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Last Prisoner Project pushes for release of  Michael Thompson, 69, just diagnosed with COVID-19, in prison 25 yrs. for marijuana conviction

See  https://www.freemichaelthompson.com/

Another prisoner needing release: Rudi Gammo, owner of marijuana dispensary

Cannabis expungement package still awaits Gov. Whitmer’s signature

325,000 in Michigan still in prison or released with marijuana charges on records, despite state legalization in 2018

Ricardo Ferrell

By Ricardo Ferrell

VOD Field Editor
October 1, 2020

FROM VOICE OF DETROIT:              HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICARDO!! OCTOBER 12, 2020

Mary Bailey manages the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), which is campaigning for the release of Michigan’s Michael Thompson, 69, serving a 42-60 year term that is marijuana-related, although voters in the state of Michigan legalized recreational marijuana possession and use in 2018.

Thompson recently tested positive for the coronavirus, along with more than 900 other  prisoners at the Correctional Facility, over half the population there.

During the years-long campaign to release him, his supporters repeatedly raised the issue of his age and medical conditions that put him in heightened danger of  COVID-19 infection.

The LPP pushes for expungements of marijuana criminal records, and the release of those in jails & prisons, especially in states where marijuana has been legalized.

“In America there is supposed to be a fair system of justice, where the punishment should be equal to the crime,” Mary Bailey says.

Mary Bailey, Manager Last Prisoner Project

“In Thompson’s case, he was given what people in Michigan call a virtual life sentence. We have got to reform our criminal justice system to be more reflective of places like Switzerland and other European countries, where the punishment for the commission of crimes doesn’t exceed its intended penological purpose. In other words, we shouldn’t be giving offenders like Michael Thompson 40-60 years for cannabis, and locking them up for what amounts to the rest of their lives, then throwing away the key.”

Thompson, 69, was found guilty of selling three pounds of marijuana to an undercover police informant in 1996. The case has gotten the attention of lawyers, advocates, supporters and the general public, all saying his sentence is too harsh and the 25 years Thompson has already served, is enough, garnering substantial media coverage.

In 2018, voters in the State of Michigan went to the polls and cast their votes on Proposal 1. Its passage gave recreational marijuana possession and usage a pathway toward legalization. This seemed to be an instant victory for those with marijuana convictions because lawmakers and candidates for public office vowed to put in place a mechanism to begin expunging criminal records for marijuana convictions.

Those promises have mostly been empty, as there still remain people like Michael Thompson and Rudi Gammo sitting in prison for something that has basically been legalized in Michigan.

Thompson has also garnered the support of Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, who has joined his lawyer Kimberly Corral to push for his release. Current laws in Michigan, like the 1998 Truth-In-Sentencing Statute, preclude Thompson from having his sentence reduced, The law requires him to serve 100% of the 42-60 year term, which means he isn’t eligible for parole until 2038, when he turns 87 years-old.

Michigan AG Dana Nessel

The only other option for Thompson to be released is through the commutation process, which starts with the Michigan Parole Board, then requires at least one of ten members to recommend the process t0 the Governor.

As of this article, it has been reported that the process has begun in Thompson’s case. As reported by Christina Maxouris, of CNN, Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote in a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dated Aug. 5, 2020, in part…”The sentence imposed on Mr. Thompson is the product of a different time in Michigan legal history. . . And it is a time that has passed.”

Attorney General Nessel even calls Thompson a model prisoner in her letter to Gov. Whitmer and says…”Mr. Thompson’s actions over the course of his incarceration reveal that he will not pose a danger to the community if his sentence is commuted and he is released from prison.” See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ltr_to_Gov_Reg._Thompson_08.05.2020_698456_7.pdf

The late Mich. Senator Isaac Robinson (seated) with Rep. Jewell Jones (l)

Michigan Lawmakers Jewell Jones, (D) Inkster, and the late Isaac Robinson, (D) Detroit both introduced legislation for the expungement of marijuana convictions. House Bill 5120 tackled the need for expungement of marijuana convictions. Rep. Jones saw how senseless it was to keep those sort of convictions on someone’s criminal record, which if left unchallenged could likely effect them seeking employment opportunities, fair housing, and moving forward in their lives.

According to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s spokeswoman…”Governor Whitmer is open to discussing this issue with her legislative partners to ensure that residents do not bear a lifelong record for conduct that would now be legal at the state level…,” Whitmer’s Spokeswoman Tiffany Brown tells Metro Times.

UPDATE: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the following six-bill Clean Slate package below October 12, 2020. That legislation, part of a six-bill package covering criminal justice reform,  has been approved at both the House and Senate levels, and is now on the Governor’s desk. The Senate Advisory Committee summarized the provisions of the bills as follows:

Expand the number of people who qualify for expungement: Under the plan, a person with up to three felonies and any number of misdemeanors could have all their convictions set aside if none were assaultive crimes. Someone with an assaultive crime can have up to two felonies and four misdemeanors set aside. Convictions such as murder and criminal sexual conduct would not be eligible.

Mich. State Senator Jeff Irwin

Automatic expungement for some offenders 10 years after their monitoring by the justice system ends: This would be if none of the convictions are assaultive crimes or serious misdemeanors, and only for convictions that were punishable by less than 10 years imprisonment. It would apply after the person has paid restitution.

Allow expungement of marijuana convictions for behavior that would be permissible under current law: Most of these individuals would be eligible to apply for expungement immediately. This process would not be automatic. A different bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, would automatically clear misdemeanors involving low-level marijuana use and possession.

Allow forgiveness for multiple acts committed during “one bad night”: Convictions for offenses similar in nature that were committed in a 24-hour period would be treated as a single felony if none were assaultive, if none involved the possession of a weapon, and if none carried a maximum penalty of more than 10 years.

Allow for the expungement of some traffic offenses: Driving under the influence and traffic offenses causing serious injury or death would not qualify for expungement.

Shorten the eligibility period for misdemeanors: Applications to set aside more than one felony could be filed after seven years. A serious misdemeanor or one felony could be expunged after five years. Other misdemeanors with no felonies could be expunged after three years.

INTERVIEW WITH LPP’S MARY BAILEY

Michael Thompson in earlier photo with grandchildren.

VOD asked Ms. Bailey to describe how she feels about Michael Thompson being held unnecessarily for a crime that has now been legalized in the state where he’s confined.

“Until we can begin to see Michael and countless others worthy of another chance at life, and not condemn them for making mistakes, because we all have made mistakes and errors, but see them as redeemable human beings who can contribute something worthwhile to society, then we will continue to hold them in prison 40-60 years for something as simple as marijuana,” says Bailey.

Q: What inspired you to help start LPP?

A: As a member of the legal cannabis industry, I felt a moral imperative to help those who have been impacted by the criminalization of cannabis. People who are incarcerated for cannabis are the pioneers of this booming industry and they deserve freedom.

Q: Tell me about the Last Prisoner Project: 1) its creation; 2) mission and goals; and 3) where do you see it going in the near future?

A: I host a cannabis conference in Hawaii called Maui Cannabis Conference. After my last conference in 2019, I felt an emotional pull to advocate for prisoners who are incarcerated for cannabis, so I reached out to my mentor, Andrew DeAngelo. He informed me that he and his brother, Steven DeAngelo, have wanted to create an advocacy organization to release prisoners for many years, so we started working together to form Last Prisoner Project and the rest is history.

Last Prisoner Project is dedicated to releasing cannabis prisoners and helping to rebuild their lives. We also know that most everyday Americans don’t realize that there are over 40,000 people incarcerated for cannabis today. Our goal is to educate the public about this important cause, so that they can use their voices for change.

Q: When did you first get involved with the Thompson case?
A: Our organization first started working with Michael Thompson last year. Our team was involved in working with with his attorney, Kim Corral, to file his clemency petition in January 2020. Once we realized that there was not any movement from the MI Parole Board, we decided to create an advocacy & awareness campaign highlighting Michael’s situation.

Q: Recreational marijuana has been legalized in Michigan, should those sort of convictions be expunged?

A: Since adult use cannabis legalization has taken place in Michigan, I feel that all those who are incarcerated for cannabis should be released and their records be expunged. Nobody should still be feeling the effects of the criminalization of cannabis now that it has been deemed an essential business during a global crisis.

Richard Delisi, 71, serving 90-yr sentence in Florida on cannabis conviction

Q: What other cannabis related cases have you been involved in?

A: Our organization works with many different cannabis cases all over the country. One of the most egregious cases I’m currently working on involves a man named Richard Delisi. Richard has been incarcerated for cannabis for 32 years in the State of Florida. He is the longest serving nonviolent prisoner for cannabis in America. American taxpayers have spent $1.6M on his incarceration.

Q: How do you juggle your advocacy and being a mother to your beautiful daughter?
A: I realize that nobody can fill from an empty cup, so I do my best to ensure that I focus on self care for myself to include a daily exercise and a healthy diet, as well as quality time with my family in the evenings and weekends, so that I have the energy to do my advocacy work. My daughter and I love to ride bicycles, read books and go on trips together.

Q: What organizations has LPP collaborated with in its push to get those with marijuana convictions freed?
A: We have worked with many organizations including Life for Pot, Can-do Clemency, the Weldon Project, the Innocent Project, MI Cannabis Caucus, Redemption, NORML, among others.

Q: Should the U.S. look at Switzerland and other European countries as a model for rehabilitation in its prisons and criminal justice systems?

Prison cell in Norway, a leader in prison reform

A: The U.S. should look at German & Dutch prison systems because they are focused on the ultimate goal of rehabilitating inmates, rather than enacting highly punitive policies and laws, which turn away from rehabilitation and reintegration. Germany’s Prison Act even states the sole aim of incarceration is to enable prisoners to lead a life of social responsibility free of crime upon release.

In the quarter of a century Thompson has been incarcerated, he’s exemplified what a model prisoner looks like. Having only incurred one misconduct (ticket) in the same time frame, is beyond exceptional. Michael Thompson is long overdue to be set free, he has proven to; prison staff, the parole board, the attorney general, the governor, the public, the many supporters, and most of all, to himself, that he is ready for reintegration back into our society.

Final note: This writer applauds the advocacy and hard work of LPP’s founder Steve DeAngelo, his brother Andrew DeAngelo, Sarah Gersten, Executive Director, and of course, Mary Bailey and staff for their efforts in helping individuals like Michael Thompson, Richard Delisi, Rudi Gammo and thousands more who sit needlessly in prisons around the country. In a recent article, Steve DeAngelo said he will not stop until the last cannabis prisoner is free.

UPDATE on case of David Shelton, covered in VOD article by Ricardo Ferrell:

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/05/31/exposed-racist-frame-up-of-david-shelton-by-oakland-county-in-1993-rape-case/

David Shelton (center) with son David Stinson (l) and daughter Mariah Stinson in MDOC visit photo.

JPay from David Stinson, son of David Shelton Sept. 17 to Ricardo Ferrell

Mr. Ferrell, I hope all is well with you and the rest of the VOD staff and I still read all you guys’ stories every time one drops… My father really talks and thanks you guys all the time he really appreciates the story y’all did for him because it really was detailed and put everything on the floor, he really feels y’all will be a reason why he’s released and I do as well…The CIU and Innocence Project picked up my father’s case and he credits VOD’s article about his case as part of the reason their working on his case, and he thanks you and your editor.” Sept. 17th. 

Field editor Ricardo Ferrell has written at least 30 stories for the Voice of Detroit over the previous years. His stories can be accessed by putting “Ricardo Ferrell” in the newspaper’s search engine, top right of page.

Related stories and links:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/12/whitmer-clean-slate-legislation-expanding-expungement/5966512002/

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/08/05/michael-thompson-marijuana-commutation-dana-nessel/3301970001/

https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/some-michigan-dispensary-owners-are-millionaires-while-others-are-inmates-rudi-gammos-story

https://freedelisi.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/12/why-are-there-so-few-prisoners-in-the-netherlands

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/03/08/welcome-to-prison-full-doc-orig-cm.cnn

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This year marks the 10^th anniversary of Voice of Detroit. It has been a struggle financially to keep the paper going, but we feel it is vital for those WITHOUT a voice. We do not charge for access to our articles, as do the News and Free Press, but appreciate whatever readers can donate.  Our ongoing include quarterly HostPapa web charges of $380, P.O. box fee of $150/yr. and costs for research including court records, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please if you can:

     DONATE TO VOD at

https://www.gofundme.com/VOD-readers-up

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Lacino Hamilton: “They manufactured witnesses–It’s great for me and my family, but still dozens of others in there” that should be freed

Hamilton, Ramon Ward, Marvin Cotton, Anthony Legion, others convicted on false testimony from infamous Detroit Police Dept. “Ring of Snitches”

Supporters sponsor a GoFundMe site for Hamilton to help him get on his feet; exonerees receive no compensation for months afterwards

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jtjjcw-innocent-man-free-after-26-years

By Diane Bukowski

October 4, 2020

DETROIT–A free man after 26 years, Lacino Hamilton, now 45, walked out of Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven, Michigan Sept. 30 into the arms of cheering supporters, including legal professionals and former prisoners. He had just been exonerated of second-degree murder charges in the death his beloved foster mother Willa Bias in Detroit in 1994, for which he was serving a virtual life term of 52 to 80 years.

Attys. Mary Chartier and Takura Nyamfukudz take a selfie with Lacino Hamilton. They fought his case pro bono for six years.

“I’m super-excited, looking forward to the rest of my life,”  he declared, as a host of television and print reporters gathered around him.  His appeals attorneys Mary Chartier and Takura Nyamfukudza had just driven him into a golf course parking lot next to prison grounds.

“I want to get as far away from this prison as possible and I want to see my mother and father,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t seen them since I’ve been incarcerated.”

The first to embrace him as he exited his attorney’s car was Ramon Ward, exonerated in February after serving 27 years in prison on false double murder charges.

Both were victims of the Detroit Police Department’s infamous “Ring of Snitches,” as Aaron Miguel Cantu of TruthOut magazine characterized it in a groundbreaking article five years ago.

It was that article, which featured Hamilton in the lead, that first broadly exposed what had happened in Hamilton’s and hundreds of other cases on the infamous Ninth Floor of the old DPD headquarters at 1300 Beaubien. Detectives plied chosen prisoners with reduced charges, alcohol, sex, and other privileges in exchange for testifying falsely at the trials of targeted prisoners that they heard them confess to the crimes for which they were charged.

Lacino Hamilton (center) with paralegal Travis Herndon (l) and exoneree Ramon Ward (r).

“The police manufactured witnesses,” Hamilton said later. “This was not a mistake. What happened to me and Ramon happened to dozens of others. For my family and friends it’s great, but there are many other innocent people in there. I know them.”

He credited his faith in God and his firm belief that the truth would come out for his ability to withstand his wrongful incarceration.

He thanked attorneys Chartier and Nyamfukudza, and Claudia Whitman of the Death Row Assistance Project. He said they and their staffs had taken his case pro bono and fought it for the last six years on evidence of false testimony from jailhouse snitch Olivera Rico Cowen and others.

The  Western Michigan University/Cooley Law School Innocence Project and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) took it up, finding newly-discovered DNA evidence which they said was key to Hamilton’s exoneration. It involved DNA testing of tissue taken from under the victim’s fingernails in 1994, which had not been previously tested. It ruled Hamilton out as the killer.

Hamilton also thanked the many other prisoners including paralegal Travis Herndon, who had helped him during the long years inside the walls. He said his release resulted from a community effort by many people during those years.

Herndon is the legal adviser for Voice of Detroit. He works with Prisoners Doing the Right Thing, founded by the late Timothy Kincaid, a Michigan juvenile lifer released in 2016, who was much respected by other incarcerated individuals.

Prisoners Doing the Right Thing launching “Feeding the Community” project at their offices at 15535 Mack Ave. in Detroit, MI

“I met Lacino years ago, when he first came into the system in the 1990’s,” Herndon said.  “He would always question me about the law, but ‘Cino had more of an analytical mind. He didn’t just accept things told to him. He wanted to go deeper, into the origin of things.

“I was taken by him, because he was so young. It was something that always bugged him about how people in general are treated. We’d be walking the yard talking about legal issues. If he saw something like a fight taking place on the yard, and he felt he should intervene to stop it, he did it by communicating with the individuals. The next day I’d see Cino sitting on the bench in the yard talking to one of the guys that he hadn’t even known.

“Here’s a guy, 24 or 25, who would talk to me about social issues, matters in other countries. He would be researching on the legal front because he wanted his freedom. But he put the same amount of energy into social issues. He was so young to have this type of knowledge, and he was very articulate when he spoke. He explained everything so clearly.”

During his time in prison, Hamilton wrote numerous profound analytical articles for TruthOut and other publications, including one describing his treatment in solitary confinement, which has been condemned as torture by organizations globally, “I am Buried Alive in a Michigan Prison.”

“I am buried alive inside Michigan’s Marquette Maximum Security Prison. I am locked in a windowless cell measuring 10×8 feet, 24 hours per day. For one hour every other day, I am handcuffed, chained around the waist and allowed exercise and a shower in a small cage. I am not allowed to interact with others, or to participate in any educational, vocational, or employment programs. All meals are delivered to the cell. I have no access to a phone. And while I am permitted two, one hour non-contact visits per month — always conducted through glass — Marquette is 455 miles away from my hometown of Detroit. Opportunities to visit family and friends are rare. For all intents and purposes, I am dead to everything but melancholic anxieties and horrible despair. This is torture.”

In another essay quoted in the TruthOut article, Hamilton said, “How some of us live is not a mistake; neither is it the product of a broken system. We live like that because it is profitable to a lot of people businesses: pawn shops, pay-day loan services, slum lords, creditors, social services, and others who traffic in misery.”

Lacino Hamilton (center in blue shirt) celebrates with his attorneys and staffers who worked on his case.

“We made the decision long ago to never give up fighting for Mr. Hamilton’s release,” Atty. Chartier said in a release. “While we are beyond thrilled that all charges have been dismissed, he lost 26 years of his life waiting for this day. . . Many of the thousands of men and women who are wrongfully imprisoned have been convicted based on ‘snitch’ testimony.

“In Mr. Hamilton’s case, the ‘snitch’ claimed in numerous cases that men—men who were strangers—had spontaneously confessed murder to him. Police knew this yet continued to claim that he was reliable and use him as a witness. . . If we truly want to stop innocent men and women from being convicted and imprisoned, then we have to reform our criminal prosecution system now. There are ways to do it. Michigan just needs to act.”

Atty. Nyamfukudz said,  I’m sad to say that this is  actually not unique—there are many many people who are doing time behind bars right now based on the testimony of people who for whatever reason have given a story, and either because police or sometimes prosecutors [chose] to turn a blind eye or just not to do the right thing, there are people doing time behind bars.”

Hamilton said that he will work to find ways n which a “competitive criminal justice system” can address cases such as his. “It’s not all about winning and losing,” he said. Under federal and state laws, prosecutors are tasked with finding the truth about a defendant’s guilt or innocence, not with winning every case.

In “Ring of Snitches,” TruthOut reported that “Hamilton was imprisoned with a man named Darnell Thompson, who claims he was threatened by police into pinning the crime on Hamilton. In an affidavit reviewed by Truthout, Thompson said that homicide detectives and prisoner Olivera Rico Cowen conspired to pressure him into testifying against Hamilton. Thompson, who was 18 at the time, says he was coerced into signing a statement against Hamilton, but he later refused to testify against Hamilton in court. But Thompson’s statement, as well as Cowen’s testimony and testimony about Hamilton’s character by a neighbor, were enough for a jury to convict Hamilton to a maximum of 80 years in prison.

“Chartier says Cowen’s testimony was a critical reason for the conviction, even though he was also instrumental in six other murder convictions, according to court documents.”

According to Northwestern University Law School’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, 45.9 percent of documented wrongful capital convictions (nationally) have been traced to false informant testimony, making “snitches the leading cause of wrongful convictions in U.S. capital cases.” https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1942&context=ggulrev

RAMON WARD, EXONERATED FEB. 2020, ALSO ‘SNITCH’ VICTIM 

Ramon Ward embraces Lacino Hamilton Sept. 30, 2020

Ramon Ward held Hamilton in an emotional bear hug as he left his attorney’s car, both recalling the years of wrongful incarceration they had experienced.

“We walked through the storm together,” Ward said. “I’m proud to be here to experience the joy again.” Ward said since his release, he has founded “Justice Denied,” an LLC meant to assist returning citizens.

Ward was there with Justice Denied’s co-founder, his fiancee Roeiah Epps, a UD-Mercy Law School graduate awaiting her bar exam results.

He said Justice Denied assists returning citizens, prisoners fighting wrongful convictions, and the wrongfully accused. It focuses particularly on exonerees, who do not receive immediate compensation for the years they spent behind bars, but must wait six months for Michigan’s  state fund to pay them. (It has been reported recently that the fund is temporarily depleted.} Any other compensation requires a lawsuit to be filed after an attorney is located.

Ward was exonerated last February after spending 27 years in prison for the 1994 shooting deaths of deaths of two women in Detroit. Cowen, the snitch in Hamilton’s case, and Joe Twilley, who testified in dozens of other cases, perjured themselves by claiming falsely that Ward confessed to them while they were housed together on DPD’s Ninth Floor.

PROSECUTOR DISMISSES MARVIN COTTON, ANTHONY LEGION CASES

Marvin Cotton MDOC photo

Anthony Legion MDOC photo

The day after Hamilton’s release, on Oct. 1,  Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced that her office had dismissed the cases of co-defendants Marvin Cotton and Anthony Legion, sentenced to life without parole for the 2001 murder of Jamon McIntyre in Detroit.

A third defendant, “positively” identified by the same witness who identified Cotton and Legion, was not tried after Detroit Police confirmed his alibi.

The release says these two dismissals are not considered “exonerations,” which would wipe the individuals’ records clear of the murder and qualify them for a state reimbursement fund. See full release at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Brady-violation-2020_October_1_-_Legion_and_Cotton_release_-_Final12146.pdf

“This is not a case of actual innocence,” Worthy’s communications director Maria Miller said. “This is a case where release was granted because of the Brady violation and the lies told by the jail house snitch.”

Cotton was released Oct. 1 after a judge granted his motion for relief from judgment and Worthy decided not to re-try him. Legion’s conviction in this case was vacated, but he remains in prison until Feb. 2021 related to another case.

“These cases all centered on the issue of identification,” Worthy said in a release. “The witness in Mr. Legion and Mr. Cotton’s cases who testified at trial was the same male identifying witness in the third defendant’s case, along with a male jail house informant.”

Marvin Cotton’s mother Sherena Fortune with paralegal Roberto Guzman at 2015 event.

The release says DPD’s chief investigative officer (CIO) in the case did not provide key evidence to the prosecution, in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in  Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).

Brady requires prosecutors to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense. The ruling holds the prosecution responsible for Brady violations by police.

The CIO is not identified in the release, but Worthy’s office has said that she will be releasing an updated Brady list of police and other law enforcement officers charged with crimes of dishonesty and other matters next week. No charges are pending against police and other officials who engineered the frame-up.

Metro Times Cover story on Marvin Cotton

In 2016, Ryan Felton wrote an article for the Metro Times, “Is Marvin Cotton Innocent,” as well as other articles examining likely wrongful convictions. He identified Ellis Frazier as the jailhouse informant recruited by police to testify against Cotton.

“More than a dozen years later, he has since pulled back his entire testimony, saying it was ‘completely fabricated and untrue.’ Felton wrote, noting that Frazier had provided an affidavit to Cotton affirming his statements. Felton quoted the following from the affidavit:

“I have never even met or talked to Marvin Cotton, and he did not confess to me about being a part of any crime like I testified to at the trial. All of the information and details in the police statement was pre-written and wholly composed by the homicide detective.”

Felton identified the DPD officers involved as Donald Hughes, Ernest Wilson, and Walter Bates.

RELATED: 

In this article on the exoneration of Ramon Ward, VOD urged investigations of other “Ring of Snitches” cases including Lacino Hamilton and Marvin Cotton  https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/02/28/ramon-ward-family-celebrate-release-after-27-yrs-on-false-conviction-when-will-100s-more-be-freed/

METRO TIMES ARTICLE ON MARVIN COTTON https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/after-15-years-convicted-murderer-persuades-court-to-re-examine-case/Content?oid=2464503

Ring of Snitches: How Detroit Police Slapped False Murder Convictions on Young Black Men

Published articles by Lacino Hamilton

https://muckrack.com/lacino-hamilton/articles

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The video above is publicly available on YouTube. Below is a PDF of the complete New York Times breaking story on Trump’s taxes, for those who cannot access the article directly. Hopefully this will mean the end of the Donald Trump “presidency.”

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Trump’s-Taxes-Show-Chronic-Losses-and-Years-of-Income-Tax-Avoidance-The-New-York-Times-compressed.pdf

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Above, Darrell Ewing’s mother LaSonya Dodson at rally for her son and others wrongfully convicted, outside Detroit’s Frank Murphy Hall July 2, 2020.

Derrico Searcy (l) and Darrell Ewing (r)

Ewing serving LWOP at Lakeland Correctional Facility, where 821 prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19, second highest number in MDOC

Ewing: “My case is a clear and convincing case of innocence.”

Federal and state judges ordered new trials 3 times since 2017 for Ewing and co-defendant Derrico Searcy

By Diane Bukowski

September 28, 2020

DETROIT — “I’m waging war and giving them all that I got,” Darrell Ewing says. “My case is a clear and convincing case of innocence.”

As the coronavirus ravages Michigan’s prisons and experts predict that a second wave is imminent, Ewing, 31, is battling for his freedom, hoping his fate will not become a death sentence.

He is serving life without parole at Lakeland Correctional Facility, where 812 prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19, the second highest number in the state’s prisons.

Three times since 2017, Federal and state court judges have ordered a new trial for Ewing and his co-defendant Derrico Searcy, finding that their constitutional right to a fair trial was violated a decade ago by juror misconduct.

Another man, Tyree Washington, has repeatedly confessed under oath to the crime for which the pair were convicted, the murder of J.B. Watson in Detroit in 2009.  He did not testify at the original trial, but is expected to do so at a re-trial.

Ewing’s mother LaSonya Dodson says he should have been released pending a new trial after U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood first ordered it in 2017, because of the imminent danger to his life at Lakeland and the court’s recognition that he had not received a fair trial.

But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy appealed Judge Page Hood’s order to the Sixth Circuit Court, which granted an evidentiary hearing instead. On remand, Judge Page Hood ordered an evidentiary hearing by the trial court:

“The petition for a writ of habeas corpus is again granted on petitioner’s second claim involving the use of extraneous influence. The grant is conditioned upon the state trial court conducting an evidentiary hearing on petitioner’s juror misconduct claim within 120 days of this Court’s order and making a determination as to whether the extraneous information had a prejudicial effect upon the jury’s verdict. If the judge so finds, he or she shall order a new trial for petitioner. Ewing v. Horton, 914 F.3d at 1031-34.”

Mich. 3rd Circuit Court Judge Michael Hathaway

The Honorable Denise Page Hood, U.S. District Court Judge

Third Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Hathaway held the hearing, and ordered a new trial for the two defendants Oct. 24, 2019, based on the dramatic testimony of juror Kathleen Byrnes.

“It is irrefutable that she had some doubts that were reasonable, based on the ID evidence and the confession of Mr. Washington, and that she was worn down by other jurors bringing extraneous information into the jury process,” Hathaway concluded. “Even the last witness admitted she went on Facebook. I have an order from Judge Denise Page Hood that I have to follow.”

AP Jon Wojtala is  on  Ewing/Searcy case.

WC Pros. Kym Worthy Campaign photo 

But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy delayed action by appealing to the state courts, which had already denied relief, rather than returning to Judge Page Hood’s court.

In a separate federal court filing Sept. 2, Ewing implored Judge Page Hood, “This Court held Petitioner receive a new trial, and not for the case to be appealed to an inferior court, steady wasting.  .  .already strained judicial resources.”

He called for an end to the judicial “merry-go-round” despite his innocence and “risk of passing due to COVID-19 as it steady rears its head at Petitioner’s facility, with 3 new cases today and already being fatal for over 69 [now 72] inmates in the DOC.”

Brentia Hutson, Darrell Ewing’s fiancee.

Ewing’s mother and fiancee Brentia Hutson have spoken with the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office about exoneration proceedings for him, but were told that it would be best for him to await the state court hearings.

Ewing, however, says all Prosecutor Worthy has to do to safeguard his life and that of his co-defendant is “move to stipulate and drop her appeal under MCR. 7.123 (F) as my case is a clear and convincing case of innocence.” That statute says, “The parties may stipulate regarding any issue on appeal or any part of the record on appeal if the stipulation is embodied in an order entered by the court.”

The CIU has facilitated its recent exonerations by having the prosecutor and defense stipulate on the court record to the reasons for the exoneration.

Darrell Ewing’s family and supporters at court. Mother LaSonya Dodson (3rd from left).

In its brief opposing Ewing’s motion for emergency habeas relief, currently under review in Judge Page Hood’s court, the State Attorney General’s office said in part, “Ewing appears to believe that the “spirit” of this Court’s grant of habeas relief was violated when the prosecutor filed an appeal from the trial court’s order granting him a new trial. Nonsense. This Court’s grant of relief mandated that a Remmer [evidentiary] hearing be held. . . .the denial of a Remmer hearing following a judicial misconduct claim supported by prima facie evidence—was remedied the moment the hearing was held.”

Ewing replied Sept. 3 that the AG left out the last sentence of Judge Page Hood’s order relating to the trial judge’s “determination whether the extraneous information had a prejudicial effect upon the jury’s verdict. If the judge so finds , he or she shall order a new trial for petitioner. Ewing v. Horton, 914 F.3d at 1031-34.”

“. . . . Wayne County Third Circuit Judge Michael Hathaway found prejudice and granted Petitioner a new trial, adhering to this Court’s decree,” Ewing said. “The Respondent [AG] however in an attempt to circumvent and undermine this Court’s authority filed an application for leave to appeal not on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Michigan Court of Appeals instead.”

He went on to ask Judge Page Hood to apply the doctrine of “Judicial Estoppel:”

A hearing in Judge Page Hood’s court on the matters above has not yet been set.

Nationally-known journalist/producer Maggie Freleng to air Ewing’s case

Meanwhile, Ewing says his hopes are buoyed by nationally-acclaimed journalist/producer  Maggie Freleng’s plans to feature his case on a podcast called “Unjust and Unsolved” on the Obsessed Network.

The podcast has already featured the stories of five wrongfully convicted people during its premiere this month.

“Unjust and Unsolved tells the stories of individuals across the nation who may be wrongfully incarcerated for crimes that remain unsolved,” writes Peter White of Deadline.

“Podcast host Maggie Freleng will take listeners inside the prison walls for first-person accounts and present evidence pointing away from their guilt. Episodes will also include interviews with loved ones, lawyers and other case experts to shed light on how these individuals wound up incarcerated for decades despite their innocence. It will launch in September.”

To follow “Unjust and unsolved, go to   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unjust-unsolved/id1527777879?uo=4  and https://www.maggiefreleng.com/unjust–unsolved.html.

Hey @Metallica @larsulrich @BookOfMetallicA Innocent man @freejamiesnow is a fan from behind bars! Can you please share his story?! He also oddly looks like James Hetfield! @ObsessedNet @patrickhinds https://t.co/jskrhiC8Ta

— Maggie Freleng (@maggiefreleng) September 17, 2020

“Truth always prevails at the end . . .It takes cases such as mine to come about shaking the foundation of the wickedness, exposing it at the same time for all to see so that perfection can be ushered in.” — Darrell Ewing

Derrico Searcy (l) and Darrell Ewing Ir) hear Judge Michael Hathaway grant new trial Oct. 24, 2019.

Related documents:

U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood’s order for a new trial:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Darrell-Ewing-habeas-corpus-grant-1.pdf

6th Circuit ruling on Michigan AG’s appeal of Judge Page Hood’s order

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ewing-6th-CC-2-5-19-compressed.pdf

Judge Denise Page Hood’s opinion on remand from Sixth Circuit Court:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Opinion-on-remand-Ewing_v_Woods__miedce-15-10523__0016.0.pdf

State AG objection to Darrell Ewing motion for emergency habeas relief:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/AG-response-Ewing_v_Woods__miedce-15-10523__0026.0-1.pdf

Darrell Ewing’s pro se response to State AG:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/DEwing-response-to-prosecutor-Ewing_v_Woods__miedce-15-10523__0030.0.pdf

Related stories:

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/07/12/free-darrell-ewing-two-judges-have-ordered-new-trials-in-innocence-case-kym-worthy-still-appeals/

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/10/27/darrell-ewing-derrico-searcy-win-new-trial-in-murder-case-after-nearly-two-decades/

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/09/17/ewing-searcy-hearing-on-jury-use-of-internet-research-on-gangs-in-2010-trial-to-continue-oct-4/

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/08/27/juror-in-2010-ewingsearcy-murder-trial-verdict-tainted-by-jurys-gang-related-internet-research/

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2019/02/14/sixth-circuit-orders-evidentiary-hearing-instead-of-new-trial-in-darrell-ewings-2010-murder-conviction/ 

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2017/11/27/fed-judge-strikes-down-darrell-ewing-conviction-due-to-jury-discussion-of-gang-social-media

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This year marks the 10^th anniversary of Voice of Detroit. It has been a struggle financially to keep the paper going, but we feel it is vital for those WITHOUT a voice. We do not charge for access to our articles, but appreciate whatever readers can donate.  Our ongoing expenses include quarterly HostPapa web charges of $380, P.O. box fee of $150/yr. and costs for research including court records, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please if you can:

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VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell, a trained “Prisoner Observation Aide,” decries mental health “treatment” afforded to MDOC residents

Drug regimen is the only focus, with no true therapy, counseling

25% of those confined in the MDOC diagnosed with severe mental illness

By Ricardo Ferrell 

VOD Field Editor

September 23, 2020

Ricardo Ferrell

Note: Ricardo Ferrell was trained to be a “Prisoner Observation Aide” and has had 8 years of experience in assisting prisoners thought to be in danger of committing suicide, and dealing with their mental health issues.

September has been designated as National Suicide Prevention Month. But the issue of mental illness in many ways is glossed over by high paid Qualified Mental Health Professionals (QMHP’s) who for the most part don’t seem to be too concerned about the mental health of prisoners. I have personally witnessed over a thousand severely mentally ill individuals suffer from acute disorders. During many of the episodes, I have to make decisions in breakneck speed as the situations are dire and could mean life or death for the individual.

In 2012, former MDOC director Daniel Heyns adopted a program from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, which tasks prisoners with watching suicidal inmates. He introduced the Prisoner Observation Aide Program, which consists of carefully selected prisoners receiving specialized training to become aides in visually observing those experiencing episodes of suicidal and self-injurious behavior, in an effort to prevent them from engaging in harmful behaviors.

“I was on the brink of losing my sanity. I had unknowingly been suffering for years from a Bipolar 1 Disorder, and it caused me all sorts of unwanted problems,” a 36-year-old man  housed in a Residential Treatment Programs  told me.  He is serving 15 years for Armed Robbery and Possessing a Firearm.

Kevin DeMott is a mentally ill inmate with bipolar and personality disorders. Corrections officers at the Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility chained DeMott to his bed and secured a padded helmet to his head after he refused to stop banging his head against the wall, which is stained with blood. 

He said he had episodes of extreme hyperactivity, a disrupted circadian rhythm (affecting sleep), flights of ideas, and impulsive moods that finally led to that diagnosis.

He said that after he received an accurate diagnosis in 2010, punitive measures were employed in response to his mental health symptoms, including numerous incidents of wrongful isolation, Additionally, inadequate medications such as Klonopin, Risperdal, and Lithium were prescribed.

During the administrations of Michigan Govs. John Engler and James Blanchard, the majority of mental institutions/hospitals were shutdown, sending many patients to live on the streets. Jails & prisons became immediate dumping grounds.

Today, there are roughly 10,000 inmates who have been diagnosed as severely mentally ill, which is just under 25% of the total Michigan Department of Corrections population. The MDOC has established Mental Health Services, which provide s prison-based services to prisoners with serious mental illness/severe disorders. But they still fall far short of meeting the needs of this group of individuals.

Mental health treatment for prisoners in Norway means unarmed guards, art and music therapy.

Mostly, you will see many of these people on any given day heavily prescribed various psychotropic medications, i.e., Haldol, Prolixine, Tegretol and other mind controlling drugs. Extensive counseling and psycho-therapeutical aspects of treatment which are needed are missing, and the treatment received lacks any real substance and value.

I have been on the frontline for the past eight years, observing individuals deal with their mental illnesses and rendering my skills and services trying to curtail and/or prevent them from engaging in suicidal and self-injurious behavior.

My role lets  me know of my worth in helping others. It gives me a sense of purpose, thus adding meaning to my life. What better way to make amends for my wrongs, especially where someone lost their life, then to be in a position to help save someone else’s life?

I was particularly touched when I learned of the suicide of Janika Edmund at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti. I was more disturbed due to the circumstances surrounding her untimely death. The investigation revealed that Edmund hung herself in a cell.

Shockingly, two employees, a corrections officer and a prison counselor in her housing unit, placed a bet, one saying she would commit suicide, the other saying she wouldn’t, But get this, you will never guess what the wager was. These uncaring individuals actually bet each other lunch, which goes to show what they think of the lives of people incarcerated.

There’s virtually no real accountability for the egregious actions of employees within the Michigan Department of Corrections. Their salaries are enormously inflated, as if their work peeformance actually merits the $25-$40 an hour jobs.

In Mental Health & Criminal Defense, Alex Bassos, JD, analyzes every aspect of a criminal case involving clients with mental health or cognitive issues and challenges attorneys to “push back against the state’s attempts to punish a person for having a mental illness.

Mental health services by psychologists, social workers and therapists in this system are a joke. They worsen the conditions of severely mentally ill inmates in the new mental institutions known as the MDOC.

With 95% of all Michigan prisoners eventually going to be released, one would think that those who suffer from mental illness would be properly assessed and treated by a Qualified Mental Health Professional. But the main objective seems to be simply putting this special needs group on psych meds and sending them on their merry way. In many instances where those individuals experience episodes of harmful behaviors to themselves, the approach by staff is punitive, rather than treating and helping to heal the individual.

Many prisoners who are housed in the Residential Treatment Program, are treated badly by prison guards with physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Where do we go from here? The reality is that those who suffer from severe mental illness do not belong in a prison setting, they should be in a mental institution where they can receive the professional help they need.

STOP WAREHOUSING THE MENTALLY ILL!

Related:

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/02/11/rush-to-judgment-judicial-bias-re-race-mental-illness-evident-in-michigan-lifers-convictions/

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/05/31/exposed-racist-frame-up-of-david-shelton-by-oakland-county-in-1993-rape-case/

The story above has been re-published as the cover story in this week’s Metro Times. VOD editor Diane Bukowski’s comment (above) was shared on Facebook and on Messenger, but those who do not participate in those platforms can see it here.

See VOD’s most recent article on the police murder of Hakim Littleton, with links to earlier articles at: 

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2020/08/31/dpd-chief-craig-continues-attack-on-hakim-littleton-killed-by-police-72020-using-false-claims/

See this week’s Metro Times cover story, re-published from Deadline Detroit at:

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/hakim-littleton-was-killed-for-shooting-at-police-detroit-was-his-undoing/Content?oid=25392039&utm_source=featurefollow&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=hpfeatures&utm_content=HomeTopFeature

U.S. District Court Judge Laurie J. Michelson grants 14 t0 28 day restraining order vs. DPD’s use of excessive force against protesters

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, State Sen. Stephanie Chang, 2 City Council members call for independent probe into DPD violence against protesters

Judge Michelson cites evidence from videos and other sources affirming claims of ‘Detroit Will Breathe’ re: unprovoked, brutal attacks, injuries

DPD Chief James Craig earlier that day claimed protesters have been violent  “outsiders, agitators, in some instances domestic terrorists”  

Donate to the Voice of Detroit: https://www.gofundme.com/VOD-readers-up

By Diane Bukowski

Sept. 5, 202o Updated Sept. 9, 2020

DETROIT– In a resounding ruling Sept. 4, U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Michelson enjoined the Detroit Police Department from further use of beatings, tear gas, rubber bullets, chokeholds and mass arrests against Detroit Will Breathe protesters for the next 14 to 28 days.

DWB responded that the ruling is  “… a victory to be sure, but it is the first battle in what’s about to be a long war.”

In the wake of the court ruling, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), State Sen. Stephanie Chang, and Detroit City Council Members Mary Sheffield and Raquel Castañeda-López sent a letter Sept. 8 to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Police Chief James Craig, and the City of Detroit Board of Police Commissioners demanding an immediate “full and independent” probe into the DPD’s alleged use of excessive force as cited by Judge Michelson.

But Craig and BOPC chairman Willie Bell continued to “gaslight” (as DWB leader Tristan Taylor said) both the federal Judge’s TRO and the letter from national and local leaders, denying all allegations without further investigation.

Judge Michelson ruled on a motion for a temporary restraining order filed by Detroit Will Breathe and 14 individual plaintiffs Aug. 31.

Her opinion validated the claims of hundreds of local participants, Black and white, largely youthful, in an ongoing global uprising against police violence sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis May 25.

The ruling landed on the eve of the 100th day of daily marches, just hours after Detroit Police Chief James Craig called protesters “outsiders, agitators and in some instances domestic terrorists,” as he spoke outside DPD headquarters downtown.

Protesters under arrest in the streets during police attack Aug. 22, 2020 Photo: Adam J. Dewey

Judge Michelson addressed various affidavits and exhibits presented by the plaintiffs.

Police beating of DWB medic Alexander Anest Aug. 22, 202

She said, “One of the affidavits contains Instagram links to video footage of an encounter between police and protestors on August 22, 2020. This video footage appears to show a line of Detroit police officers, dressed in riot gear and armed with batons, standing several feet away from protestors who can be heard chanting, ‘we don’t see no riots here, so why are you in riot gear?’

“This continues for several minutes. Then, suddenly, the officers appear to throw tear gas canisters into the crowd of protestors.

Kevin Kwart, severely beaten by cops after he offered shelter to protesters fleeing them.

“The police officers then advance on the crowd and grab, shove, and use batons to beat people standing at the front of the group. There is also footage of officers pursuing individuals who are running or walking away from the chaos, apparently not posing any threat, and violently shoving them into the ground or a building.”

She noted that she is not alone in issuing the temporary restraining order requested.

“Court notes that in issuing a TRO, it joins the approach taken by its sister courts in a number of cities who have analyzed similar claims and issued similar injunctions.”

Judge Michelson cited orders issued by judges across the U.S., including “Don’t Shoot Portland; Black Lives Matter Seattle; Anti Police-Terror Project v. City of Oakland.” (cites omitted.)

See full order at  http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/DWB-Judge-Michelson-TRO-9-4-20-2.pdf

DWB co-organizer Nakia Wallace in chokehold during protest July 10, 2010 v. police execution of Hakim Littleton.

Plaintiff’s attorney Amanda Ghannam, speaking at a press conference Aug. 31, said the DPD, with the tacit consent of the City of Detroit under Mayor Mike Duggan, had continuously attacked peaceful protesters in downtown Detroit and throughout its neighborhoods without any provocation. She said the attacks began the first day of protests May 29 and continued through the night of Aug. 22.

In addition to Detroit Will Breathe, the lawsuit named individual plaintiffs: Tristan Taylor, Nakia Wallace, Jazten Bass, Lauren Rosen, Lauryn Brennan, Amy Nahabedian, Zachary Kolodziej, Lauren Branch, Lillian Ellis, Olivia Puente,  Iman Saleh, Margaret Henige, Caylee Arnold, And Alexander Anest.

It contains shocking photos and accounts of the attacks on individual plaintiffs, which it says resulted in severe injuries whose effects sometimes lasted for weeks. They included fractures and other effects from beatings (e.g. broken pelvis, broken ribs, collapsed lung, blackened eyes), severe injuries from rubber bullets, concussions resulting in nausea, difficulty sleeping, and confusion for days, and others.

See full lawsuit at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Detroit-WIll-Breathe-federal-lawsuit-2020-08-31-DWB-Complaint-compressed-1.pdf

Rubber bullet injury to woman protester’s chest.

Judge Michelson’s order lent strength to demands that Chief Craig resign, presented by  Detroit Will Breathe in coalition with 35 other civil rights groups at a press conference Sept. 3.

Speakers at the event condemned not only the  brutality against protesters, but the validity of Craig’s blanket claims justifying the killing of Hakim Littleton July 10, and three subsequent shootings of Detroiters, two of them fatal, by Detroit police during the two and one-half weeks after Littleton was executed.

“Right now in Detroit you cannot believe the kind of stress and the fear put on our communities by the Detroit Police Department,” Darryl Jordan, co-director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), said at the event Sept. 3.

“Just a little while ago, we had four people shot, three people dead, in two-and-a-half weeks. That’s not right. . .you know people who are suspect of crimes don’t supposed to get the death penalty in the streets. People who are out here just exercising their constitutional rights don’t supposed to get beat up, gassed and just pushed all around. We all need to rise up and do what we need to do.” Statement by coalition is at:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/More-than-35-Groups-Demand-Chief-Craig-resign.pdf

Craig later called protesters “outsiders, agitators, in some instances domestic terrorists,”  in a report published on WWJ Radio. (See above.)

In response to the groups’ demand, Craig said he was not “going anywhere.”  He told Detroit News reporter George Hunter that he questions whether Detroit Will Breathe intends to be peaceful, citing a video of an earlier march posted on their Facebook page.

Craig pointed out the following comments to Hunter, who quoted them.

“It’s a lot of m—–f—— who are ready for a fight, and if we don’t prepare for that fight before these cops continue to escalate, because they will, then somebody is going to die, and there’s going to be a war, and we won’t be prepared. We need to start planning to be less nice to the police. . . They need a deterrent.”

Enhancement of DPD video shows execution of Hakim Littleton with bullet #10 July 10, 2020.

In fact, comments by Jordan and the unidentified protester are likely reactions to an alarming explosion of police terror across the U.S., involving both local law enforcement agencies and federal agents operating in a dozen cities including Detroit, under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Operation Legend.”

DPD Chief Craig has unequivocally endorsed the agents’ presence in Detroit, where OL representatives announced that they have so far racked up 44 arrests on various charges.

Detroit Gang Squad Police who executed Hakim Littleton July 10 were serving a federal warrant on another youth, Darnell Sylvester, when Littleton happened on the scene. Sylvester was later released on a $10,000 bond by a Federal judge in Detroit, with instructions to appear in the North Dakota District Court, where the warrant originated. To date, no further action has been posted on the federal court PACER website.

WOMEN LAWMAKERS JOIN JUDGE; CALL CRAIG, DUGGAN TO ACCOUNT IN LETTER DEMANDING INDEPENDENT PROBE INTO DPD VIOLENCE

State Sen. Stephanie Chang, City Council members Raquel Castañeda-López and Mary Sheffield, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib AP file photos

Just as DPD Chief Craig denounced the federal court restraining order issued by Judge Michelson (a woman), he and Board of Police Commissioners Chairman Willie Bell have also written off a letter they received Sept. 8 calling for an independent probe into the DPD’s violence against protesters, sent by higher government officials including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Michigan State Rep. Stephanie Chang, along with Detroit City Council members Raquel Castañeda-López and Mary Sheffield.

BOPC Chair Willie Bell

Mayor  Duggan, Craig

“We are writing to request an immediate full, independent investigation of the Detroit Police Department’s use of excessive force against protestors, legal observers and journalists in recent months,” the women wrote.

“The right to demonstrate, without fear of violence, incarceration or intimidation from law enforcement, is at the core of our democracy. . .We urge an immediate independent investigation of any and all use of excessive physical force or intimidation against protestors, journalists, or legal observers at all Detroit Will Breathe protests and other related events.”

http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/LTR-DugganCraig-IndInv9.8.20.pdf

POLICE ARRESTS, KILLINGS NATIONALLY PAINT ALARMING PICTURE

FILE – In this July 30, 2020, file photo, a demonstrator is pepper sprayed shortly before being arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, challenging the legality of the actions taken by U.S. agents sent by President Donald Trump to subdue protests in Portland. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Portland

National Public Radio (NPR) published a review of federal charges against 74 protesters in Portland Oregon.

A bloodied demonstrator is arrested by federal police during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Monday in Portland, Ore.
(Noah Berger / Associated Press)

They quoted Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf : “‘We’ve seen about 300 arrests across this country regarding civil unrest and protest, violent protesting, I’d say criminal protesting, criminal rioting. About 100 of those have been in Portland specifically, and I know the Department of Justice has charged about 74 or 75 individuals in Portland there with different federal crimes.'”

“But an NPR review of the federal cases brought in Portland shows that the majority of the charges are for what could be considered minor offenses.

“As of Aug. 28, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon had charges outstanding against 74 people in connection with the Portland unrest,” NPR said. “. . .Of those cases charged, 11 are for citations and 42 are for misdemeanors, meaning that more than 70% of the total charged cases are not felonies.” See:  https://www.npr.org/2020/09/05/909245646/review-of-federal-charges-in-portland-unrest-show-most-are-misdemeanors

Michael Reinoehl at protest outside Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s residence. Credit The Oregonian

On Sept. 3, a “federal fugitive task force” killed Michael Reinoehl, a father of two children, in Lacey, Washington, in a hail of bullets for the shooting death of Aaron J.Danielson.

Danielson was one of a brigade of armed supporters of U.S. Pres. Donald Trump,  who clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters.

The task force has refused to identify the cops responsible for Reinoehl’s killing, saying they will do so after an investigation is complete. They have also refused to release bodycam videos.

Reinoehl never admitted to the action but said it was necessary self-defense, in a video posted on Vice News days before he was killed, which likely outed him to the authorities.

Reinoehl had worked security for the Portland Black Lives Matter protesters for months. The New York Times quoted a close friend, Randle McCorkle, who said, “Nightly, he would break up fights. He wanted change so badly.”

He added that he hoped his death would bring more BLM protesters out. “’I was going to say radicalize, but galvanize is a better word,” he said. “Honestly, I’m going to try to step into his shoes.’”

Chicago

Vigil for Manuel Vega Sept. 5 after he was killed by Chicago police. Telemundo TV Chicago

On Sept. 1, Chicago police shot Manuel Vega, 20, in the back of the head, killing him, in the city’s Pilsen district. They claimed a group of men had just shot at them and they were returning fire, but Vega’s family and neighbors denied that Vega had shot at the police, holding a vigil and march afterwards.

See https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2020/9/5/21424597/miguel-vega-erik-pilsen-police-shooting-19th-loomis-march

Different car featured as the suspects’ vehicle.

Craig claimed this white Kia’s occupants fired at police.

That killing recalls DPD Chief James Craig’s immediate reaction  to gunshots allegedly fired at Detroit police Aug. 27, outside a motel at Telegraph and McNichols.

He said three individuals in a white Kia carried out the shootings, then sped away and crashed. The Kia was not spotted until an hour afterwards. Two of the individuals were arrested and taken to the hospital. DPD and federal agents are still seeking the other unnamed individual, whose photo they posted. Meanwhile, news media posted another photo of a different vehicle that had crashed and was thought to be the one involved.

Nothing further has been released by DPD, just as no further information has been forthcoming on the police killings of Hakim Littleton and two other men in a three-week period in July, 2020.

Video below was published by Detroit Will Breathe on their Facebook page. ARE THESE DOMESTIC TERRORISTS AS CHIEF CRAIG CALLED THEM?

DETROIT WILL BREATHE https://www.facebook.com/detroitwillbreathe/

Also see: https://www.detroitnews.com/picture-gallery/news/local/detroit-city/2020/09/06/detroit-breathe-marks-100-days-protest-george-floyd-racial-injustice/5733303002/

• DPD CHIEF CRAIG CONTINUES ATTACK ON HAKIM LITTLETON, KILLED BY POLICE 7/20/20, USING FALSE CLAIMS
• COPS AT SCENE SUPPORTED TEEN WHO KILLED 2 KENOSHA PROTESTERS; WHITMER SENDS NAT.’L GUARD TO AID THEM
• KENOSHA,WI COPS SHOOT BLACK DAD 8 TIMES IN BACK; DETROIT COPS ATTACK PROTEST VS. FEDS, ARREST 42
• WOULD DETROIT POLICE HAVE KILLED HAKIM LITTLETON IF HE WAS WHITE?
• PROTESTERS TELL CHILLING STORIES OF DETROIT POLICE ABUSE DURING MARCHES AFTER GEORGE FLOYD MURDER
• DETROIT POLICE CHALLENGED OVER FACE RECOGNITION FLAWS, BIAS IN CASE OF ROBERT WILLIAMS

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NOTE: THE HEADLINE FOR THIS ARTICLE INCORRECTLY LISTED THE DATE OF HAKIM LITTLETON’S DEATH, WHICH WAS JULY 10, 2020. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE A VOD STORY HEADLINE AFTER PUBLICATION BECAUSE THE STORY WILL DISAPPEAR. 

Video analysis by Detroit Coalition for Police Accountability of Littleton’s execution available again (above) after censorship by FB, other platforms

Despite earlier claim that DPD continuing investigation of Littleton’s death, Craig now ramps up attack on him, other DPD victims with innuendo,  falsehoods

Cites charges brought against Littleton 3 years ago when he was still a juvenile; Littleton had no other record when DPD gang squad killed him.

By Diane Bukowski

August 31, 2020

Hakim Littleton (family photo)

DETROIT — A video analysis by the Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency (C-PAT) of police bodycam videos showing the execution of Hakim Littleton, 20, by Detroit Gang Squad police on July 10, 2020, is once again available.

Facebook and other platforms earlier blocked the publication of the video, causing it to be erased from VOD’s earlier stories. VOD is now re-publishing it.

C-PAT analyzed two separate bodycam videos side by side, and identified 10 shots fired. Craig claimed police fired four and Littleton fired four, totaling eight. The 10th shot was to Hakim’s head at point-blank range, as he lay already wounded on the ground with a cop sitting on top of him.

Littleton had happened on the cops clad in bullet-proof vests, brandishing assault weapons, as they arrested another youth on Detroit’s west side. Littleton’s  death sparked uprisings in the neighborhood and a mass protest outside DPD’s 12th Precinct.

Hakim Littleton’s Uncle Asar Amen-Ra speaks at press conference July 23.

To date, DPD Chief James Craig has not released the names of the cops involved in Littleton’s killing, forensics evidence, or any other pertinent information demanded by community advocates.

Complete information including names of all involved in three other DPD shootings, two fatal, in the weeks subsequent to Littleton’s death also remains undisclosed.

The Detroit News published a story Aug. 13 on the call by 15 community organizations for an investigation into Littleton’s death, providing the full C-PAT video through an obscure link.

The story included a family photo of Littleton, but the News reverted to its previous use of a three-year-old Michigan Department of Corrections photo of Littleton in its Aug. 29 story on conflicts between DPD and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office over plea bargains. (See link at bottom of this story.)

In the video above, Channel 7 cited the DPD response to C-PAT’s claims, which noted it was still under investigation and regretted any loss of life, evidently backing off from Craig’s boast that Littleton’s killing was completely justified.

But the Aug. 29 News story renewed the attack on Littleton, reporting Craig’s claim that Littleton and other “violent criminals” like him should never have been given plea deals and probation.

Protest July 10 after death of Hakim Littleton.

“Three years before the incident [the police killing of Littleton), Littleton was charged with armed robbery, which carries up to a life sentence, but he cut a plea deal that kept him out of prison,” reporter George Hunter wrote.

“Littleton’s case is an example of an ongoing problem, Craig said. ‘We arrest these violent criminals, but in so many cases they get a plea deal and go back on the street to commit more crimes, and then everyone blames the police if crime goes up,’ the police chief said.”

DPD Chief James Craig and cops in one of 18 raids through Detroit neighborhoods. 

Hunter cited alleged offenses by Littleton on August 10, 2017,  when Littleton was still 17 and legally a juvenile.

“On Aug. 10, 2017, Littleton allegedly broke into a house on the 16800 block of Wildemere on the city’s west side, pulled out a pistol and robbed the homeowner, making off with the victim’s cellphone and headphones,” Hunter wrote. “Police arrested Littleton and charged him with armed robbery. Court records show a week later, Littleton was charged in a separate case with felonious assault. Prosecutors offered Littleton a deal: Plead guilty to unarmed robbery, and he’d stay out of prison and get probation. He took the deal and was given probation.”

Hunter did not indicate where he got the version he cites of the alleged break-in and charges.

The Register of Actions for the case shows that Hunter’s account is factually inaccurate.

Judge Dalton A. Roberson, Jr. sentenced Littleton to BOOT CAMP and THREE YEARS OF PROBATION after he pled guilty to the offenses of “weapons–felony firearm” and “unarmed robbery” on Jan. 5, 2018. An armed robbery charge was dismissed.

In the “separate case” cited by Hunter, the ROA says Littleton  was charged with “Interfering With Crime Report-committing a Crime/threatening to kill or injure,” and “Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Felonious Assault) on Aug. 18, 2017. Those charges were separately dismissed by Judge Ulysses Boykin March 16, 2018.

See Register of Actions for both cases at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Hakim-Littleton-ROA-2.pdf

Craig later employed similar unfounded allegations and innuendo to explain two fatal and one non-fatal DPD shootings in the two weeks subsequent to Littleton’s death.

Detroit News article:  https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/08/29/detroit-police-james-craig-wayne-prosecutor-kym-worthy-plea-deals/3407614001/

Related:

Community statement on the killing of Hakim Littleton: https://www.aclumich.org/en/press-releases/community-statement-killing-hakim-littleton

• COPS AT SCENE SUPPORTED TEEN WHO KILLED 2 KENOSHA PROTESTERS; WHITMER SENDS NAT.’L GUARD TO AID THEM
• KENOSHA,WI COPS SHOOT BLACK DAD 8 TIMES IN BACK; DETROIT COPS ATTACK PROTEST VS. FEDS, ARREST 42
• WAYNE CO. PROSECUTOR KYM WORTHY MUST GO! VOTE FOR VICTORIA BURTON-HARRIS AUG. 4 IN DEM. PRIMARY
• WOULD DETROIT POLICE HAVE KILLED HAKIM LITTLETON IF HE WAS WHITE?

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This month. August 2020, marks the 10^th anniversary of the Voice of Detroit. It has been a struggle financially to keep VOD going, but we feel it is vital for those WITHOUT a voice. We do not charge for access to our articles, as do the News and Free Press, but appreciate whatever readers can donate.  Our ongoing costs include quarterly HostPapa web charges of $380, P.O. box fee of $150/yr. and costs for research including court records, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated.

Please if you can

DONATE TO VOD at

https://www.gofundme.com/VOD-readers-up

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Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, murdered anti-racists protesting the attempted murder of Jacob Blake, police in armored cars nearby; another Dylann Roof

In Detroit July 10:”Would cops have killed Hakim Littleton if he was white?”

In Detroit, will Craig use the police to target the oppressors of its residents, including landlords, mortgage firms, and banks, instead of the poor?

In Michigan, would Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,  joining Alabama and Arizona’s Republican governors, have sent National Guard to stop Kyle Rittenhouse?

By Diane Bukowski

Editorial

August 29, 2020

Hakim Littleton

Execution by cop July 10

DETROIT–In a July 11 article for the Pulse Institute titled “Would Police Have Killed Hakim Littleton If He Was White,” attorney Tina M. Patterson asked why Detroit gangster cops executed 20-year-old Hakim Littleton July 10 after he fired a shot as they approached with guns drawn, ready to kill. Littleton’s death set off days of protest across Detroit.

In contrast, Patterson said, cops nationally have treated white racist killers of Blacks with deference.

Patterson wrote, “Most egregiously, mass murderer and white supremacist, Dylann Roof, was taken into custody without incident by authorities after he murdered 9 Black members of a historically black church, ‘Mother’ Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Charleston, South Carolina, including its senior pastor Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, who was also a sitting state senator at the time of his murder.

Kyle Rittenhouse

Cops who arrested Dylan Roof gave killer Burger King and protective vest

“Infamously, the police purchased Burger King for Roof, who was allegedly hungry after committing such heinous crimes, an act that validated his humanity despite his cold-blooded and intentional execution of Black life.”

On Aug. 25, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, working with an “Atta Boys” vigilante gang in Kenosha, Wisconsin, became another example validating Patterson’s words.

Cops in armored vehicles, at the site of massive protests against the attempted murder of young Black father Jacob Blake by white cops, welcomed the gun-toting teen and his buddies.

They handed out water to them moments before Rittenhouse shot two protesters to death, then did not arrest Rittenhouse after he tried to surrender as bystanders shouted, “He just killed those people down there.” Rittenhouse made it all the way back to his home in Antioch, Illinois before he was finally arrested without incident.

Mich. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses battalion of National Guard.

Meanwhile, Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the Republican governors of Alabama and Arizona, Kay Ivey and Doug Duce, respectively, in sending National Guard troops to Kenosha.

While posing as the state’s savior against COVID-19, Whitmer has refused to protect over 40,000 prisoners in the Michigan Department of Corrections from COVID-19 in the only real way possible considering the impossibility of social distancing there. From the beginning, advocates have said she must release the the thousands who have been eligible for parole for decades, over 200 juvenile lifers who have not been resentenced, and the many hundreds of prisoners framed by police and prosecutors across the state.

Michigan’s National Guard is most notorious for its use during the 1967 Detroit rebellion, which ended with the deaths of over 43 Detroiters, most of them Black.

Ivey presided over the state execution in March of Nathaniel Woods for allegedly killing three cops, a crime he and his family have always contended he didn’t commit.

Arizona is also a death penalty state, with 119 prisoners on death row. This week, Arizona Governor Duce was a guest of U.S. President Donald Trump during his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Would Whitmer, Ivey and Duce have sent their National Guard troops to Kenosha to protect Jacob Blake and of dozens of other Black residents killed and brutalized by the city’s cops, or the lives of those who turned out by the thousands to protest for days after Blake was shot 7 times in the back in front of his kids? The armed forces of the state who are already present there made clear which side they were on.

DPD Chief James Craig said Detroiters should get concealed carry permits.

Would Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has viciously condemned protesters from Detroit Will Breathe and ordered them tear-gassed, brutalized and arrested, have used his  cops to protect George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, or the tens of thousands of people who have flooded cities across the world for months since their murders by police?

With the assistance of Trump and his Attorney General William Barr, Craig has instead heightened attacks on Black residents of this poverty-stricken city by “gang squads” who roam the city’s streets with abandon, killing people like Littleton and two others within the weeks afterwards, and targeting people who arm themselves in self-defense.

Ironically,  Craig earlier recommended well-to-do Detroiters should get concealed carry permits, to protect themselves from poorer residents who are already under siege not only by the police, but also by landlords, mortgage companies, and the corporations and banks.

Craig’s outrage at the possibility that some of those residents, who felt the attack on Jacob Blake deeply as have hundreds of professional athletes across the U.S., would have the audacity to target police who protect the slaveholders, is nothing but blatant hypocrisy. (See video below.)

Related: 

• KENOSHA,WI COPS SHOOT BLACK DAD 8 TIMES IN BACK; DETROIT COPS ATTACK PROTEST VS. FEDS, ARREST 42
• WOULD DETROIT POLICE HAVE KILLED HAKIM LITTLETON IF HE WAS WHITE?
• PROTESTERS TELL CHILLING STORIES OF DETROIT POLICE ABUSE DURING MARCHES AFTER GEORGE FLOYD MURDER
• S. HOUSE BILL: DISMANTLE MASS INCARCERATION, RELEASE PRISONERS FACING COVID-19 DEATH SENTENCE
• KYM WORTHY PROSECUTED MARYANNE GODBOLDO TO DEATH; STALLS JUVENILE LIFER RESENTENCINGS
• PROTESTERS URGE WHITMER TO RELEASE MICHIGAN INMATES FACING RISK OF CORONAVIRUS IN STATE PRISONS
• WAYNE CO. JAIL RESIDENTS SAY MANY SICK, DYING WITH COVID-19; MDOC PRISONERS SAY LARGE NUMBERS TOO

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This month. August 2020, marks the 10^th anniversary of the Voice of Detroit. It has been a struggle financially to keep VOD going, but we feel it is vital for those WITHOUT a voice. We do not charge for access to our articles, as do the News and Free Press, but appreciate whatever readers can donate.  Our ongoing costs include quarterly HostPapa web charges of $380, P.O. box fee of $150/yr. and costs for research including court records, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated.

Please if you can

DONATE TO VOD at

https://www.gofundme.com/VOD-readers-up

*********************************************************************************