AFTER 41 YEARS IN PRISON, MUMIA ABU-JAMAL MAY FINALLY GET A CHANCE FOR NEW TRIAL

Exculpatory evidence suggests the prosecutor in Mumia’s trial bribed star witnesses to testify, wrongly excluded Black jurors.

UN experts file amicus brief; cite “violations of minimum international standards safeguarding fairness of legal proceedings.”

Defense brief at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Mumia-Abu-Jamal-defense-brief-MAJ-PCRA-Dec.-2021-w-Exhibits-1.pdf

By Marjorie Cohn 

TRUTHOUT

December 13, 2022

Pam Africa of M.O.V.E. and free Mumia Abu-Jamal campaign addresses rally in 2018.

Award-winning journalist and author Mumia Abu-Jamal has been in prison for 41 years in a case infused with racism. The 68-year-old is a former Black Panther and the author of a dozen books, including the celebrated Live from Death Row.

After his 1982 conviction in the killing of police officer Daniel Faulkner, Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death. In 2011, his sentence was reduced to life without the possibility of parole. Abu-Jamal has a serious heart condition and other life-threatening health problems.

Mumia and his young family; wife Wadiya (2nd from l) passed Dec. 27, 2022 according to news reports.

Faulkner stopped Abu-Jamal’s younger brother William Cook on the morning of December 9, 1981. Abu-Jamal, who was driving a taxi, coincidentally drove by and came to his brother’s assistance. Following a shootout, Faulkner was shot and killed. Abu-Jamal was shot in the stomach.

On December 16, Judge Lucretia Clemons in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas will decide whether Abu-Jamal will receive a new trial. His attorneys, Judith Ritter, Samuel Spital and Bret Grote, argue that if the jury had heard newly discovered evidence that was withheld from him and not presented at his murder trial, Abu-Jamal would not have been convicted. On October 26, Clemons indicated her intent to deny Abu-Jamal’s petition for a new trial but she will make a final decision on December 16 after hearing from the parties in the case.

Prosecution Failed to Give Defendant Exonerating Evidence in Violation of Brady v. Maryland

One of many thousands of protests world-wide in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

In 2018, one month after his election as Philadelphia district attorney, Larry Krasner reported discovering six file boxes of documents that had never been disclosed to Abu-Jamal’s lawyers. They were labeled “Mumia” or “Abu-Jamal.” The defense first received them in January 2019.

The newly discovered boxes contained material evidence suggesting that one of the government’s star witnesses had been offered a payoff for his testimony, and the other eyewitness to the shooting had been promised leniency in her pending criminal cases in exchange for her testimony. There was no other evidence directly connecting Abu-Jamal to the killing.

These boxes also held the prosecutor’s handwritten notes indicating he was discriminatorily excluding Black people from Abu-Jamal’s jury.

Since Abu-Jamal’s murder trial, flaws and inconsistencies have come to light leading to widespread calls around the world for his release. His case has become a cause celebre, emblematic of racism in the criminal legal system.

“It shocks the conscience that in a post-George Floyd world, Abu-Jamal won’t get relief. He was beaten within an inch of his life by police after having been shot in the stomach by Officer Faulkner,” Johanna Fernández, an associate professor of U.S. history, wrote to Truthout in an email.

Prof. Johanna Fernandez

“The prosecutor bribed a testimony out of star witness Robert Chobert, who was driving with two DUIs, no license and had been convicted of throwing a Molotov Cocktail into a schoolyard.

“The judge was overheard saying by a court stenographer, ‘I’m going to help them (the jury) fry the n*****,” Fernández, who is the writer and executive producer of the film Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, added. “The only thing Mumia is guilty of is having survived an encounter with the dirty Philly cops, under investigation at the time by the DOJ for brutality, corruption and tampering with evidence to obtain convictions.”

The Supreme Court held in Brady v. Maryland that when the prosecution suppresses evidence favorable to the accused, it violates due process if the evidence is material to guilt or punishment, regardless of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecutor. There is a Brady violation when there is a “reasonable probability” that if the evidence had been disclosed to the defense the result of the trial would have been different.

The Star Prosecution Witness Was Apparently Offered a Payoff for His Testimony

Trial Prosecutor Joseph McGill

One of the new documents was a letter from witness Robert Chobert to the prosecutor Joseph McGill that suggested a payoff in exchange for his testimony against Abu-Jamal. “I have been calling you to find out about the money own [sic] to me. Do you need me to sign anything. How long will it take to get it,” Chobert wrote.

In their petition, Abu-Jamal’s attorneys argued that this letter suggests Chobert “understood there to be some prior agreement or understanding between himself and the prosecution, such that the prosecution ‘owed’ him money for his testimony.”

The newly discovered letter corroborates Chobert’s trial testimony that the prosecutor offered to reinstate his suspended taxi drivers license if he retracted his claim that the shooter, who did not look like Abu-Jamal, had run from the scene.

There is a reasonable probability that but for the prosecution’s failure to give this letter to the defense, Abu-Jamal would not have been convicted of murder.

The Other Witness to the Shooting Likely Received Leniency for Her Testimony

Cynthia White was the only other witness besides Chobert who testified that she saw Abu-Jamal shoot Faulkner. A sex worker who was vulnerable to coercion, White was also apparently promised inducements for her testimony. At the time of the trial, she was in prison in Massachusetts and there were five criminal cases pending against her.

Chief Judge Lucretia Clemons, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court

The newly discovered boxes included letters from the district attorney’s office to prosecutors handing White’s five current cases.

These letters, according to Abu-Jamal’s attorneys, “reveal a concerted effort by Mr. McGill and several Philadelphia D.A. Unit Chiefs to bring Ms. White back from Massachusetts, secure an early trial date in order to expedite her release, and ultimately allow her cases to be dismissed for lack of prosecution.”

Abu-Jamal’s lawyers maintain that this favorable treatment was calculated to make “life easier for her in exchange for her testimony against Abu-Jamal.”

In addition, Yvette Williams, also a former sex worker, swore in a 2002 affidavit, “I was in jail with Cynthia White in December of 1981 after Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed. Cynthia White told me the police were making her lie and say she saw Mr. Jamal shoot Officer Faulkner when she really did not see who did it.”

There is a reasonable probability that Abu-Jamal would not have suffered a murder conviction if the prosecution had provided these letters to the defense.

Moreover, if the letters regarding inducements to both Chobert and White had been disclosed, there is an even greater chance that Abu-Jamal would have been acquitted of murder. They were the only witnesses who testified that Abu-Jamal was the shooter.

Judge Clemons wrote in her notice of intent to dismiss that any Brady error was not material (prejudicial) because Abu-Jamal would have been convicted anyway. Abu-Jamal’s lawyers responded that the prosecutor relied heavily on the credibility of Chobert’s testimony in his closing argument. They also responded that although White was impeached at trial with her numerous prior criminal charges, she was not confronted with the prosecutor’s promise of leniency (which the defense did not know about at the time of trial).

The Prosecutor Indicated Intent to Exclude Black Jurors in Violation of Batson v. Kentucky

In Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court held that a Black defendant is denied equal protection when members of his race have been purposefully excluded from the jury. The defendant must make a prima facie case by showing that the prosecutor exercised his challenge on the basis of race. Then the prosecutor must present a race-neutral reason from excluding the juror. The court then decides whether the defendant has demonstrated purposeful discrimination.

Atty. Heidi Boghosian is at right.

The newly discovered boxes contained prosecutor McGill’s handwritten notes which show that he marked a large “B” next to potential jurors who were Black. During voir dire, 10 of the 15 people McGill struck from the jury were Black. He thus prevented 71 percent of prospective Black jurors from serving on Abu-Jamal’s jury.

It is “not surprising” that McGill used 10 of his 15 challenges to exclude qualified Black people from Abu-Jamal’s jury, attorney Heidi Boghosian, former executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote in an email to Truthout.

“Philadelphia has a deep-rooted Batson problem, or racial discrimination in jury selection,” Boghosian wrote. “From 1977-1986, its district attorney struck 58 percent of potential Black jurors, compared with 22 percent of white ones. In the homicide cases that McGill tried from September 1981 to October 1983, he peremptorily challenged African American jurors 8.47 times more than non-black ones.”

“The newly discovered evidence supports a Batson claim,” Boghosian said. “It must be reviewed, not only in fairness to Abu-Jamal, but also to redress the city’s racially discriminatory tradition.”

Clemons wrote in her notice of intent to dismiss that Abu-Jamal’s Batson claim was waived because he didn’t object at trial and on direct appeal. Abu-Jamal’s attorneys responded that his Batson claim was not waived because it was based on newly discovered evidence. They also wrote that the new McGill notes were relevant to his purposeful state of mind in exercising his challenges to exclude Blacks from the jury.

UN Experts Express “Serious Concern” About Racial Discrimination in Abu-Jamal’s Case

In 2000, Amnesty International found “that numerous aspects of this case clearly failed to meet minimum international standards safeguarding the fairness of legal proceedings,” and therefore “the interests of justice would best be served by the granting of a new trial to Mumia Abu-Jamal.”

Julia Wright

Twenty-two years later, UN experts are expressing “serious concern” about racial discrimination in Abu-Jamal’s case. “The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) has followed Mumia’s case for years and has just filed an amicus brief for his hearing,” Julia Wright, elder daughter of renowned author Richard Wright, told Truthout. 

“Given instances of the pervasive systemic racism tainting the case to this day, these experts note that international human rights law requires jurists to take responsibility for ongoing effects of racial discrimination, even decades later.” Julia Wright is founder of the Mumia Health Committee, for whom she liaises with the WGEPAD at the United Nations.

According to WGEPAD’s amicus brief, “a significant percentage of the police officers involved in gathering evidence and presenting the case were investigated and eventually convicted and jailed on charges including corruption and evidence tampering, information that was unavailable to the jury at the time it was assessing the credibility, tendency toward bias, and reliability of these officers.”

It took 37 years for the prosecution to turn over exculpatory evidence to Abu-Jamal’s legal team. If progressive prosecutor Larry Krasner had not been elected district attorney of Philadelphia, the six boxes of evidence would still be collecting dust. It is high time to grant Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial in which a jury that hasn’t been selected in an overtly racist manner can hear all the evidence.

Alternate analysis of Judge Clemons’ ruling on Mumia:

Mumia’s Judge on Racism and Justice | Love Not Phear

In a shocking reprieve, Judge Lucretia Clemons ordered the District Attorney to open up all of their files to Mumia Abu-Jamal’s defense team. Judge Clemons, stayed for the moment, her “intent to dismiss” notice. She stated she would rule in 60-90 days on Mumia’s request for a new trial.

Asst. Philadelphia DA Grady Gervino

peaking directly to all parties from the bench, she said “I do not want to return to this issue again. I want, once and for all, to resolve all of these questions.”

Prior to her surprising directive, which occurred at the very close of a contentious hearing, there had been no indication that Judge Clemons would be sympathetic to granting relief. Her questions regarding the “Batson Claim”, specifically notes taken by prosecutor Joseph McGill during the original trial, in which he actively tracked the race of prospective jurors, did not recognize the very basis of Batson v. Kentucky.

Striking even one juror because of a racial consideration is a violation of the potential jurors’ rights as well as the defendants constitutional rights. She seemed to assume, despite evidence to the contrary, that the DA’s office in 1982 was color blind and had no animus. She also did not waiver from her written decision on the “Brady Issue” that the two main prosecutor’s “eyewitnesses” even if they did lie, was not necessary, “not material” for the conviction. Meaning even if they were paid or incentivized for their testimony that information would not have impacted the deliberations of even one juror. 

During arguments Judge Clemons did not probe prosecutor Grady Gervino’s mischaracterizations of the law and the record. She did not address or expose his omissions. Clemons simply chose not to challenge him at all.

Statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, who ordered the horrific bombing of the MOVE house in 1985, was removed in 2020 due to George Floyd protests.

Thus, the reason for Judge Clemons’ expansive discovery order is ripe for speculation. She implied that allowing a complete review of prosecution files would resolve any and all issues of potential suppressed evidence, thus, in her mind, finally closing the door on the case and allowing her to wrap it up.

The problem with that theory is that if you frame someone for murder it is really hard to cover up all the loose ends. It makes one wonder: does Judge Clemons truly understand the depth and widespread corruption of the Philadelphia police department and the former DA’s office?  The police and former prosecutors acted with complete impunity for decades. They are proud to be the sons of Rizzo, and they certainly did not care about a defendant’s constitutional rights. See this Assistant District Attorney Jack McMahon prosecution training tape about removing Black people from Philadelphia Juries!

The current District Attorney’s office knows and will admit (just not in open court), that the police for decades routinely brutally beat victims and witnesses, and manufacturing false confessions. The police suppressed evidence of innocence, fixed crime scenes, raped informants, robbed bodegas, payed witnesses for testimony, planted evidence and were on the take.

Philadelphia prosecutors and the courts did not just turn a blind eye; they actually colluded and continue to collude with the police to maintain convictions of a generation of poor black and brown people in Philadelphia.  Police and prosecutorial corruption in Philadelphia is no secret.  In this case, the byzantine rules of the post conviction relief act (PCRA) has already kept key evidence* from being in the record before Judge Clemon.** Now the question remains did “district attorney McGill and the detectives keep additional notes that reveal corruption”?

(Above) Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo ordered the horrific bombing of the M.O.V.E. row house which destroyed an entire block and resulted in the deaths of 11 M.O.V.E. members including children, and the arrests of many more, some still in prison. Mumia Abu-Jamal came to national prominence for his coverage of that story and support of the M.O.V.E. members,

Related:

Supporters rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal as court considers evidence showing police, DA corruption – Liberation News

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Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.

VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.

Please DONATE TO VOD at:

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Second jury trial on first-degree murder charges set for Feb. 7, 2023 after conviction overturned in 2018 due to evidence of racial bias on first jury

“The jury got it wrong finding Terry guilty of First Degree Premeditated Murder. I expected a lesser verdict of manslaughter or second-degree murder.” — Corey Kennedy – longtime friend of  both Terry Wilson and William Clark (victim).

“I feel like its my fault.” Clark’s brother Desmond Rodgers says he started argument with Wilson, then instigated other brother’s argument with Wilson.

Ricardo Ferrell

“The Macomb County Prosecutors Office can fairly resolve this case with offering Wilson a manslaughter plea which accurately depicts what happened between Clark & Wilson. NO FIRST DEGREE PREMEDITATED MURDER!” — Ricardo Ferrell

By Ricardo Ferrell, VOD Field Editor

Editorial

December 23, 2022

“For my n***a lil terry…I still love you bro, even though you took my brother from me I still feel for you and i hope this make it back to you,” Desmond Rodgers, a brother of William Clark. messaged recently on social media.

Terry Wilson killed Clark in a crowded Clinton Township park in 2014 during a disagreement between the childhood friends. Clark’s two brothers including Rodgers were present.

“I just want you to feel how I feel bc you killed one of the few n***as who still cared about you,” Rodgers went on. “I feel like its my fault and it should have been me but GOD has other plans for me and I see that now more than ever, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

As his second trial approached, Wilson told  VOD in a phone interview. “It was self-defense. I never intended to kill Willie.”

“He and his two brothers were approaching me,” Wilson explained.  Willie actually began galloping towards me in an aggressive manner, after first going to his car. I honestly believed he had retrieved a gun, especially by my knowing beforehand that they were supposedly looking for me to pistol whip me.

“I never deliberately planned, intended or laid in wait to shoot and kill Willie, as the prosecution has contended since 2013. Nowhere in the case does it show that I’m guilty of First Degree Premeditated Murder, at best I’m guilty of committing involuntary manslaughter in Willie’s death. How can it be a planned murder, when I was backing up and away from Willie and his brothers, as they angrily and aggressively kept coming towards me?”

SELF-DEFENSE

Willie Deon Clark

In 2006, the Michigan Legislature enacted the Self-Defense Act (SDA), MCL 780.971 et seq. Effective October 1, 2006, the SDA “codified the circumstances in which a person may use deadly force in self-defense or in defense of another person without having the duty to retreat.” Dupree, 486 Mich at 708. Specifically, the SDA modified the common law’s duty to retreat that was imposed on individuals [*4] who were attacked outside their own home or were not subjected to a “sudden, fierce, and violent” attack. People v Conyer, 281 Mich App 526, 530 n 2; 762 NW2d 198 (2008).

However, the SDA continues to require that a person have an honest and reasonable belief that there is a danger of death, great bodily harm, or sexual assault in order to justify the use of deadly force. MCL 780.972(1).

Furthermore, according to People v Guajardo, 300 Mich App 26, 34-35; 832 W2d 409 (2013), “This Court discussed the circumstances under which a person could claim lawful self-defense under the common law and under Michigan’s Self-Defense Act (SDA), MCL 780.971 et seq.:

TERRY WILSON HAD A NEARLY ALL-WHITE JURY IN 2014. WILL THE COURT ENSURE THAT HE HAS A REPRESENTATIVE JURY IN 2023? Can Black jurors better understand conflicts among Black youth?

“Factors relevant to whether a person in a defendant’s position could have an honest and reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm include: (1) the condition of the people involved, including [*5] their relative strength; (2) whether the other person was armed with a dangerous weapon or had some other means of injuring the defendant; (3) the nature of the other person’s attack or threat; (4) whether the defendant knew about any previous acts of violence or threats made by the other person. People v Goree, 296 Mich App 293, 296; 819 NW2d 82 (2012).”

This recent post by Rodgers strongly tempers the message he posted after Lewis’ trial in 2014, which gave a sense of the bitter conflict between the Lewis and Clark families then.

“Shot outta fear, talking like he was so tough and then gon pull out the burner that’s what makes you tough? No, for all you young n***s thinking you tough BC you got a piece that just makes you a HOE…A HOE that got something worse coming his way….F***YOU N***A YOU WAS LIKE FAMILY AND YOU TOOK MY BF AND BIG BRO AWAY AND IF I see you before they catch you IDK what Im gonna do to you and that’s real deal. hope you keep that strap bo I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT IF YOU DONT HAVE IT. I WILL SHOW YOU WHY YOU NEEDED IT.”

In this particular case, the evidence and testimony clearly showed that Clark was in fact acting angrily as he approached the defendant, and that the defendant complained of having difficulty seeing because of an eye condition.

The defendant repeatedly told Clark and his two brothers he didn’t want to fight and he couldn’t see as he continued to move backwards in a non aggressive manner. Wilson’s fear of imminent death and/or serious bodily harm was real on that May 5th in 2013. His foreknowledge that Clark was looking for him to pistol whip him only added to the genuine fear that already existed, especially when Clark went to his car just moments before he and his brothers started coming towards him in an aggressive and angry way.

Prince Drewry Park site on night of the killing of William Clark/screenshot Channel 4 WDIV

There was testimony during the course of the trial that Clark may have had previous access to a gun. Any reasonable-minded individual would infer that he may have had continued access to one that day as well.

Obviously this goes to the state of mind of Terry Wilson on the day in question and what he perceived in that very moment which caused him to react in a non-intentional way that resulted in him shooting his childhood friend based on the fear element that over powered his rational thinking. The more one looks into this case and digs into the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, it is clear that Wilson never deliberately nor with any malicious intent, planned on killing William Clark. The Macomb County Prosecutors Office can fairly resolve this case with offering Wilson a manslaughter plea which accurately depicts what happened between Clark & Wilson. NO FIRST DEGREE PREMEDITATED MURDER!

Under the common law, the affirmative defense of self-defense justified the killing of another person if the defendant “honestly and reasonably believes his life is in imminent danger or that there is a threat of serious bodily harm and that it is necessary to exercise deadly force to prevent such harm to himself.”

Related:

LIFER TERRY WILSON FACES NEW TRIAL IN HISTORICALLY RACIST MACOMB COUNTY; CHANGE OF VENUE NEEDED | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

MICH. LIFER TERRY WILSON STILL FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE, BATTLING RACISM IN MACOMB CO./ RE-TRIAL FEB. 2023 | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

The Myth of the Black-on-Black Crime Epidemic | Demos

Lifer Temujin Kensu pushes clemency for hundreds of Michigan prisoners to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as holidays begin

Many prominent cases featured in Xmas Carol video above

VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell among 12 with applications in through the Michael Thompson Clemency Project; he has done many stories on others

By VOD Staff (Diane Bukowski, Ricardo Ferrell, and welcoming Tamerra Washington)

December 21, 2022

Portrait of Temujin and wife Paula Kensu, done by a friend .

Tamerra Washington’s young nieces at Detroit rally June 4, 2021.

VOD interviewed Kensu at length Dec. 22, and will be publishing excerpts of that interview in an upcoming article.

MICHIGAN–Michigan lifer Temujin Kensu, convicted in 1986 for a murder he could not possibly have committed because he was 400 miles away, has sent the song above to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It advocates for many others still incarcerated, many for life and many for decades, who could be released and sent home to finally celebrate a new year with their loved ones.

“We hope that Gov Whitmer will be issuing some pardons hopefully before Thanksgiving but definitely before Christmas, Kensu’s wife Paula told VOD. “Temujin’s clemency application was again submitted  to Gov. Whitmer Aug. 28, after the state Attorney General Dana Nessel’s Conviction Integrity Unit denied his application for a new trial. We have eight Innocence Networks signing on in support along with his many other advocates.”

VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell is among 12 Michigan individuals who have clemency applications in through the Michael Thomas Clemency Project, who have served up to five decades in Michigan prisons.  VOD wishes all of them freedom in the new year, as we continue advocating for freedom for the people below whose cases and lives we have covered.
TO SEE VOD’S COVERAGE OF BATTLES BY THESE MICHIGAN PRISONERS AGAINST MASS INCARCERATION, put names of individuals in our search engine at the top of our home page.

These Wayne County men were sentenced to death in prison as children. Despite US Supreme Court rulings in 2012 and 2016 outlawing JLWOP, Wayne Co. Pros. Kym Worthy had kept them in prison, as of 2021. Some may have been released since then due to re-sentencings won by the Mich. ACLU and SADO.

GOV. WHITMER:  SEE OREGON GOVERNOR KATE BROWN’S RECORD:   

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown just commuted all 17 death sentences in the state.

“Last October, Kate Brown, the governor of Oregon, signed an executive order granting clemency to 73 people who had committed crimes as juveniles, clearing a path for them to apply for parole,” The Guardian reported.

“The move marked the high point in a remarkable arc: as Brown approaches the end of her second term in January, she has granted commutations or pardons to 1,147 people – more than all of Oregon’s governors from the last 50 years combined. The story of one US governor’s historic use of clemency: ‘We are a nation of second chances’ | Oregon | The Guardian

TO SEE VOD’S COVERAGE OF BATTLES BY MICHIGAN PRISONERS AGAINST MASS INCARCERATION, put names of individuals in our search engine at the top of our home page.

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Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.

VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.

Please DONATE TO VOD at:

https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod

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As 800 Wayne County jail detainees suffer in below-freezing temperatures with no heat, thousands of bundled up people attend X-mas Tree lighting, other holiday events only a few blocks away in downtown Detroit.

Heat at old Wayne County Jail out again since weekend, after previous outage Nov. 28.

Officials have not provided additional blankets, heaters, or access to outer clothing through family visits

Virtual visits must now be scheduled ahead of time

Hundreds of jail detainees have been held without trial for up to 4 years

By Diane Bukowski

December 19, 2022

Darrell Ewing and co-defendant Derrico Searcy have been held in Wayne County Jail since June of 2020, after Kym Worthy claimed she planned to re-try them despite COA ruling overturning their convictions. Hundreds of others in the jail have been held up to 4 yrs. awaiting trial.

“It’s 10 a.m. in here, and you can’t hear a soul,” Darrell Ewing, a detainee at the old Wayne County Jail Division II since June, 2020, told VOD today. “That’s because the heat has been off since Friday, and everyone is staying in bed, huddled up under one thin cotton blanket, in thin jumpsuits, trying to stay warm.”

Temperatures are supposed to drop by Xmas weekend to highs of 19 degrees, according to weather reports.

Jail officials have not ordered additional blankets for detainees, provided electric heaters or other sources of heat, or told them when the heat would be back up, he said. The jail stocks extra blankets which are used during “shake-downs” of cells, but taken back immediately afterward.

“Freezing air keeps flowing in through the wall vents from the outside, and they haven’t turned it off,” Ewing reported.

Ewing recalled that after the heat went out for three days Nov. 28, Chief of Jails Robert Dunlap promised detainees there that he would call out a a crew immediately if it happened again.

The jail website reports that the old jail at 525 Clinton has a 770-bed capacity, but detainees have reported that new arrivals are forced to sleep on the floor in many cases. Seventy-five percent of the detainees are Black, most between the ages of 18 and 35.

These officials supervise conditions in the Wayne County Jail. Judge Kenny is head of a task force created in 1971 to address conditions at the jail. They are defendants in a new federal lawsuit filed by 11 detainees in June, 2022.

Detainees report that in-person family visits, despite initially being allowed recently, are not now allowed, contradicting the website at: Inmate Visitation | Sheriff Connect – Wayne County Michigan. Detainees have no coats or other outerwear to put on over their thin jumpsuits.

Wayne County Jail Cell/DFP  photo

Ed Foxworth

VOD contacted Ed Foxworth, Chief of Communications for Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington’s office, and Chief of Jails Dunlap this morning to ask if families could schedule emergency visits to bring warm coats for their loved ones, and for information about restoration of the heat, but had not heard back by the end of the day.

Families and friends of the detainees used to be able to contact them for virtual visits on demand, but the Telmate site sponsoring the visits is now allowing only visits scheduled ahead of time, creating further problems for them.

Ewing and other detainees at the Wayne County Jail updated their lawsuit against the jails’ top cops Dec. 5, filing for expedited review of the case after waiting for five months to see progress on the suit. The entire filing can be read at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Darrell-Ewing_et_al_v_Wayne_County_Sheriff__miedce-22-11453__0026.0-FIling-12-5-22.pdf

Darrell Ewing and jail detainees updated their federal lawsuit against jail officials Dec. 5, 2022 as above.

RELATED:

WAYNE CO. JAIL DETAINEES SUE TOP COPS FOR DENYING SPEEDY TRIALS, OPEN COURTS, FAMILY VISITS, RECREATION | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

VIDEO VISITS TO INMATES AT WAYNE COUNTY JAILS SHUT DOWN, ACCESS TO FAMILIES, COURTS CURTAILED | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

FAMILIES MARCH FOR MEN HELD WITHOUT TRIAL UP TO 4 YEARS IN WAYNE CO. JAIL; DEMAND “OPEN THE COURTS” | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

UNLAWFUL, UNJUST! RALLY THURSDAY MAR. 17 TO FREE WRONGLY HELD PRISONERS; OPEN VISITS, COURTS, FILES | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

DID WAYNE CO. PROS. HIDE KILLER’S CONFESSION TO MSP IN EWING-SEARCY CASE, USE DPD TO STOP RETRIAL? | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

DETROIT: FAMILIES OF WRONGFULLY CONVICTED TELL PROS. KYM WORTHY, POLICE, JUDGES–‘FREE THEM ALL’ | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.

VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.

Please DONATE TO VOD at:

https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod

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Tamerra Washington’s young nieces at rally June 4, 2021. VOD photo.

Tamerra Washington’s family members were among hundreds attending a  historic “Rally/Protest for the Wrongfully Convicted”  held June 4, 2021, at the Frank Murphy courthouse and jail in downtown Detroit. It was sponsored by “Operation Liberation,” founded by Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy and Darrell ‘Apple’ Ewing and their families. Searcy was fully exonerated after 19 years in October; Ewing, also wrongfully convicted, continues his battle at the Wayne Co. Jail Division.

“Women–Black women–are the fastest growing population in MDOC, housed only at Huron Valley under horrible conditions.” –Nicholas Buckingham, Michigan Liberation, at June 4 rally

EXONEREE LARRY SMITH ADVOCATES FOR TAMERRA WASHINGTON AT SECOND LOOK RALLY IN LANSING NOV. 14, 2021

VALLEY GIRLS

Tamerra Washington

By Tamerra Washington, VOD Reporter/Columnist

Womens’ Huron Valley 486364

December 15, 2022

Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility has housed and released many exemplary women who are steadfast, refusing to be defined by their worst choice in life. Nation Outside now sponsors Valley Girls which is a sisterhood linking previously incarcerated women in MDOC to events and gatherings.

Lawanda Hollister/Photo Nation Outside

Nation Outside sponsored a 2022 Gala at the historical Masonic Temple in Detroit. Acknowledgements and awards were given. Glen Martin was the keynote speaker and the movement hosted by Lawanda Hollister, long time Valley Girl. She received a MVP award. That award confirmed her progress from serving 34 years in prison and successfully completing parole, to becoming a pillar in the returning citizen community,

Lawanda has had a hand in the reentry process for many organizations.

” The only way to go forward is to go together.”

• Advocating at Avalon Housing to end homelessness.
• Legislating for freedom and the importance of a Second Look.
• Voting Access for All Coalition, V.A.A.C, beating the streets so returning citizens know that they have a right to vote.
• She’s one of the first participants selected in Eastern Michigan University returning citizen fellowship program.
• Doing pop up appearances with The Chow Hall prison cook-up food service.

For over three years I witnessed Lawanda doing business plans and making vivid goals for her release. She was paroled at the beginning of a pandemic in 2020. There, passion to make a difference within the reentry process ignited in her. None of the many plans held up to the shutdown of Covid 19. Blessed to parole to a stranger, a friend of a friend, the need for her own space was eminent.

Marchers demand end to abuse at Women’s Huron Valley Jan. 25, 2022. Photo: Final Call

Can you imagine filling out an application for housing and a job with no information beyond your name and D.O.B? No life history, being incarcerated since the age of 17, released at 51. There were no cell phones when she went in, never driven a car. The reintegration was challenging. With the tenacity of a Valley Girl, Lawanda continued to reach. Humble beginnings, she worked for a farm, cultivating new ground. Accepted to a returning citizen apartment home in Ypsilanti. Attracting a variety of forces that propelled her forward. Creating a reentry family that’s invested in her success.

American Friends Service Committee, Brighter Way, Youth Justice Fund, Safe and Just Mi, Reentry United, Mi Liberation, Nation Outside and her LOL’s all rallied around her with forward motion.

Tamerra Washington’s family at rally for the wrongly convicted June 4, 2021 outside Frank Murphy Hall in downtown Detroit.

According to Lawanda, “Prison holds two options, either you die there or you get out. Getting out we need to move forward with tools for success and education, or the result is failure.” For the returning citizen community the pressure is heightened to step out in front of failure; unfortunately the failure of one reflects all. Her hope is to accomplish more opportunities and doors opening for the whole community like never before.

From her position at AFSC she had the experience of reintegrating one of the Valley Girls. Being the face a sister Valley Girl sees upon crossing the threshold of captivity is “very rewarding”. Lawanda wants only the best and success for everyone.

The month of October 2022 WHV received 21 GED completions. The most obtained in MDOC statewide prison systems.

Stay tuned to The Voice Of Detroit for more successful highlights of the exceptional Women of Huron Valley.

Tamerra Washington 486364
WHV

Hello, I am Tamerra Washington #486364. WRONGFULLY CONVICTED. Temporarily housed at WHV 3201 Bemis Road. Ypsilanti, Mi 48197. In 2011 Sentenced 32-50 years in prison for Armed Robbery and 32-50 years for Assault, crimes I did not commit. I enjoy seeking Truth, higher learning, and reading books. I love Conscious conversations and uplifting my mind. 

Search Results for “Tamerra Washington” – Thoughts Beyond the Wall (wordpress.com)

RELATED:

https://voiceofdetroit.net/2021/06/16/detroit-families-of-wrongfully-convicted-tell-pros-kym-worthy-police-judges-free-them-all/

New Eastern Michigan program supports formerly incarcerated students (freep.com)

‘Trauma in the highest form’ The suffering, the culture of abuse and still harrowing plight of women in prison – Final Call News

 By NATIONAL LIFERS OF AMERICA, INC.  Chapter #1016 c/o Mark McCloud #199143  4269 West M-80 (URF) Kincheloe, MI 49784

Baltimore, Maryland/Cook County, IL. 

What do these places have in common?

Where are the mass exonerations in Detroit, Wayne County?

Detroit cops David Pauch, Donald Stawiaz framed many

In the past several years, the above cities have had Mass Exonerations by County prosecutors for police corruption. As recently as August 10, 2022, Cook County Prosecutor (state’s attorney) Kim Foxx, dismissed murder charges against eight (8) more men due to police misconduct by one disgraced Detective, Reynaldo Guevara. In 2013, the City of Chicago hired an independent investigator to look into his cases and the two-year probe found problems, according to Foxx.

Connected to this investigation of Detective Reynaldo Guevara, up to 30 people have had their convictions overturned after wrongly serving a combined total of 500 years in prison.

The alleged Police Misconducts range from:

Coercive interrogation tactics; Hiding evidence (withholding evidence); Intimidating witnesses; Falsifying evidence in multiple cases; Influencing witnesses.

Chicago Prosecutor Kim Foxx

According to Foxx, it came down to the serious allegations of misconduct and findings of credibility against Det. Guevara, as to why her office declined to oppose release of these men.

Source: By Steve Almagy, CNN Wed. August 10, 2022

The criminal misconduct of disgraced police Sgt. Ronald Watts, along with several other disgraced Chicago police officers, led  to the MASS EXONERATION of more than ONE HUNDRED (100) cases.

The Alleged Police Misconducts range from:

Falsified testimony, Planting evidence, Extortion, Lying under oath, and Assault.

An investigation by the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) revealed that the officers were not being truthful, meaning “The CIU could not longer maintain confidence in the Officers’ reports or testimony, according to Mark Rotert, director of the Cook County CIU.

These police misconducts stretch back as far as the 1980’s.

Source: Phil Rogers published Jan. 14, 2022; Source: By Matt Masterson Nov. 16, 2017.

DETROIT and WAYNE COUNTY, Michigan

Desmond Ricks (2nd from l) with family members, spent 25 years in prison based on ballistics evidence falsified by Detroit cops David Pauch and Donald Stawiasz

Desmond Ricks: In a case out of Detroit, similar to the disgraced Detectives Guevara and Watts out of the Chicago area, in 2017, a man named Desmond Ricks was exonerated because it was discovered that two disgraced Detroit police officers committed misconduct which led to Mr. Ricks’ conviction for second-degree murder and sentence of 30 to 60 years. Ballistics expert David Pauch and Homicide Detective Donald Stawiasz committed numerous criminal acts.

In the Desmond Ricks case, the Alleged Police Misconducts range from:

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy; the other “Kim” who will not charge cops, AP’s.

Giving false testimony under oath; Fabricating evidence; Planting evidence (the Detective switched out the bullets); and Withholding evidence.

Source: Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press Columnist August 26, 2017

There are numerous poor African-American men currently incarcerated within the Michigan Department of Corrections who alleged that the two disgraced police officers, David Pauch and Donald Stawiasz did in fact commit misconducts in their cases. 

The difference is, in Chicago and Baltimore, once it was proven that the disgraced officers did in fact commit misconduct (in one case worked on by the disgraced detectives), States Attorneys Kim Foxx and Marilyn Mosby began independent investigations to seriously look into other cases worked on by the disgraced detectives. And ultimately knew and concluded that their offices could no longer have faith in the credibility of the disgraced detectives’ work, which led to MASS EXONERATIONS of many innocent men and women! 

Prisoners in Lakeland Correctional Facility yard.

In other words, Kim Foxx and Marilyn Mosby DID NOT put an INSURMOUNTABLE BURDEN on POOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN, with no resources to prove what their independent investigations and offices had already discovered.

There are many other current and former disgraced Detroit police officers and Detectives who committed misconduct, and have either been allowed to retire with full pensions, forced into early retirement or prosecuted for the criminal acts. Yet, there are numerous Poor African-American men and women who were sent to prison in their youth, and are still in prison on the Testimony, Credibility, and investigations by these disgraced current and former Detroit police officers.

WHERE ARE THE MASS EXONERATIONS IN WAYNE COUNTY!?

Former Detroit Police Chief William Hart

Disgraced Detroit Police:

Former Chief of Police William Hart:

In 1976, Hart was appointed as Chief of Police, a post he held until Feb. 1971, Convicted of embezzlement and tax fraud, after it was discovered that he embezzled funds from a covert operation fund while he was chief and reported none of the money as income on his tax returns. He was sentenced to a ten-year prison term and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,347,710.90.

Investigator/Detective Donald Stawiasz: Ballistics Expert—David Pauch

In 1992 a 21-year old man named Gary Bennett was shot to death outside a restaurant. Police found at .38-caliber revolver under the pillow of Desmond Ricks’ mother. Pauch and Stawiasz claimed –testified that the bullets that killed Mr. Bennett matched those from the gun. PROBLEM WAS—THEY DID NOT! The two officers lied and switched bullets. It took 25 years for Desmond Ricks to prove his innocence with help from the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Former Detroit Police Homicide Chief William Rice

Sgt. William Rice:

Rose to the head of Detroit Police Homicide Division, convicted of drug dealing, Mortgage Fraud, and Perjury (Detroit Free Press Nov. 13, 2012).

Sgt. Walter Bates: 

Convicted in federal court of fifteen counts of bank robbery. (See U.S. v. Bates, 552 f3d 474 (2009). HE STILL GETS HIS PENSION. 

RELATED:

THELONIOUS SEARCY: “IT’S OVER!–FREE!” CHARGES DISMISSED, JUDGE BLASTS WAYNE CO. PROSECUTOR | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

DETROIT: FAMILIES OF WRONGFULLY CONVICTED TELL PROS. KYM WORTHY, POLICE, JUDGES–‘FREE THEM ALL’ | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

AS 31ST EXONERATION ANNOUNCED, WAYNE COUNTY, ASST. PROSECUTORS, DETROIT COPS FACE FEDERAL LAWSUITS | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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

LIFER PAUL DAVIS: FRAMED BY DETROIT COPS, APA WHO SENT CHILDREN TO CPS, JAIL TO GET FALSE TESTIMONY | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.

VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.

Please DONATE TO VOD at:

https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod

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Heroic advocate for incarcerated people in Michigan and across the U.S. is killed at Detroit gas station, say police

Hundreds honored him at two memorials, last at gas station 

VOD interviewed Jones last year, extends condolences to his family, colleagues and friends

By VOD Editor Diane Bukowski

December 1, 2022

Daniel Jones speaking at Mich. Coalition to End Mass Incarceration event.

DETROIT — Daniel Jones’ passion, intelligence, and commitment shone in VOD’s interview with him, during a small rally in the bitter cold Jan. 25, 2021 outside the Frank Murphy Hall of (In)Justice in downtown Detroit (above).

The rally called attention to the many dozens of Michigan juvenile lifers who languish in prison, particularly those from Wayne County, despite U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 2012 and 2016, outlawing mandatory JLWOP.

Jones spoke not only for juvenile lifers, but for all those condemned to death in prison in the U.S. He was incarcerated in the Michigan Dept. of Corrections at the age of 16 in 1996, and spent 23 years there. He finally emerged after his juvenile lifer re-sentencing in 2017, and devoted his life to the battle for those he left behind, as a leading organizer in  Nation Outside and The Michigan Coalition to End Mass Incarceration.

Daniel Jones welcomes State Sen. Stephanie Chang to the stage at Nov. 14, 2021 Lansing rally of thousands calling for Second Chances for lifers.

Hundreds came out to mourn Jones and testify to his work, after he was shot to death Nov. 19, 2022 at a gas station on Greenfield near Eight Mile Rd. The Detroit Police Department released a “Green Light” video showing his killer that has led some to infer that Jones was engaged in shady business at the time. But close attention to the video reveals that the DPD drastically edited it before releasing it. The video clearly shows a man leaving his car, next to Jones’ truck at the gas pumps, and walking to the passenger side of Jones’ vehicle.

But the rest of it is obscured by a Detroit Police Department logo that pops up asking for information on the killer. It does NOT show the man climbing into the passenger seat of Jones’ car and then shooting him, and it does NOT show the killer’s car taking off southbound on Greenfield, as police told reporters.

WHAT IS THE DPD COVERING UP HERE? Why haven’t they been able to locate the killer, whose car is clearly seen from the rear (where the license plate should be)? The DPD is calling on the community to contact them with any information on the killer.

BUT WHERE IS DPD’S INFORMATION ON THE KILLER? 

See full video at Detroit police seek person of interest linked to homicide on city’s west side (clickondetroit.com)

Screenshots from Green Light video of Daniel Jones’ alleged killer:

TOP: This is the last shot from the video released by the DPD. Killer’s car is shown at left, with rear end clearly visible where license plate would be. 

BOTTOM: This screen pops up to cover video before its completion (note purple line).  Should people be calling the POLICE with tips about the suspect? WHAT IS DPD covering up? 

VOD HAS A CALL IN TO THE DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT REQUESTING THE REMAINDER OF THE VIDEO.

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Remembering Danny Jones
written by Adrianna Parent née Duchene

Danny was fun and funny, and loved to have a good time. He loved his family. He would share fond stories of them and we talked frequently about how excited he was to see them. He was excited for the birth of his son this year, and was eager to raise him and be part of his life.

He touched many many people throughout his too short life. The loss of Daniel Jones is felt deeply by countless people across the country. I miss my friend and I mourn the loss of his light in this world. I pray for resilience, peace, and hope for all of us that are affected by his death.

Daniel Jones at voter event.

Danny was my colleague and my partner in our early days of working together at MI-CEMI. We learned together and taught one another, figuring out how to run an organization while furthering its initiatives and “learning to fly the plane while it’s in the air”. We cheered each other on during good times and bad, and developed a good friendship outside of work.

Danny was sought out. He was the Program Director at American Friends Service Committee; a Board Member for Nation Outside; the Chairperson for the Voting Access for All Coalition; and served on the Leadership Council to End Life Without Parole at the Human Rights Watch. He was also part of the Second Look Campaign in Michigan; the Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network; and held a weekly support group for loved ones of people who are incarcerated.

Related:

DOES KYM WORTHY WANT 54 MICH. JUVENILE LIFERS TO DIE IN PRISON, VIOLATING U.S. SUPREME COURT ORDERS? | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

150 MICHIGAN JUVENILE LIFERS FACE POSSIBLE DEATH FROM COVID-19 AS THEY SERVE OUTLAWED SENTENCES | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Crowning victory for Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy,  family and supporters

Wayne Co. Pros. Kym Worthy fought Searcy every step of the way in her usual role as ‘Innocence Denier,’ also in the case of Davontae Sanford

VOD covered Searcy’s story extensively beginning in 2017; photos and videos below are added to the NRE report from the VOD stories, and from Channel 2 Detroit report by Amy Lange. 

By Ken Otterbourg  —  National Registry of Exonerations

October 14, 2022

Thelonious “Shawn” Searcy enters court during his evidentiary hearing in 2018. He carried files with his pro se motion for new trial filed in 2016, that led finally to his exoneration. VOD PHOTO

On September 5, 2004, the Sunday before Labor Day, an event known as the “Black Party” took place next to the Coleman Young Airport on the east side of Detroit, Michigan.

At about 9 p.m., according to eyewitnesses, a man approached the back of a silver Corvette and began shooting. One bullet struck 27-year-old Brian Minner in the hip, and several hit 30-year-old Jamal Segars, the driver, in the head and the chest. Segars died later that night at a local hospital.

Because of the large crowd at the event, police were already nearby and quickly responded after shots were fired. Officer Micah Hull tried to drive toward the sound of the gunfire, but his patrol car was hit by a Mercury Marauder. Hull and his partner, Officer Shawn Stallard, then saw a man with a gun fire more shots, although they were not sure whether this man had also fired the initial shots. Hull gave chase on foot, but the man got away. Some witnesses said the shooter ran into a nearby convenience store.

At the crime scene, police recovered shell casings from two weapons; They found eight .40-caliber casings near or in the Corvette and seven .45-caliber casings at least 20 feet from the car.

For reasons that aren’t clear from police records, the police quickly pursued a theory that the shooting was a case of mistaken identity and that the intended target was DeAnthony Witcher, who drove a similar-looking Corvette. An undated note in the police files said, “This case is about being at the wrong time, place. [Segars] was driving the exact vehicle as Deanthony and even looked like him.”

On September 6, an investigator’s report identified 24-year-old Thelonious Searcy as the shooter, and an assistant prosecutor recommended that murder and assault charges be filed. Searcy was said to have had a long-running feud with Witcher, but the police records don’t say how investigators first learned of his name. A motion later filed on Searcy’s behalf would call this “a complete mystery.”

Thelonious Searcy with wife Tyria and young daughter LaShyra in wedding photo prior to his 2004 arrest. They remarried after his conviction was overturned 19 years later.

On September 5 and September 6, the police interviewed eyewitnesses, who gave different descriptions of the shooter. None mentioned Searcy or indicated that it was a case of mistaken identity. They all agreed the shooter was Black, but some said he was only 5 feet 6 inches tall, while others said he was perhaps 6 feet tall. One witness said the shooter had caramel skin; another said his skin was dark. Several of the witnesses knew Segars, who had served eight years in federal prison for drug offenses, and, as one person said, “He did what he had to get paid.”

Minner, interviewed at the hospital, was unable to make an identification of the shooter.

Police re-interviewed three witnesses on September 8, now showing them lineups that included a mugshot of Searcy. The witnesses – including one who had initially told police he could not identify the shooter “by face” – identified Searcy as the man who shot Segars.

Police interviewed Witcher on September 9. He said that his Corvette was a “twin” of Segars’, and that he and Searcy had a falling out after he paid Searcy to do some work and then Searcy lost the money shooting dice. Witcher said that he returned to a house he owned one day and found the property ransacked. Witcher said Searcy was inside and shot him several times.

Witcher said he was at the party near the airport on September 5, and that his phone started blowing up after the shooting. “A lot of my friends told me, ‘Man, a [person] dead in your car.’ They thought it was me.”

On November 30, officers entered an apartment in the Detroit suburbs looking for Searcy. They initially saw only his grandmother and his wife, but later found Searcy behind a piece of drywall in a bedroom closet. Separately, officers also found a .45-caliber semi-automatic gun in the bedroom where Searcy had hidden.

(L to r) Searcy’s daughters Paige, LaShyra, and a maternal grandmother, with his grandmother Edna Richardson at evidentiary hearing in 2018. VOD PHOTO

Searcy was charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, and use of a weapon in committing a felony. His trial in Wayne County Circuit Court began on May 2, 2005.

During his opening statement, the prosecutor told jurors that Searcy had meant to shoot Witcher but made a mistake and instead shot Segars, because their Corvettes were similar. In his opening statement, Robert Mitchell, Searcy’s attorney said the party was too chaotic and busy for the witnesses to make proper identifications, but he never rebutted the state’s theory that Witcher – not Segars – was the intended target.

Four eyewitnesses identified Searcy as the shooter at trial. Three of the witnesses had picked him out of a photo lineup. Minner testified, but he was unable to make any identifications.

Searcy discovered this record of DeAnthony Witcher’s arrest for carrying a 9 mm gun on Nov. 18, 2004 just prior to Searcy’s arrest.

Witcher testified about his relationship with Searcy, including his claim that Searcy had shot him in 2003. On cross-examination, Witcher said that he had not wanted to testify but had not cut any deals in exchange for his testimony about Segars’ death.

Mitchell asked Witcher if he was involved in other crimes. Witcher said he wasn’t. Mitchell then asked Witcher if he had ever been arrested or convicted for anything involving deception, fraud or falsehood. Witcher said he hadn’t. Mitchell tried to ask Witcher about whether he had owned a permit to carry a gun, but Judge Timothy Kenny cut him off and said there was no evidence that Witcher had a gun.

Later, Witcher testified that he didn’t call the police after the 2003 shooting because of a concern that he would be investigated for drugs. He acknowledged that he was given immunity from any charges related to that incident.

Dr. Carl Schmidt, a medical examiner, testified that Segars had been shot seven times and that he had removed four bullets during the autopsy. One of these slugs was entered into evidence as People’s Exhibit 23, labeled as “.40 caliber, Metal jacket bullet,” without any reference to its source. The police separately and incorrectly labeled it in their files as a 9 mm casing.

Michigan COA cited roles of Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny, AP Patrick Muscat in Searcy’s wrongful conviction, in 2021 ruling.

Kevin Reed, a technician with the police department’s firearms identification unit testified that the weapon found in the apartment was the source of the .45-caliber casings found at the crime scene. (The firearms report was not completed until the first day of the trial.) Reed also testified that the slug in Exhibit 23 could not have been fired from the weapon found at the apartment, because it wasn’t “caliber consistent.” He wasn’t asked to state the caliber of the slug or where it had come from.

Searcy did not testify. But several friends and family members said he was at a barbecue at his mother’s house on the night of September 5, 2004. His mother and grandmother testified that Searcy did not live at the apartment where he was arrested. The grandmother testified that the gun found at the apartment did not belong to Searcy and that a man named Jeffrey Daniels, who had a child with a member of Searcy’s extended family, had left the gun there after driving her home around the time of the shooting. Daniels was shot to death on September 24, 2004.

Deliberations began on May 6, 2005, a Friday. The jury first asked whether the casings recovered were .45 caliber or .40 caliber. Later, the jury asked about the bullet recovered from Segars. It also asked to review the medical examiner’s report and the report of casings found at the crime scene.

Exhibits showing falsified ballistics reports during 2018 evidentiary hearing; Searcy located these on review of his homicide file, obtained by his grandmother. VOD PHOTO

The jury was brought into the courtroom, where Judge Kenny addressed them as a group. “Now with regard to your first question, what type of caliber bullet was found in the deceased?” he asked.

“After speaking with the attorneys they have agreed to my sharing with you the fact that the testimony presented in the case, and there is a report on one of the exhibits that the bullets that were recovered from the deceased were too deformed to be able to identify what gun it came from or what caliber it came from.”

That was incorrect. Mitchell didn’t object, and prosecutors didn’t correct the statement.

On May 9, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges. On May 23, Judge Kenny sentenced Searcy to life without parole for the murder conviction, and concurrent sentences of 15 to 30 years for the assault conviction and two years on the firearms conviction.

At his sentencing, Searcy proclaimed his innocence and criticized his attorney for his inadequate representation and preparation. “This man right here, he got the audacity to stand on the side of me, and he took my Mama’s hard-earned money. Standing here like he’s my lawyer.”

Home at last: (l to r) Shawn Searcy, daughters Paige and Shyra, and wife Tyria Searcy with his two grandchildren (mother Paige). FBook

Later he said: “Now you tell me this is justice? It ain’t no justice. Do I care about going upstate? Yes, I care because I got kids, too. Yes, I’m married, too. Yes, I’m sorry that that guy got killed, but it wasn’t on my behalf.”

Searcy appealed his conviction, arguing that Judge Kenny erred in allowing the firearms report to be entered into evidence during trial. He also said that a prosecution witness, Latasha Boatwright, had committed perjury by testifying that Witcher was her friend. Boatwright and Witcher were half-siblings, Searcy said.

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. It said that Mitchell could have but didn’t ask for a continuance on the firearms report and that Boatwright’s statement might not be perjury because Witcher could be both a friend and a half-sibling.

Thelonious Searcy (r foreground listens as his atty. Michael Dezsi plays Vincent Smothers’ recorded confession. Smothers is on witness stand with head bowed. Asst. Pros. Timothy Chambers is at right. VOD PHOTO

Beginning in 2015, Vincent Smothers confessed to killing Segars and submitted several affidavits claiming that Searcy had no involvement in the crime. He said Daniels was his partner in the shooting. Smothers was a Detroit contract killer, in prison for 11 murders. His confession to four other murders was at the heart of a claim of innocence by Davontae Sanford, who would be exonerated in 2016.

On June 24, 2015, Searcy filed a pro se motion for relief, and a series of evidentiary hearings were held three years later. At the hearings, Smothers testified that he had been stalking Segars for months because he was a drug dealer known to carry around a lot of money. (Segars’s criminal record had not been introduced at Searcy’s trial.)

See 1994 6th Circuit Court ruling on Jamal Segars’ drug conviction at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Jamal-Segars-6-CC-denial.pdf

Smothers said Daniels carried the .45; Smothers used a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, and he described how he came up on Segars from behind, which was consistent with the autopsy on several of Segars’s entry wounds. Smothers was also able to describe the chaotic scene after the shooting, when the Marauder hit the police cruiser, and how the cruiser’s airbags deployed.

On December 3, 2018, Judge Kenny denied Searcy’s motion for relief, ruling that “a reasonable jury could not find Vincent Smothers’ testimony credible at a retrial.”

Atty. Michael Dezsi with Thelonious Searcy as they left court after all charges dismissed Oct. 3, 2022. FB Live

Represented since 2017 by Michael Dezsi, Searcy appealed, asserting that Judge Kenny had applied an unreasonable standard in evaluating Smothers’ testimony.

In addition, the appeal said that prosecutors had failed to disclose exculpatory forensic evidence and evidence that undermined Witcher’s credibility. The motion said prosecutors never told Mitchell that the slug in Exhibit 23 had been removed from Segars’s body, although the state claimed in its responses that this information was easily inferred. In addition, prosecutors didn’t disclose Witcher’s lengthy criminal record or that a charge for carrying a concealed weapon had been dismissed the day that police arrested Searcy.

On February 11, 2021, the Michigan Court of Appeals granted Searcy a new trial. It said that Judge Kenny had incorrectly told the jury that the slug taken from Segars was “too deformed” to be tested, and that in dismissing Searcy’s appeal, he had too heavily discounted Smothers’s statements and subsequent testimony. (Smothers had briefly recanted but later said he did so out of concern that a parallel investigation into another possible wrongful conviction would unduly harm Sanford’s quest for freedom.)

“We conclude that, when considering Smothers’s testimony in its entirety, it is clear that his testimony is not wholly incredible, as the trial court found, and that a reasonable juror could find his testimony worthy of belief on retrial,” the court said. The ruling did not address Searcy’s claims that prosecutors had failed to disclose evidence.

Searcy was released from prison on April 16, 2021.

A year later, on April 15, 2022, Dezsi filed a motion to dismiss. The motion said prosecutors had misled Judge Kenny about the slug, because forensic testing had said it came from a .40-caliber weapon.

Convenience store at Conner and Whithorn; videotapes suppressed by police/prosecution.

It also said prosecutors had failed to provide Searcy’s attorney with footage from a security camera taken from a nearby convenience store. Two witnesses had told police that the shooter ran into the store.

An officer retrieved the footage, according to an evidence log, but the prosecutor told Judge Kenny prior to opening statements that he had not seen the footage and had been told by the police that the footage did not exist. The motion said the failure to preserve this evidence violated Searcy’s right to a fair trial.

.45 and .40 caliber bullets

On October 3, 2022, Judge Thomas Hathaway granted Searcy’s motion to dismiss the charges. “The damage caused by the suppression and withholding of the exculpatory evidence cannot be cured,” Hathaway wrote.

The forensic evidence was particularly critical to Searcy’s defense, Judge Hathaway said. “At the time of the trial, the prosecution’s forensic examiners were aware of the bullet caliber type removed from the victim’s body and that it did not match the handgun offered at trial,” he wrote.

“Defendant argues and this court agrees that there is nothing more exculpatory than this single piece of evidence which was suppressed from the defense and the jury.”

– Ken Otterbourg

Related: 

The story below on dismissal of all charges against Searcy includes links to all VOD stories published on his case beginning in 2017.

THELONIOUS SEARCY: “IT’S OVER!–FREE!” CHARGES DISMISSED, JUDGE BLASTS WAYNE CO. PROSECUTOR | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

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Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.

VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.

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Original work by Burt R. Lancaster

Ricardo Ferrell, VOD field editor

By Ricardo Ferrell

November 21, 2022

After his first decade behind bars, Burt Lancaster, who’s serving LWOP for the shooting death of his girlfriend in Southfield in 1993, finds art as an outlet in coping with the stress of being locked up and helping deal with his mental health.

“When I first came to prison, I had all sorts of reservations. I wondered how I would be treated by other prisoners because of my career choice of being in law enforcement,” Lancaster told VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell.

“The reality of being in prison for my girlfriend’s death hit me pretty hard and fast,” he added. ” I contemplated harming myself as a way out of my predicament, but something told me to pick up a pencil & pen and try art again, as I knew it could be therapeutic because I first learned how to draw at the age of 16, but back then, I didn’t take it serious.

But in here I got professional with at it, especially drawing faces, that was nearly 20 years ago and the rest as they say, is history,” Lancaster says.

His works are also displayed on Facebook and other social media.

Original works by Burt R. Lancaster

Original works  by Burt R. Lancaster

Original works by Burt R. Lancaster

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LIFER BURT LANCASTER NEEDS ‘SECOND LOOK’– RENEWS CHALLENGE TO OAKLAND CO. MURDER 1 CONVICTION | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

WRITE BURT R. LANCASTER AT

Burt R. Lancaster #242182                                                                                                      G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility                                                                              3500 N. Elm Road
Jackson, MI 49201