.” 

In 2006, Judge Curtis  ruled in support of the Detroit Police Commission when it blocked the promotion of three-time killer cop Eugene Brown to sergeant, but her ruling was overturned on appeal and Brown was promoted.

On March 5,, the MSP announced that it had completed its investigation and turned over the results, along with a request for a warrant for an unidentified “male suspect,” to Worthy. Worthy has since said that she is conducting her own investigation, and given no indication as to when it will conclude. In the past, her office has declared it is still investigating police killings cases long after they had closed the files. 

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy with her own daughter Anastasia during her swearing-in

Weekley’s attorneys claim a federal investigation is also open, based on media reports published in August, 2010. But U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in May of this year, “We are currently awaiting the conclusion of the state process before we consider federal action.” 

After their motion for a protective order, Plunkett & Cooney scheduled depositions for Aiyana’s family members, a move which Fieger’s firm blocked by requesting that they not be deposed until after Weekley’s deposition takes place. 

Plunkett & Cooney previously filed a “Notice of Non-Party Fault,” according to documents in the court files. 

“This was an attempt to spread the blame for his [Weekley’s] reckless shooting to eight individuals he claims are partially or entirely responsible for Aiyana’s death, including anyone present in the home and even any next door neighbors,” says a filing from Fieger’s firm. 

Children at memorial for Aiyana outside her home on Lillibridge

On Dec. 10, 2010, Plunkett & Cooney alleged without proof that members of Aiyana’s family were engaged in “drug dealing, vehicle theft and illegal utility hook-ups.” They also accused Aiyana’s father Charles Jones of participating in the previous shooting death of 17-year-old Je’Rean Blake, and said it is likely that he is the “male suspect” named by State Police in their investigative report. 

They cited media reports that Chauncey Owens, who lived upstairs from Aiyana’s family and who was the individual police were seeking when they killed Aiyana, was to testify that her father gave him the gun used to kill Blake in exchange for a lighter sentence. In fact, Owens’ court files show he named another individual. His sentencing, originally set for this past May, has been postponed until Tues. Aug. 30 at 9 a.m. in Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt’s courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall.

 (Click on VOD article at http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/05/23/owens-never-said-aiyana-jones%e2%80%99-dad-gave-him-gun-used-in-teen%e2%80%99s-killing/ to read full story.)  

Mertilla Jones after MSP completed investigation; grieving, she lost 50 lbs.

Plunkett & Cooney additionally claimed Aiyana’s grandmother Mertilla Jones “interfered in the execution of the search by unlawfully touching the defendant and causing his weapon to accidentally discharge.” 

Jones was arrested and held for several days after she watched her beloved granddaughter die in front of her eyes. Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee, at the time an Assistant Chief, publicly withdrew the contention that she interfered with Weekley and released her without charges at the time.

The family’s actions “created unsafe living conditions for Aiyana Stanley-Jones and placed her in extreme danger,” Plunkett & Cooney wrote. “If Plaintiff Aiyana Stanley-Jones sustained any injuries or damages as alleged in the amended complaint, same were caused in whole or in part by the aforementioned Non-Parties.” 

In a letter to Fieger’s firm, Davis, Wright & Tremaine, LLP, on behalf of Kirkstall Rd. Enterprises, the producer of “The First 48,” refused to comply with a court-ordered subpoena for the film of the incident from Fieger’s office. 

They claimed that the subpoena could only be issued through New York courts, and even then, they would not produce it because they claim to be covered by “New York Civil Rights Law 79-h(c),” known as the “Shield Law,” which allegedly protects a reporter’s privilege. 

The Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee is asking that individuals phone Judge Daphne Means Curtis at 313-224-2240 to express their opposition to the protective order. The hearing, to be held Thurs. Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. in Rm. 1007 of the CAYMC, is also open to the public.

Fieger Press Conference: Aiyana Jones: MyFoxDETROIT.com

 Detroit Meeting to “Stop the U.S.-NATO War on Libya!”

For over four months the African nation of Libya has been mercilessly bombed by United States, French, British, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch and Canadian warplanes. A naval blockade has placed warships in the Mediterranean off the coast of the resource-rich country.

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has led opposition to the war on Libya

Inside the North African state of Libya large numbers of civilians have been killed. The goal of the imperialist powers is to seize control of the largest oil reserves in Africa as they did during the colonial era.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military advisers from European governments are on the ground directing their puppet rebel forces in the war against the Libyan people. The imperialists are funding the rebel group through the stolen tax dollars of the working populations of the U.S. and Europe who do not support this war against Libya and Africa as a whole.

Since March 11 the 54-member African Union has opposed foreign intervention in Libya and calls for a ceasefire followed by a negotiated settlement to the war in Libya. These overtures by the AU were accepted by the Libyan government in Tripoli but rejected by the U.S.-NATO forces and their surrogates inside the country.

Come out on August 27 to hear an eyewitness account of the brutal and criminal U.S.-led war against Libya and join the movement to stop this carnage and blatant attempted theft of this African state.

The featured speaker for this event will be the former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney of Georgia who recently visited Libya to obtain a firsthand account of the U.S.-NATO war in North Africa. McKinney visited sites within the country that had been bombed by the U.S. and NATO warplanes.

Sponsors for this event include MECAWI, the National Conference of Black Lawyers Michigan Chapter, the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Green Party of Michigan,  Workers World Party and the Pan-African News Wire.

For more information on this event please contact MECAWI at 313-671-3715.

Join the MECAWI contingent at the Parade of Nations, part of the African World Festival, this weekend, on August 20, beginning at 11 AM.  We will march under anti-US/NATO war banners and signs. Gather at 10 AM at the Fisher Freeway service drive at Woodward Ave.  March to Hart Plaza where parade participants will perform and speak on stage.  MECAWI has been invited to speak.

MECAWI will also be out in force at the African World Festival at Hart Plaza. We will be distributing thousands of leaflets calling for an end to the US/NATO war against Libya and building the Aug. 27 meeting in Detroit featuring Cynthia McKinney (recently returned from Libya).  Meet us at our table at the Spirit of Detroit statue (Coleman A. Young Municipal Center – Woodward at E. Jefferson) at the following times:

Friday – Aug 19 from  6 – 9 PM
Saturday – Aug. 20 from 5 – 8 PM
Sunday – Aug. 21 from 4 – 8 PM.

For more info, call: 313-680-5508

Govabuse protesters against government kidnapping in Chicago, Aug. 12, part of national day of action

Hearing on motion for summary judgment by defendants set for Tues. Sept. 20, U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook

By Diane Bukowski

Aug. 16, 2011 

DETROIT — A federal civil rights lawsuit against Michigan Child Protective Services (CPS) worker Mia Wenk, her supervisor Monica Sampson, numerous other Department of Human Services personnel, the Detroit Police Department, private foster care agencies and shelters, and Family Court judges and referees is currently proceeding in federal court.

The lawsuit asks for injunctive and declaratory relief and compensatory damages on behalf of Nathaniel Brent, a Detroit father of five children with Native American heritage, who were removed from their home for four months.

Wenk, Sampson and other defendants in the case were also the chief protagonists in the removal of Ariana Godboldo-Hakim from her home in March, and her forced psychiatric hospitalization and medication afterwards.

Events described in the suit bear a striking similarity to events in the Godboldo case, down to the fact that the children were being home-schooled, as Michigan law allows. 

Wayne County Family Court Chief Judge Leslie Kim Smith (l), Circuit Court Chief Judge Virgil Smith and DHS Director Maura Corrigan

Wayne County Family Court Chief Judge Leslie Kim Smith, whose rubber-stamped signature was affixed to the order to remove Ariana, the Detroit Police Department, and the Children’s Center, also involved in Ariana’s case, are included in a lengthy list of defendants.  (Click on Mia Wenk federal lawsuit Nathaniel Brent to read entire lawsuit.)

Brent filed the suit in pro per on Feb. 22, 2011, prior to the Godboldo incident in March, 2011. It has been proceeding before U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook. It challenges Michigan’s state child protective laws as unconstitutional, both on their face and as they were applied in Brent’s case. 

Brent says his 15-year-old son ran away from home. When police returned him, they at first contacted CPS but later withdrew the complaint. Brent says DHS policies specifically prohibit considering a simple runaway as cause for a CPS investigation. 

CPS worker Mia Wenk

However, Wenk gained entry to Brent’s home on Jan. 20, 2010 through “deceit and coercion” by claiming she was there to see that the child was ‘alright’ so she could close her case file, according to the suit. She did not inform Brent that the police had withdrawn their complaint. 

“Upon entry to Plaintiff’s home . . . .Ms. Wenk began questioning R.A.B. [the child] . . . When Plaintiff objected to the suggestive and leading nature of the questioning Ms. Wenk then demanded to speak with R.A.B. alone and told Plaintiff father that he could not refuse or he would be in violation of law,” reads the suit.

“Ms. Wenk then had R.A.B. take her to his bedroom. Without parental knowledge or consent, Ms. Wenk ordered R.A.B. to show her the whole house. This constitutes an illegal search under U.S. Const.4^th Amendment and Mich. Const. Art. I Sec. 11.” 

Heather DeCormier-McFarland

The suit alleges that Wenk, her supervisor Monica Sampson, and intern Heather Decormier[McFarland] again entered the home on false pretenses the next day to take pictures of the premises, while Wenk kept the parents “distracted.” They claimed the visit was for the purposes of an audit. Brent again charges they conducted an illegal seizure and also committed a felony by taking the unauthorized photos. 

Brent says that on Feb. 9, he informed Wenk that his children had Native American heritage and were therefore subject to provisions of the National Indian Child Welfare Act. 

Native American child shown on ICWA website

According to the NICWA website, “ICWA is a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families. Congress passed ICWA in 1978 in response to the alarmingly high number of Indian children being removed from their homes by both public and private agencies. The intent of Congress under ICWA was to “protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families” (25 U.S.C. § 1902). ICWA sets federal requirements that apply to state child custody proceedings involving an Indian child who is a member of or eligible for membership in a federally recognized tribe.” 

The NICWA website can be accessed at http://www.nicwa.org/Indian_Child_Welfare_Act/. 

Judson Center Wayne County Office, in Pinnacle Building in Redford, MI (Photo from Judson Center website)

Brent says that CPS personnel completely ignored this federal mandate and proceeded to refer his family to the Judson Center, one of a network of private agencies across the state that receive federal foster care funds for every child they remove from their homes.

At issue were needed repairs to the home and speech therapy for one of the children, which the suit contends should have been provided by state agencies as part of “reasonable efforts” to keep the children in the home. 

During a “Team Decision Meeting” held over the phone with Brent and his wife, Feb. 18, the suit contends, DHS personnel hung up on them, and never notified them that they were filing a petition to take their children the same day. 

Police siege similar to what happened to Brent family and five children

At 6 p.m. that evening, the suit says, at least eight Detroit police officers arrived at the Brent home “with guns drawn.” Brent says when he answered the door, one of the officers said he had a writ to remove the children, but would not show it to him and forced his way past Brent into the home. 

“After officers ‘secured’ the Plaintiff’s home and began removing the children,” says the suit, “Officer Jane Doe showed the plaintiff the writ. Plaintiff immediately challenged the writ as incomplete (writ did not have judge’s name in the proper place), contradictory, inaccurate description of the children, improper signature, and exceeding the jurisdictional authority of the court.” 

Wolverine Shelter, which handles adjudicated youth

The suit also contends that the request for the order was faxed to the court’s “web unit,” and says it is unknown if Judge Smith ever personally viewed the order authorizing the children’s removal or any other document “bearing her stamped signature.” It says the petition for the order did not contain any specific allegations of abuse or neglect. 

Four of the children were placed in emergency shelters including the Wolverine Shelter, while a fifth child was taken to Children’s Hospital “for reacting poorly to this isolation.” The suit contends none of the follow-up care for this child was given to him when he was placed at Wolverine. 

“During the time Plaintiff’s children were placed at Wolverine, Wolverine was operating under a provisional license due to environmental concerns,” says the suit. 

Dana Hathaway (any relation to the Hathaway judge clan?) with Referee Nicholas Bobak

It goes on to say that on Feb. 19, Wenk told the Wayne County Juvenile Court that Brent and his wife “have rifles and guns.” Preliminary hearings were held Feb. 19 and 24, presided over by Referee Nicholas Bobak. 

“Neither Referee Bobak nor DHS would even consider placing Plaintiff’s minor children with their maternal grandparents, who were present in the court on Feb. 19, 2010,” says the suit. “DHS and their agents prevented the children from attending both of these court dates, thereby denying the Plaintiff his due process right of calling witnesses.”

The suit claims Bobak defamed Brent by stating in his order that he “had mental health issues,” with nothing to base the claim on. 

“The defamation of father’s mental health tainted all further proceedings and was the basis for further judicial decisions,” says the suit. 

Methodist Children's Home in Redford, MI

Brent says his children were then placed with various “guardians,” but that on March 10,  worker Shevonne Trice inspected his home and found it to be suitable for return of the children. However, Referee Anthony Crutchfield would not authorize their return. Meanwhile, the guardians were authorizing medication and immunizations for the children without legal authority, says the suit. 

On March 26, the children were returned to shelters, including Methodist Children’s Home where they did not receive required medical care. Brent says one of the children, who was coughing up blood, ran away to obtain needed care at Beaumont Hospital. 

On its website, the Methodist Children’s Home says, “Methodist Children’s Home Society is a volunteer driven, private, non-profit, non-sectarian child-care agency, which has a long history of caring for children from throughout Michigan. Our residential treatment program, Children’s Village, offers care for 70 boys, ages 10-17 who are in need of a highly structured intensive environment. Foster care, adoption and literacy programs are also available.”

Among other allegations in the suit, Brent says he recorded Wenk refusing to provide him with full copies of his children’s files. 

The female children were then placed in Children’s Center. The suit alleges that a Children’s Center supervisor told Brent and his wife in the presence of the children, “If you loved your children you would accept the plea deal.”

That deal, offered by State Assistant Attorney General Linda Hendren, involved the parents pleading guilty to neglect allegations in return for regaining custody of their children. The supervisor also cut the father’s phone contact with his daughter’s off at the same time. 

Wayne County Family Court Judge Judy Hartsfield

The parents were allowed no visitation time with their children pending trial, which began on May 10, 2010 in front of Judge Judy Hartsfield. Hartsfield recently received the ‘Friend of Children’ Award From Lutheran Child & Family Service of Michigan, another DHS beneficiary.

Finally, on June 6, 2010, after numerous irregularities at trial claimed by Brent in the lawsuit, all five children were returned to their parents.  

The numerous defendants in Brent’s lawsuit filed various motions for summary judgment and/or dismissal in July, after repeated requests for extensions on time to reply were granted by Judge Cook. 

One brief explains the results of the jury trial and subsequent return of the children to their family home.

“On May 11, 12, and 13 of 2010, a jury trial was held, and the jury determined that there were one or more statutory grounds for the Court to take jurisdiction over the Brent children based upon environmental neglect. The conditions of the Brent home were unsuitable, and it was also found that there was medical neglect of at least one of the children who was found to be suffering from lead poisoning and a severe speech impediment. Dispositional hearings regarding the placement of the Brent children were held on June 2, 2010, and the children were released to their parents, but remained under the supervision of DHS. On September 10, 2010, the jurisdiction of the Court was terminated.  Plaintiff had improved the conditions of their home, had cooperated in receiving services provided, and the children’s needs were being met.” 

U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook will hear defedants' motion for summary disposition Sept. 20

The brief calls Brent’s lawsuit “an impermissible collateral attack on state court proceedings” and “nothing more than a vexatious action by a disgruntled litigant.” 

It goes on to say, “First, the present situation is an example of why judges, referees, and social workers are afforded immunity from suit to protect them from becoming defendants in suits filed by disgruntled persons who are unhappy with the judicial process. The referees and judges who adjudicated the state court case are shielded by absolute immunity. Furthermore, the social workers who investigated the abuse and neglect complaints against Plaintiff and participated in the state court proceedings against the Plaintiff also enjoy immunity from suit for their alleged actions or inactions.” 

Despite the last claim, U.S. District Court Judge John Corbett O’Meara recently held that claims of immunity for the CPS worker involved in the Thal and Julian Wendrow were not valid, and has allowed the case to proceed against her, although he granted immunity to prosecutors Deborah Carley and Richard Gorcyca.

A hearing on the motion for summary judgment by the defendants has been set for Tues. Sept. 20, 2011  at 9:30 AM before District Judge Julian Abele Cook, whose courtroom is in the Federal Building at 321 W. Lafayette in downtown Detroit.

Some of those who participated in national rallies against state child abduction, including supporters of Maryanne Godboldo, outside the Lincoln Hall of Justice in Detroit Aug. 12; Neema Yacef is second from right front

 Parents, attorneys, supporters vow to continue fight for child

CPS abductor Wenk testifies, “I didn’t want the mother to end up shooting her daughter,” and claims she was “scared” of Ariana

Wenk faces federal lawsuit in another case (see next story)

Cops who took child also being sued in other cases

Police invade Godboldo home second time (see coming story)

Numerous families stopped outside the Lincoln Hall to sign Govabuse petitions against state child abduction

By Diane Bukowski

August 12, 2011 

DETROIT – Despite testimony that Mia Wenk, a “social services specialist” with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, authorized the  psychiatric hospitalization of Ariana Godboldo-Hakim, 13, and the administration of four dangerous psychotropic drugs, without reviewing the child’s  medical records, a jury found Aug. 9 that it was Ariana’s mother Maryanne Godboldo who had neglected her. 

Godboldo, who obtained alternative holistic treatment for her daughter from a medical doctor, testified earlier that she was suffering from a reaction to immunizations administered in Sept. 2009. She said Ariana had been diagnosed with encephalitis, not a psychiatric disorder. Neither she nor Ariana’s father Mubarak Hakim authorized their daughter’s treatment at Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric facility after an army of police seized her from her home on Blaine near Linwood in Detroit March 24, 2011. 

Mia Wenk is being sued in federal court in Nathaniel Brent case involving very similar allegations against her

Wenk said that as she watched the stand-off with police that resulted at Ariana’s home, her only concern was, “I didn’t want her to end up shooting her daughter.”  Wenk is currently facing a federal lawsuit  filed by Nathaniel Brent (see next story) for taking his five children, who are of Native American heritage.

Wenk, who was present throughout the proceeding, heard testimony from Godboldo that “Ariana is my life,” and from Hakim, Ariana’s aunt Penny Godboldo, and her treating physician Dr. Margaret Betts that the best outcome for Ariana would be to return to her mother, who had provided her with a warm and loving life.  

Maryanne Godboldo speaks at rally July 17, 2011

It took the eight-member Wayne County jury, with two Black women on the panel, one-half hour to reach their finding of neglect after a one-and-half-week trial. The trial included testimony from Detroit police who claimed Godboldo fired a gun in the house, a charge which has not yet been adjudicated. The remainder of  the preliminary exam in the criminal case is set for Aug. 29 in front of Judge Ronald Giles in 36^th District Court. 

Attorneys for Ariana’s parents, who include Adam Shakoor, Wanda Evans, Allison Folmar, Byron Pitts, Roger Farinha, and Michael Bishai and supporters around the world have said they will continue the fight to bring Ariana home, ensure a safe medical regimen, and defeat multiple criminal charges against Godboldo.

“This is absolutely crazy,” said Neema Yacen (in photo at top) who attended every day of the one-and-a-half- week trial.  

Children's Center recruits foster parents in billboard off John C. Lodge Fwy.; they are paid $34 per day per head by DHS for each child they take

“The testimony showed that the mother took her child every day to a treatment program where all she saw was counselors. No psychiatrist saw her except to prescribe Risperdal. The mother comes and says ‘I don’t like what this drug is doing to my child.’ An ethical doctor would have taken her off the medication. Instead the counselors reported her to Child Protective Services (CPS)—no doctor reported her. Then mother took Ariana to the Children’s Center for 31 out of 35 appointments. The very day the Children’s Center called CPS was the day they were making another appointment for the mother to come in with Ariana. Then they kidnap the child and take her to [Hawthorn Psychiatric hospital] where they tried to kill her with Haldol, Risperdal, Abilify and Lithium.”

Yacen is a retired Detroit Public Schools speech and language pathologist who also worked in a mental health institution. She spoke during a rally outside the Lincoln Hall of Juvenile Justice in Detroit Aug. 12. The rally, sponsored by Govabuse.org, was part of a national protest. Thousands of other families across the U.S. marched outside local courthouses the same day to demand an end to what they say is massive abduction of children by government and private agencies for profit and medical experimentation. 

Wayne County Family Court Judge Lynne Pierce, who presided over the trial, and who normally holds court at the Lincoln Hall, is to rule on Ariana’s custody and continuing care Sept. 29. The child is currently living with her aunt Penny Godboldo and being treated by renowned Detroit Dr. Margaret Betts, an M.D and licensed allopath. 

Lynne Pierce sworn in as husband Raymond Andary, of Lebanese descent, looks on behind her, daughter Lauren Phillips, corporate attorney for Dykema Gossett, which represents Children's Center funder Ford Motor Co., is second from left

Before the verdict, Pierce ruled that a court order, authorized by a probation officer and never seen by a judge, was sufficient to seize the teen. She would not allow arguments from the defense challenging the validity of the order during the jury trial. Pierce told the jury they had to find Maryanne liable on only one out of multiple counts to rule against her. Jury members did not even have to specify which count. 

Pierce earlier overturned an order by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt barring Hawthorn doctors from administering the psychotropic drugs to Ariana. 

“In my opinion, it was an improper order given without this court’s knowledge or consent,” Pierce told the jury. 

Deborah Carley now has long bleached blonde hair

Pierce, a Grosse Pointe Woods resident, was obviously hostile to the defense throughout the trial, upholding the majority of objections made by Assistant State Attorney General Deborah Carley.

Carley contended the Department of Human Services had the authority to institutionalize and medicate Ariana for six weeks at Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in Northville. She grilled Godboldo without mercy regarding the birth of her only child, who had to have her right leg amputated below the knee shortly after birth due to medical complications.

Carley was also the subject of a lawsuit in the infamous Thal and Julian Wendrow sexual abuse and child removal case.  Although U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara upheld claims of governmental immunity against Carley and Gorcyca, he has allowed the lawsuit to proceed against the CPS worker involved.  (http://www.freep.com/article/20110615/NEWS03/106150431/Sex-abuse-claims-Wendrow-case-fall-apart-court and five other Detroit Free Press articles on that case.)  

During the trial, Child Protective Services (CPS) worker Wenk, who has no state license of any kind, took the stand Aug. 8 and 9. 

She testified that she had been assigned to the case on March 10, and had never met Ariana or her parents face to face, except during a brief discussion through a closed security gate with Godboldo at her home on Mar. 16. Godboldo refused to let Wenk into the home, which Wenk admitted she had the right to do. 

Attorney Wanda Evans

But Wenk’s constant refrain was, “Maryanne would not administer prescribed medication [Rispedal] to her daughter.” 

On cross-exam by Godboldo’s attorney Wanda Evans and Hakim’s attorney Roger Farinha, she admitted Godboldo had in fact administered the medication “at one point, yes.”  

Wenk also testified that she herself signed the paperwork to admit Ariana to Hawthorne, and to medicate her “if necessary” with Risperdal, Haldol, Abilify and Lithium, powerful psychotropic drugs with numerous side effects.

 She said she also authorized a list of 14 immunizations “if needed,” including one of those that Ariana’s mother believed caused Ariana’s severe reaction in Sept. 2009. 

Wenk testified she had not received any medical records on Ariana prior to her call to 911 March 24, to summon the police to the child’s home on Blaine near Linwood. Referring to her case notes, Wenk admitted that she had already decided to seize Ariana prior to holding a “Permanency Planning Conference” Mar. 23 with her parents.

She also admitted she told Tracy Dorsey, a caseworker at Children’s Center, that she was going to take the child and have her medicated with Risperdal in an inpatient psychiatric facility. 

Lt. Michael Nied with MP in Army; in less weighty days

She said two other police cruisers passed the corner of Blaine and Lawton, where she was waiting in her car with another DHS employee and a Wayne State University intern, before a car containing Officers Thomas Trewhella [#2601] and Kevin Simpson [#3674] stopped by her car. She said she passed a court order out her car window to Simpson but never exited the car. 

Wenk said the officers’ supervisor Lt. Michael Nied came running up to her after the three forced entry into Godboldo’s side door, to show her what he said was plaster dust on the shoulder and arm of his jacket, allegedly resulting from a bullet fired into a house wall. He then ordered them to leave the scene.  

Cop Kevin Simpson is being sued in other case where police used "N" wrod

Trewhella, Simpson, and officer Benjamin Wagner, who also testified at the Godboldo hearing, are currently facing federal lawsuits over a case in which they allegedly participated in a traffic stop of Michael Dickinson and Taryn Markoe in Sept. 2009. The lawsuit says the stop was originally carried out by three plainclothes officers in long white T-shirts and an unmarked car, wearing no badges and brandishing guns.  Later uniformed cops arrived on the scene. Click on Trewhella Simpson Markoe case and Simpson Trewhella Wagner federal lawsuit to read ongoing lawsuits.

Markoe’s lawsuit alleges that the cops derided Dickinson of Commerce Township for dating Markoe, who they called a “N—–.”  and for not being able to protect her. 

Trewhellen also faces a Wayne County Circuit Court lawsuit, “Nancy A. Coon, Personal Representative of the Estate of Geofrey William Coon, WCCC Case No. 10-004981 NI,” along with officers John Lohmeir and James Demps.

Nied testified during the custody hearing. His Facebook page shows he is a shift lieutenant, and served as a major in the Military Police of the U.S. Army from 1984 to 2008. It says he was deployed four times. He attended high school in Harper Woods, Michigan. He is a very large, heavyset man who appears to have gained quite a bit of weight  since the accompanying photo was taken.

Wenk said she returned the next morning to Children’s Hospital, where police had taken Ariana. She testified she told Ariana’s aunt Penny Godboldo and her father Mubarak Hakim to leave the room where Ariana was being seen because it was “DHS policy.” 

She said, “I was scared” as she sat with Ariana alone. She claimed Ariana kicked off her prosthetic leg and was yelling and screaming. Hakim testified earlier that his daughter was calm at the hospital during his and her aunt’s presence.

Wenk testified at Godboldo’s preliminary exam that the child needed to be put in the back seat of the police car because “it has a cage,” and repeatedly testified that she was diagnosed with “psychosis NOS” (not otherwise specified), which is actually not a diagnosis but an admission that doctors really didn’t know what was wrong with her.

Maryanne Godboldo with Pastor Charles Ellis outside Hawthorn during prayer vigil for Arian

Farinha had her review CHM’s final report on Ariana before they released her, which indicated “no protective concern for the child” and that she had been examined without her clothes and no evidence of trauma, bruising or abrasions was present. 

He also had her refer to her case notes which indicated psychiatric hospitals including Hawthorn and Kingswood refused to admit Ariana repeatedly because there was no order for treatment. Wenk admitted that when the order to admit was finally authorized, it indicated “NOT FOR MEDICATION.” 

Farinha asked her if she herself had accompanied Ariana to Hawthorne. Farinha said the child had bruises on her arm and the end of her prosthetic leg as well as what appeared to be a cigarette burn in her hand. Wenk denied she was present during transport.

It took a lengthy court battle in front of Judge Pierce, with the Northville facility’s chief psychiatrist testifying that Ariana should not be there, and reaching a mutual treatment plan with Dr. Betts, before Pierce finally ordered the child released. Ariana had begged to go home numerous times.

The Justice 4 Maryanne Committee says they are in need of funds, particularly to hire expert witnesses in the case, as well as to help finance the attorneys’ dedicated work.

The Committee’s website is at http://www.justice4maryanne .  The site includes a donation link: Donate securely through our online donation page.

*Thank you to everyone who supported our rally on April 2nd! We raised just over $3,000. However, our work is NOT over!” says the site. There is also a link to a petition to free Ariana Godboldo-Hakim on the website.