Eula Mae Powell, 85, is being held against her will inside the Orchards of Harper Woods nursing home, barred for no reason from visiting her long-time friend Diane Bukowski, the editor of The Voice of Detroit newspaper, as she has been peacefully doing.
The home drugged Eula against her will when Bukowski came to visit Nov. 5, 2022, locking her behind a closed inner door. The home called the police to threaten Bukowski with arrest and impounding her car. Staff continues to force Eula back into the home if she even goes out to sit outside and get some air as other patients do.
THE ORCHARDS AT HARPER WOODS
Eula is contesting the guardianship and conservatorship which her niece Karen Sue Herbert foisted on her, telling the court that Eula approved it but not providing her with any court documents or access to the judge.
She has since deprived Eula of her valid driver’s license, all her ID, her ATM card, access to her car, and all her assets, including her Social Security, pension and other benefits. Eula cannot drive, go to her bank, the store, or even walk outside.
Eula earned her income and benefits over a lifetime of work as a UAW steward at the Dodge Main plant, a certified teacher in the Highland Park, Hamtramck and DPS school districts, and a manager at the Detroit Housing Department.
Eula Powell owned and lived in duplex house at 2172 Cadillac, where she helped educate her young nieces and nephews in the duplex next to hers. One niece got a scholarship to Marygrove as a result.
She was a neighborhood community organizer during her time living on Cadillac Avenue (Detroit’s East Side), where she was an official liaison with the Housing Department for an area south of Harper, west of Chalmers, and east of Woodward to the Detroit River, overseeing benefits provided to the community and other matters.
She organized a Youth Block Club which got a lot of youth to get back in school and get their diplomas (with one even studying in Europe). She told VOD she used to greatly enjoy walking through the community knocking on doors to get the children up to go to school as well as involve them in neighborhood clean-ups and other activities.
EULA POWELL WAS DHD LIAISON FOR THIS AREA S. OF HARPER, W. OF CHALMERS, E. OF WOODWARD (1) TO THE DETROIT RIVER.
But now the nursing home has her trapped in Harper Woods, not allowing her to even go outside to get some air as other patients do, and subjected to forcible medication. And the home has barred her long-time friend from visiting her, saying the guardian told them to do so. A guardian has no right to do this under state law.
Eula has always been a fighter and an activist, and now her activist friends, including the members of Call ‘Em Out, are coming out to support her.
Stay tuned for an announcement of their plans.
FOR FURTHER INFO:
Diane Bukowski 313-825-6126 Agnes Hitchcock Call ’em Out, 313-874-2792 Call EULA POWELL on her cell phone at 313-765-4508
(L to r) Eula Powell, Diane Bukowski, her mother Dorothy Bukowski in the late 1990’s, photo taken by her father Robert Bukowski.
Eula and Diane were members of the Save SAVE DGH, SAVE DODGE MAINCOALITION of AFSCME LOCAL 457 (Detroit Health and Hospitals) and UAW LOCAL 3 (DODGE MAIN) which led a historic battle to save Detroit General Hospital and the Chrysler Dodge Main Plant, beginning in 1977.
The Coalition predicted accurately that if DGH was privatized, and Dodge Main closed, there would be a domino effect across Detroit. In 1980, DGH was privatized and the Dodge Main Plant closed. Dozens of auto plant closings and other Wall Street disinvestment in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park ensued. Privatization of the City of Detroit Departments, services and jobs, also devastated the city, resulting eventually in the final blow, the phony Detroit bankruptcy of 2014 led by global banks and corporations.
EULA POWELL WAS A BOARD MEMBER AND STEWARD AT UAW LOCAL 3 DODGE MAIN, AND ACTIVE IN THE SAVE DODGE MAIN/DGH COALITION.
Agnes Hitchcock (center) with members of Call ‘Em Out at “Blackinaw” protest May 28, 2009 during annual Mackinac Island conference. Eula Powell is a long-time member of Call ’em Out.
Mt. Clemens, MI – George Rider, a prominent Detroit-area businessman and community activist convicted of the 2017 murder of Julii Johnson, will be back in Macomb County Circuit Court Friday Nov. 4 (postponed from Wed. Oct. 26.)
Rider Evidentiary HearingFriday Nov. 4, 8:30am Judge Joseph Toia
Macomb County Court Building
40 N. Main St, 4th Floor
Mt. Clemens, MI 48043
Toia sentenced him to life without parole in 2019.
A state appeals court remanded his case back to the trial court Aug. 18, ordering an an evidentiary hearing.
It upheld Rider’s “ineffective assistance of counsel” claim, citing former defense attorney Suzanna Kostovski’s agreement at trial that Warren police had a valid warrant to seize his cell-phone inside a Roseville car wash. The cell phone played a major role in Rider’s conviction.
“The trial court shall determine whether defendant is entitled to a new trial on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel,” the court concluded.
The court found that the warrant used did NOT allow the seizure of the phone, only records from Metro PCS. (See box.) One officer testified at trial that the seizure of the phone was the chief reason for their “traffic stop” of Rider INSIDE the car wash after state and federal agents tracked it using “pings” from cell towers.
Rider told VOD, “My attorney and the prosecutor knowingly allowed me to be convicted when they knew the phone was not admissible. Four judges on this case all knew that my warrant was unlawful. I’ve been in here six years for an unlawful warrant. It was a legal lynching.”
Rider referred to Judge Toia and 37th District Court Judge Michael Chupa, who bound him over, along with his previous trial judge, Jennifer Faunce, who was earlier removed because her sister, 37th DC Judge Suzanne Faunce, signed that and other warrants in the case.
Rider’s current attorney Christine Pagac won the remand after participating in oral arguments at the appeals court.
This was the second time in two months that a Michigan appeals court has remanded a Macomb County criminal case for “ineffective assistance of counsel,” both in Toia’s court. In each case, the appellate court said Toia played a role in the “ineffective assistance.”
Rider was convicted in the Jan. 13, 2017 murder of Julii Johnson, 34, outside her boyfriend J. Terrell Lattner’s Warren condo. Police originally zeroed in on Lattner as the chief suspect after finding $500,000 in cash and a trove of weapons and illegal drugs at the condo and in Lattner’s truck.
Those finds led to speculation that either Lattner or drug dealer rivals killed Johnson. Lattner, who was on life-long probation for earlier federal crimes, was convicted separately on federal counts of felon-in-possession of one of the guns at issue in Rider’s case. He was released from prison last January.
Marcie Griffin, Eric Gibson, co-defendants
Defense attorneys during the trial unsuccessfully challenged the composition of the jury, which was composed of nine whites and three Blacks in a county with a burgeoning Black population.
Rider’s two co-defendants, Marcie Griffin and Eric Gibson, were also convicted of capital murder in the case. However, the appeals court affirmed their convictions.
“There was no direct evidence connecting Rider to the crime,” VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell, who covered the story in multiple articles, linked below, wrote at the time. “In the history of Michigan’s court system, never has anyone been convicted of First Degree Murder for two text messages that were never authenticated.”
AP Jurji Fedorak, wife, U.S. ATF agent Vera Fedorak.
The Michigan State Police Crime Lab ruled Rider out as a contributor in DNA tests on two guns linked to the case, and a pair of work gloves found near the second gun. No eyewitness otherwise identified him as the killer or co-conspirator.
Instead, the prosecution introduced vague text messages from the phones allegedly belonging to Rider, his co-defendants and others, which did not include any admissions of the crime. The mainstream media repeatedly highlighted the gossipy messages in its coverage of the case.
Rider contended at trial that four cell phones, including the one seized, were commonly left at the Fine Arts Theater, which he previously owned, for anyone to use.
The prosecution used “pings” on cell towers from the phones to place them in key locations, although a cell phone tower expert testified at trial that such “pings” cannot definitely identify any individual.
Rider and his supporters contend that federal agents met with Warren police at their headquarters on the day of his arrest, Feb. 23, 2017, to push for a murder conviction after their long-time attempts to convict him of a variety of federal crimes failed.
VOD has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Macomb County’s Office of the Corporation Counsel for details on the meeting at Warren police headquarters, and for copies of material in Rider’s homicide, miscellaneous, and prosecutor’s files. http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/George-Rider-FOIA-2.pdf
Jurji Fedorak, the assistant prosecutor in various trials covered by VOD, is married to U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent Vera Fedorak.
A month after Rider’s arrest, federal agents and police raided the home he shared with his girl friend and son with no search warrant, only an application for a warrant. The two said they were threatened that if they did not open the door, the police would knock it down.
No search warrant was ever produced, and no charges brought pursuant to the raid. Rider has filed a complaint in the federal court demanding the return of the property seized.
Lawrence Rider at Sept. 15 rally in Flint called by the Michael Thompson Clemency Project
During his two-year confinement in the Macomb County Jail prior to trial, which included multiple repeated adjournments of hearings on motions to dismiss and Rider’s claims under the Fourth Amendment, federal agents charged Rider and his brother Lawrence Rider with orchestrating an arson-for-profit scheme from his jail cell. The only witnesses were self-admitted federal informants.
Charges against George Rider were dismissed without prejudice Nov. 7, 2019, but his brother, who is now legally-blind, told VOD that a federal agent forwarded a plea agreement for him to sign to his attorney, but he is withdrawing it.
George Rider previously served time on federal drug charges, but went on to become a respected property owner and community activist in the Paradise Valley/Brush Park/Cass Corridor communities. He was thus a target for corporate gentrification drives aimed at Black business owners and residents, who were displaced by the wealthy white corporate owners of Little Caesar’s Arena, other sports and entertainment facilities and new market-rate housing for the influx of suburbanites into downtown Detroit.
Little Caesar’s Arena is across the street from the Fine Arts Theater.
Rider at one time owned the Fine Arts Theater in the area. Three previous owners of that venue were found murdered, and their cases have never been solved. He had sold his ownership rights shortly before his arrest for the murder of Johnson. Rider and his supporters believe that the federal government, the state and police acted in concert with corporate forces to frame him as part of the gentrification and “white-out” of downtown Detroit.
Convicted in Macomb County: (l to r) Reinaldo Jemison, Terry Wilson, Saad Akram Bahoda
Another Michigan Appeals Court panel reversed Reinaldo Jemison’s 2019 second-degree murder conviction on Sept. 15, also citing “ineffective assistance of counsel,” and sent it back for a new trial. Judge Toia was also the trial judge in that case.
It cited the “ineffective assistance” of defense attorney David Cripps. It said Cripps failed to properly investigate or pursue his client’s self-defense claim. It added that Judge Toia erred when he accepted defense counsel’s “patently incredible testimony” regarding evidence that Jemison had raised the self-defense claim to him from the beginning. Cripps instead chose to argue that Jemison didn’t kill the victim.
In addition to Jemison’s case, others involving racially-biased convictions in Macomb County that VOD has covered include those of Terry WIlson, whose conviction was reversed because of racial bias on his trial jury, which was virtually all white, and Saad Akram Bahoda. (See VOD stories below.)
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.
Above: Interview with Atty. Darnell T. Barton, who represents Tracy Douglas, and with Katybeth Davis, a Monroe resident running for State Senate in District 16.
Dozens rally for Tracy Douglas outside the Monroe County Courthouse Oct. 6, say attack part of an ongoing pattern of rampant bigotry there
Bodycams: “I drilled her like a champ.” attacker Dennis Landis told police Aug. 20; white Dep. Sheriff Jack Hall told Douglas, “I’m blacker than you.”
Total of four white men participated in the assault, including two deputy sheriffs who manhandled Douglas
Douglas charged with “assault and battery,” Landis with “aggravated assault;” Hall facing federal civil rights charge
Monroe resident supporters say county continues racist history
Rally Oct. 6 at Monroe County Courthouse: including Tracy Douglas, (next to sign), Atty. Darnell T. Barton (r), members of Prisoners Doing the Right Thing Travis Herndon (l) and Eric Walston (holding sign), and other supporters.
By Diane Bukowski
October 11, 2022
Tracy Douglas in police bodycam video after assault Aug. 20, 2022
Monroe, MI — Tracy Douglas, 60, put out a plea for support on TikTok, after a group of white shoppers assaulted her in the parking lot of a Lambertville, MI liquor store on Aug. 20, shouting racial slurs and slugging her in the face, causing a concussion, a broken nose, and blackened eyes.
Dozens of supporters answered her call Oct. 6, in front of the Monroe County courthouse.
“We traveled from Detroit to offer our moral and emotional support to the sister Tracy Douglas who was viciously attacked and beaten for no apparent reason at all other than her being a Black woman in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Prisoners Doing the Right Thing in a statement. “It is important that we stand together united, in the face of racial hatred, bias and abuse, no matter who it is.”
The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office has now charged Douglas with assault and battery on the white female shopper who initiated the confrontation, using racial slurs, and Dennis Landis, who hit Douglas, with aggravated assault.
Police bodycam videos show Landis boasting to a Deputy Sheriff, “I drilled her like a champ, I’m trained in jiujitsu,” as her attackers and the Sheriff laugh. Monroe County Deputy Sheriff Jack Hall is heard telling Douglas, “I’m blacker than you,” claiming he grew up in southwest Detroit. Then, he made her sit in his police car while he went back to chat and laugh with her attackers before an ambulance took her to the hospital.
Tracy Douglas’ attackers laugh as theytalk with sheriff’s deputies: “I drilled her like a champ”–Dennis Landis. Police bodycam
“They have charged her with assault and battery, which is egregious because, the video does not show anything, or at the very least a mutual confrontation,” Douglas’ attorney Darnell T. Barton told VOD.
“After being pushed and prodded, they finally charged the man who hit her, but only with aggravated assault, and they are not going to charge the man who held her down. There should be a higher charge [in the case of] a woman who’s being held down and restrained while an experienced fighter hits her.”
He said the two Deputy Sheriffs who came to the scene also assaulted Douglas, putting their hands on her without provocation. He said prosecutors have now begun a “misinformation” campaign against Douglas, claiming she slapped one of the deputies, “victimizing the victim all over again.”
After the rally Oct. 6, VOD interviewed lifelong Monroe resident and activist Katybeth Davis, who is running for State Senate in District 16 (Monroe, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties.) Davis called Monroe County a “hotbed” of racism and oppression.
Monroe high school students walked out Dec. 2021.
“This has been why we’ve been fighting and crying and saying this is going on here in Monroe County,” she said. “I’m fed up. If this is what I’ve got to do, sacrifice myself and even my family, just to give people who deserve to have a normal life and just a chance at happiness, so be it.”
Davis said despite the fact that the Black population in Monroe County is gradually increasing compared to other counties, the County has no Black police officers or firefighters. She said several police officers who came from Detroit to work there left after two weeks “because of the culture.” She cited deportations by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (I.C.E.), failure to test detainees at the Monroe County jail for COVID-19, and a walk-out at Monroe County High School over issues of racism including the use of the “N” word are samples of the problems.
To honor Indigenous Peoples Day (a/k/a Columbus Day) on Oct. 10, Channel 7 Detroit ran a segment of its “Two Americas,” focusing on the fight to take down a huge statue of Gen. George Armstrong Custer (known as the “Indian killer) in downtown Monroe and remove his name from multiple streets, schools and other venues. A Channel 7 reporter rode with Katybeth Davis through the County as she pointed out the prevalence of Custer designations everywhere.
Photo from Monroe police.
On Oct. 11, several news sites reported that the Custer monument was vandalized with graffiti stating “We scalped” underneath Custer’s name. The Monroe Public Safety (Police) Department, and “other agencies” responded, arresting two individuals purported to be from Detroit, with another “getting away.”
The law enforcement response was immediate, in contrast to the failure of Monroe County Deputy Sheriffs to arrest the men who assaulted Douglas, instead restraining her, bleeding with a broken nose, in their squad car until an ambulance arrived.
RELATED: THE ARTICLE BELOW INCLUDES ALL POLICE BODYCAM VIDEOS RELEASED TO ABC 12 AT ITS CONCLUSION.
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.
ABOVE: Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy addressed a mass rally against wrongful convictions in Wayne County June 4, 2021, speaking from home on tether. He and Darrell Ewing, as leaders of Operation Liberation, organized the event, which drew hundreds who filled the streets outside the Frank Murphy Courthouse in downtown Detroit
“Dismissal of the charges is appropriate given the severe and deliberate violations of the defendant’s due process rights.”–Judge Thomas Hathaway
Dismissal is “WITH PREJUDICE,” meaning charges cannot be brought back
Judges cites suppression of evidence: .40 caliber bullets in victim’s body, not .45’s; store videotape likely showing the actual killer, and the criminal record of key prosecution witness
By Diane Bukowski
October 3, 2022, updated Oct. 7, 2022
Atty. Michael Dezsi (l) with Thelonious Searcy (r) as they left court Oct. 3, 2022. Screenshot FB Live
DETROIT – Third Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hathaway today dismissed all charges against Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy in a stinging order which repeatedly cited the prosecution for “allowing blatant lies to stand.”
He said Wayne County prosecutors and police deliberately withheld evidence that should have been given to the defense under Brady v. Maryland :: 373 U.S. 83 (1963), a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That evidence would have saved Searcy from spending 17 years in prison for the Sept. 6, 2004 murder of Jamal Segars outside the Detroit City Airport, a crime he did not commit.
“This Court concludes that the damage caused by the suppression and withholding of the exculpatory evidence cannot be cured,” Judge Hathaway said. “Therefore, it holds that dismissal of the charges is appropriate given the severe and deliberate violations of the defendant’s due process rights that denied him and fair and impartial trial. Accordingly, this Court GRANTS defendant’s Motion to Dismiss.”
The dismissal is WITH PREJUDICE, meaning that the charges cannot be brought back. Most of the cases of Wayne County’s 32 exonerees to date have involved only dismissals WITHOUT prejudice, leading some to speculate that possible reinstatements of their original charges have been held over their heads since.
“I am so happy to see Mr. Searcy turn the page beyond the nightmare of his wrongful conviction,” defense attorney Michael Dezsi told VOD.
“The Court did not mince words in describing the blatant lies, perjured testimony, and suppressed evidence that was known to the prosecution and investigating officers all of which was unknown to the defense at Searcy’s first trial. As Judge Hathaway concluded, ‘the price to be paid for this failure falls on the prosecution.’”
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined to comment on the judge’s order. Judge Timothy Kenny, now Chief Judge of the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court, presided over Searcy’s trial and an evidentiary hearing in 2018. Attorney Dezsi was appointed to the case for that hearing, and has represented Searcy in “years of hearings, evidentiary hearings, and multiple appeals” since, as he told VOD.
Patrick Muscat, the Assistant Prosecutor at Searcy’s trial, also led the prosecutions of Wayne County exonerees Davontae Sanford and Kenneth Nixon. None of the prosecutors and police involved in these and other Wayne County wrongful convictions have been charged or otherwise held accountable for their roles to date.
AP Patrick Muscat (r) led prosecution of exonerees (l to r) Kenneth Nixon, Davontae Sanford, and now newly-exonerated Thelonious Searcy.
“It’s over–FREE–19–it’s over!” Searcy exulted on Facebook Live as he and Dezsi left court today. He referred to the total of 19 years, including two on tether, that he spent in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections. Judge Hathaway granted his release to home confinement in 2021 against strenuous objections by the prosecutor.
Thelonious Searcy with (l to r) daughter Shyra Searcy, wife Tyria Searcy, daughter Paige Braxton
“This win is dedicated to God and my family,” Searcy exulted in a Facebook post. “My faith in God empowered me to fight for my return. My motivation was getting back to my family. Under no situation was I willing to lay down and surrender my life to a system that systematically targeted inner city minorities in poverty stricken communities for crimes that they knew the suspect may be innocent of. Giving up when I knew I was wronged was something I just couldn’t do.”
Searcy said he went straight from the hearing and got the tether removed, which has restricted his employment and other opportunities.
Thelonious Searcy (bottom r) listens March 19, 2018 as Vincent Smothers (on stand with head bowed) testifies he killed Segars, not Searcy. Standing is defense attorney Michael Dezsi, at far right, AP Timothy Chambers. Asst. State Atty. Gen’l Oronde Patterson argued the case most recently against Searcy, but to no avail. Photo: VOD
Searcy fought his conviction from day one from his prison cells, researching every aspect of his case. His grandmother Edna Richardson filed a Freedom of Information Act request for him which led to the procurement of his homicide file. Suppressed forensics evidence he found in that file was key in overturning his conviction.
In 2016, Searcy filed a pro se motion for a new trial with assistance from a “jail-house lawyer” friend. VOD discovered that motion in his court file in 2017, and has covered his story since.
VOD was the only media outlet to attend every session of a powerful six-month evidentiary hearing in front of Third Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny in 2018. Despite Kenny’s denial of Searcy’s motion six months afterwards, testimony from that hearing led eventually to today’s dismissal of all charges.
Shawn Searcy’s grandmother Edna Richardson in early portrait. She helped him file FOIA.
Vincent Smothers, the self-acknowledged “hit man” who also admitted the murders of the four victims in the Davontae Sanford case, took the stand for two days. He described in great detail consistent with the physical evidence how he and a now-deceased partner caught Jamal Segars in the midst of a “Black Party” crowded with auto traffic held outside Detroit City Airport. Smothers said he killed Segars using a .4o caliber gun. The Wayne County Medical Examiner turned four bullets in Segars body over to the Detroit Police.
A state Court of Appeals panel ruled that AP Muscat and trial judge Kenny deliberately diverted the jury’s attention away from those .40 caliber bullets, which were not consistent with the .45 caliber gun that the prosecution claimed was the murder weapon. It said Judge Kenny “abused his discretion” by evaluating and disputing Smothers’ testimony himself, a matter that is reserved for a jury.
Judge Hathaway listed these reasons for granting Searcy’s motion to dismiss in his order:
“This Court finds the following violations of defendant’s due process rights: (1) the prosecution was aware of Witcher’s criminal history on account of DPD’s Hit List containing his infractions; (2) the prosecution intentionally violated defendant’s right under Brady by suppressing the forensic analysis of the bullet taken from the victim’s body which was not consistent with the gun offered at trial as belonging to defendant; (3) the prosecution suppressed the VHS tape; (4) the prosecution suppressed the criminal history and arrest record of the prosecution’s key witness, DeAnthony Witcher.”
Judge Thomas Hathaway talks to Searcy after his ruling Oct. 2, 2022. FB post
Regarding the forensics evidence, 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.
“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.”
Judge Hathaway said the two forensics technicians who examined the bullets in the case, David Pauch and Kevin Reed, had been involved in other cases of wrongful convictions. He noted the defense had objected to qualifying Reed as an expert witness because he had no training in ballistics, but that AP Muscat had him testify at trial anyway, saying falsely that the bullets from Segars’ body were too deformed to analyze. Reed’s faulty work and other factors led to the shut-down of the entire City of Detroit crime lab in 2008.
He said the prosecution had argued in their motion opposing the dismissal of charges that the defense could have discerned that the bullets involved were .40 calibers from the Medical Examiner’s report and claimed the defense had not exercised “due diligence.”
.45 and .40 caliber bullets
But Hathaway said, “To the contrary, the prosecution argues that defense counsel who had the autopsy report about the bullets, could have ascertained by process of elimination, that the .40 caliber bullets had to have come from the victim’s body. However, this Court disagrees as the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a diligence requirement as part of a Brady violation.
“In People v. Chenault, 495 Mich 142, 152 (2014), our Supreme Court concluded that ‘[w]e disagree with the prosecution’s suggestion that the diligence requirement is consistent with the Brady doctrine generally.’ In the instant case, the prosecution is asking the Court to ignore binding precedent and impose a diligence requirement to reject defendant’s Brady argument. However, this Court declines the prosecution’s suggestion to decide against precedent.”
Police seized a videotape from this store at Conner and Whithorn, directly adjacent to Jamal Segars shooting scene on Conner.
Searcy and his attorney said they had repeatedly requested a copy of a VHS tape from a store located adjacent to the shooting scene from the prosecution, but were told the tape did not exist. However, they cited multiple still photographs from the videotape provided as part of discovery earlier.
In his ruling, Judge Hathaway wrote, “Similarly, the VHS tapes confiscated by Officer Zwicker was clearly Brady material that should have been given to the defense. Defendant argues that the VHS tapes that were confiscated are another reason why his case should be dismissed. Indeed, [eyewitnesses] Edmonson and Holmes told Officer Zwicker that they saw the shooter run into the corner store. Zwicker went to the store to confiscate a VHS tape that he placed into evidence. To date, this tape has never been produced or viewed by the defense.”
Judge Hathaway quoted AP Muscat’s testimony at the evidentiary hearing: “In regard to discovery, there has been some off the record conversations about an in-store video. I’ve never seen a copy of that video and I’ve been told by Sgt. Anderson that there is not a copy.”
Private investigator and former TV 2 reporter Scott Lewis interviewed Vincent Smothers in prison about his role in the Segars killing. His audiotape (featured above) heightened public awareness of Searcy’s wrongful conviction and was played during the evidentiary hearing prior to Smothers’ direct testimony.
Scott Lewis testifies March 19, 2018 at Thelonious Searcy evidentiary hearing.
“I am happy for Thelonious,” Lewis told VOD. “Michael Dezsi did an amazing job on this case. He discovered new evidence in the middle of an evidentiary hearing erasing any doubt that Searcy was wrongfully convicted. I wonder how many other innocent people are languishing in prison with a life sentence because they can’t afford good attorneys and investigators, and there are not enough pro bono [advocates] to go around.”
Judge Hathaway’s ruling on suppression of Brady materials in Searcy’s case is expected to be cited in an ongoing case involving Searcy’s brother Derrico Searcy and his co-defendant Darrell Ewing. Ewing has filed an interlocutory appeal of 3rd Circuit Court Judge Darnella Williams-Clayborne’s denial of his request to dismiss their case due to continuing Brady continuing violations going back to his original trial in 2004. Williams-Clayborne also contended that Brady violations do not apply post-conviction. The appeal is currently under consideration by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Darrell Ewing (l), Derrico Searcy (r)
“T’m overjoyed for the victory my brother and the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) just scored being completely set free and cleared,” Ewing told VOD. “Not only was he vindicated, but the illustrious Judge Thomas Hathaway issued an opinion that slammed the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for the injustice and grave misconduct that took place in his case–knowingly entombing evidence of innocence from the gate.
“His victory was a two-for-one as the pen that freed him gave my Judge Williams-Clayborne all the authority she requested in deciding to dismiss my case. So, I’m beyond elated and giving all praises to God, those who labored and beat the ground for us, making noise and protesting and the Voice of Detroit who covered our cases from day one, when no other media outlet would dare.”
VOD’s legal advisor noted many other cases involving requests for dismissal due to Brady violations will be affected by Judge Hathaway’s ruling, which sets a precedent in particular for Wayne County criminal cases brought back to the trial court on post-conviction motions.
One of those cases is that of Ricky Rimmer, who has filed motions for a new trial and evidentiary hearings after 47 years in prison, citing violations of Brady v. Maryland due to the prosecution’s failure to disclose the extensive criminal histories of the chief Detroit police officers in his case. The motions are set for action in front of Third Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher Blount on Jan. 6.
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.
Michael Thompson Clemency Project Rallies families, friends of 12 Michigan lifers, applying for clemency with Mich. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan prison population has tripled over the last 40 years; clemency project is first step in battle against mass incarceration
Ricardo Ferrell (l), Mike McCurdy (r)
By VOD Field editor Ricardo Ferrell and Mike McCurdy
FLINT, MI 9/16/22 – With momentum garnered during the Michael Thompson Clemency Project’s (MTCP) last event “Fighting for Freedom” on Juneteenth at Flint’s Capitol Theatre, advocates, family, friends and supporters again gathered, this time at the Vehicle City Social Club for a letter writing campaign.
Letters of support are being sent on behalf of the MTCP’s 12 applicants for commutation to the Office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan’s Parole Board. On this night in a room where many tears were shed, the stories of MTCP’s constituents were told by friends and family members who got on stage and shared how having an incarcerated loved one has impacted them and their families as well.
Michael Thompson at Vehicle City Club September 15, 2022 ZClingenpeel Mlive.COM
Michael “Meeko” Thompson, Founder and President of the Board of Directors of MTCP shared his compelling story with the crowd, about his 25-year struggle for freedom after being given a 42-60 year prison term for selling three pounds of cannabis to a friend.
Now some 20 months after Gov. Whitmer signed his commutation, he went on stage as a clear example that clemency can help right the injustices of our system of mass incarceration. He vowed to continue to travel the country talking to crowds and advocate for prison reform and push for clemency for those left behind.
Some of the incarcerated men who were the subjects of the event, (including VOD editor Ricardo Ferrell) chose to be there vicariously, telling their pre-recorded stories. Aside from Ferrell’s story, LeRoy Washington, who has known MTCP founder Michael Thompson (‘Meeko’) since he was a kid, shared his story as well. Washington said Thompson was a positive influence on him and always steered him in the right direction. He described how when he was 14, Meeko stepped in and deterred him from joining a gang.
(L to R) VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell (l) and Leroy Washington (r), 2 founders of “My Life Matters Too.”
Like the others, Washington is hoping that his application for commutation, prepared by the law offices of Kimberly Kendall Corral, will receive the required recommendation of the Michigan Parole Board and prayerfully be granted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer soon thereafter, bringing to an end his 28 years behind bars.
The dire need for both prison and criminal justice reforms was a major topic at the event. Flint’s Mayor Sheldon Neely spoke about the need to give incarcerated individuals a second chance, and for legislatures to finally step up and reform the system. Neely once held the seat as a Michigan State Representative before being elected mayor of Flint.
Flint Mayor Sheldon Neely
Never before had the families and supporters of MTCP’s incarcerated constituents gathered to tell their stories in one spot.
“The event was a huge success,” said Marshall Clabeaux, Codirector of MTCP, “We collected several letters on behalf of our constituents and were able to get a glimpse into the lives that are so drastically affected by the continued draconian and unnecessary incarceration of these men. Every story is different, but each of these men have proven they are ready to re-enter society and each of them is counting on the Governor to hear their pleas.”
The event made it clear that Michigan has a real problem with elderly prisoners being held beyond a reasonable time. At what point is enough, enough? Thompson asked, referring to the cruel and unusual nature of continuing to incarcerate the elderly for crimes they were convicted of in their youth, and in abusive conditions, while they no longer pose a threat.
Claudia Perkins-Milton at court hearing on Flint water settlement.
Flint resident and candidate for Flint School Board Claudia Perkins stressed that there exists a noticeable disparity in sentencing practices for People of Color. And the sole person that can do anything about it in many of these cases is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In 2019, Governor Whitmer issued an executive order, creating the Michigan Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. The stated goal of the bipartisan task force was to examine why the prison population has tripled in Michigan over the last 40 years, and what can be done to reduce the population. If one of the aims of the Michigan Prison Task Force is to reduce the population of those incarcerated, finding candidates like the listed 12 applicants should be a starting point.
These men combined have served around 400 years and counting. When is enough ever enough, especially when they have aged out of criminality, are elderly and sick, and struggle each passing day just to get out of bed and hope for another day?
Thousands of protesters shut down Hall Rd. in Sterling Heights June 6, 2020 after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, showing it is possible to mobilize against racism in Macomb County. Are such mobilizations needed to support Terry Wilson and others whose lives have been taken by Macomb Co. courts and police?
TERRY WILSON RE-TRIAL SET FOR FEB. 14, 2023 IN MACOMB COUNTY
Have issues of predominantly white juries, racist prosecutors been addressed before trial?
Family called earlier for change of venue
Wilson testified he was defending himself, but AP Jurji Fedorak told virtually all-white jury he “wanted to show how big of a man he is in his neighborhood.”
Ferrell
COA overturned Macomb County conviction of Reinaldo Jemison Sept. 15 citing defense failure to investigate and raise self-defense argument
By Ricardo Ferrell
With Editor Diane Bukowski
September 24, 2022
Channel 4 coverage of Terry Wilson’s overturned conviction in 2019.
MOUNT CLEMENS, MI – The fight to get justice for Terry Lamont Wilson of Clinton Township has been going on for nearly a decade. Family, friends and other supporters say they want to see him get the new trial that was granted in 2019 by Macomb Co. Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Faunce, after a 2014 trial was shown to be tainted by racism.
But they want a fair trial in front of a jury representative of the population of Macomb County, and a prosecutor who does not make racially biased statements at trial. They say Macomb County AP Jurji Fedorak is clearly planning to sabotage the case.
Terry Wilson’s mother LaShanda Kelley (r) and brother in court Aug. 16, 2022 (Photo Jameson Cook/Macomb Daily)
Court records show that Judge Faunce has set a trial date in the case for February 14, 2023.
“It’s been three long agonizing years waiting for Terry to get another trial and chance to hopefully prove that he never planned to kill William Clark, and that he only shot Willie because he feared him,” Corey Kennedy, a longtime friend of both Clark and Wilson, told VOD. He said he believes the jury got it wrong and his friend should have have been convicted of manslaughter, at most.
The U.S. Census reported in 2021 that 23.5% of Macomb County residents are from communities of color, including with 76% listed as white.
U.S. CENSUS 2021 REPORT ON RACIAL DEMOGRAPHICS OF MACOMB COUNTY, MICHIGAN
A jury of 11 whites and one Asian convicted Wilson of first-degree murder and felony firearm possession in Clark’s 2014 killing. Judge Faunce overturned the conviction in 2018 on appeal, after an evidentiary hearing on his motion for relief from judgement revealed that jury foreman Harvey Labadie called Wilson a “n—–r” during deliberations. Faunce did not address the issue of the racially exclusionary jury. Most mainstream media coverage has focused solely on Labadie’s remarks.
Macomb Co. AP Jurji Fedorak (l) MCCC Judge Jennifer Faunce (r)
According to a legal brief filed by appellate attorney Wade Fink, a juror believed to be Labadie also said “he believed defendant was guilty because he was ‘ghetto’ and ‘black’ and (murder) is what (ghetto black people) do, and this is the way they are.”
During Wilson’s first trial, Assistant Prosecutor Jurji Fedorak reinforced that depiction, telling the jury that Wilson “wanted to show how big of a man he is in his neighborhood.”
During a pre-trial hearing held August 16, AP Fedorak reneged on a plea offer that was originally discussed on July 15th with Gary Kennedy, the appointed appellate attorney now representing Wilson. The offer had a reported deadline of August 16th. If Wilson declined a plea to the lesser charge of second-degree, with a supposed cap of 25 years, he said the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office will take him to trial.
Macomb Co. AP, former Clinton Twp. police officer Vincent Collura
Homicide detective Gilbert, who investigated the death of William Clark, was present in the courtroom August 16. Clark’s brother DeAnthony Rodgers was also present in addition to Wilson’s mother LaShanda Kelley, and brother. Vincent Collura, a former Clinton Township Police Officer who handled the original case, who is now assistant prosecutor, sat next to Fedorak.
Fedorak asked that the proceedings be adjourned until August 22, to give Wilson an alleged “last chance” to think about the 25 year offer. But an earlier upon offer given to Wilson’s previous attorney Robbie Lang consisted of 18 years and the mandatory two years for the firearm.
Lang, from the Law Offices of Michael J. Smith & Associates, wrote regarding that offer, “…We have also discussed with the prosecutor, what at this time, is the lowest possible sentence cap that would be approved by the mother of the victim and the higher authorities in the prosecutor’s office that controls these negotiations, being 18 years, plus the two years on the Felony Firearm… if in fact, this type of plea bargain and sentence cap can be agreed upon by all sides, it is our strong recommendation that you accept it…”
COA reverses Macomb Co. Judge Joseph Toia’s ruling in case of Reinaldo Jemison, remands for new trial including self-defense investigation
During the first trial, Judge Faunce herself included a possible charge of manslaughter for the jury’s consideration. It is not known if Wilson’s defense attorney at trial asked for that charge to be considered.
Reinaldo Jemison (l) MCCC Judge Joseph Toia (r)
On Sept. 15, 2022, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the 2019 second-degree murder conviction of Reinaldo Jamison, citing defense counsel’s failure to properly investigate or pursue a self-defense claim. The COA said Macomb County Judge Joseph Toia erred when it accepted the “patently incredible testimony” of defense counsel David Cripps regarding evidence that Jemison had raised the self-defense claim to him from the beginning.
“Defense counsel was ineffective when he failed to properly investigate or pursue a self-defense claim,” the court said. “The trial court clearly erred when it accepted defense counsel’s patently incredible testimony on this issue. Moreover, defense counsel’s deficient performance in this regard is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of defendant’s trial. We therefore vacate his convictions and sentences, and remand for a new trial. We do not retain jurisdiction.” See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-ontent/uploads/Warren-murder-conviction-reversed-by-the-state-Court-of-Appeals-–-Macomb-Daily.pdf.
Related:
COA ruling overturning conviction of Macomb Co. resident Reinaldo Jemison
VOD Editor Diane Bukowski, Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell
By Diane Bukowski
September 5, 2022
DETROIT — The Voice of Detroit was founded in 2010, by its editor Diane Bukowski, when the Michigan Citizen newspaper dumped her after publishing 10 years of her ground-breaking stories, then went out of business three years later. Bukowski was known for her articles on prisons and the police, the dismantling of the City of Detroit, its departments and neighborhoods, the Detroit Public Schools, and multiple other issues.
Published pro bono, the Voice of Detroit has forged on, focusing since 2021 on articles related to the most dispossessed among us, whose lives are taken by mass incarceration and street executions by law enforcement. VOD Field Editor Ricardo Ferrell, incarcerated for decades, has helped keep that coverage going, with more than 40 articles from inside the walls of the MDOC. Photos of the subjects of those VOD stories appear in this post. To read the articles, put any name in the VOD search engine at the top right of this page.
VOD ‘s first series of articles on the wrongfully convicted include these men.
VOD is financed out of the minimal fixed incomes of its editor and staffers, f0r the benefit of the people. Every quarter, we must pay a web-hosting fee which has now increased to $465.00, to keep VOD on-line, in addition to multiple other expenses.
VOICE OF DETROIT HAS LED THE WAY IN THE BATTLE FOR JUVENILE LIFERS,, PARTICULARLY FROM WAYNE COUNTY.
VOD DOES NOT EXIST WITHOUT THE INTERNET. If $465.00 is not paid this month, VOD and twelve years of its stories will DISAPPEAR from view.
We are calling especially on the families and friends of those featured in VOD, prisoners in the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Wayne County Jail, and those killed by police, such as seven year-old Aiyana Jones, to step forward and donate to keep VOD going. We implore other justice-seekers to step forward as well, including attorneys, advocates, and activists everywhere.
VOD has led the way particularly in fighting for Wayne County’s juvenile lifers, 50 of whom Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy has forced to continue battling for re-sentencing ten and more years since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the practice. JLWOP is unknown across the globe, except in the United States.
Screenshots of Wayne County Jail detainess interviewed in March, 2022. Eleven detainees filed suit against the County in June, citing gross violations of their rights, led by Darrell Ewing (bottom right).
This year, VOD has covered the heroic battles of detainees in the Wayne County Jail, many held for up to four years in violation of their constitutional right to a speedy trial. The County has held trials at a snail’s pace, limiting them only to selected courtrooms.
The detainees have been denied even a “breath of fresh air” in recreation outside the jail, and even inside in the gym, since the COVID pandemic began in 2020, leading to severe deterioration of their health. They are denied in-person family visits, and their right to receive mail in a timely and legal fashion has been severely curtailed.
VOD Editor Diane Bukowski’s 10-year career with the Michigan Citizen was highlighted by her breaking stories on Serial Killer Kop Eugene Brown, and Detroit’s Booty Boys rapist cops Michael Osman and Michael Parish, as well as many others which exposed murderer police. VOD has continued that record, particularly with its coverage of the horrifying murder of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones in 2010 and continuing through the years of trials involved in the case. VOD was the ONLY media outlet which told the whole truth about the murder and the trials, while the mainstream media devoted itself to maligning Aiyana’s family.
Donations for the Voice of Detroit are urgently needed to keep this paper, which is published pro bono, going. Among ongoing expenses are quarterly HostPapa web charges of $460.00 (due at the latest by Sept. 19 this month), costs for research including court documents, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their dedicated work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please, if you can:
Families and friends of Wayne Co. Jail detainees demanded speedy trials, open courts, recreation for their loved ones March 17, 2022.
“You can judge a nation by how its treats its prisoners. Leaving the question to be asked, are these horrible and torturous conditions fair? Or is this how those who are presumed innocent should be treated? Note Wayne County has been dubbed the holder of the nation’s office with the highest wrongful convictions.” — From amended complaint filed Aug. 12, 2022
Screenshots of men in Wayne County Jail in March, 2022. Darrell Ewing, who led detainees in filing their lawsuit, is shown at bottom right.
DETROIT — Armed only with loose leaf paper, pens, and long-simmering outrage against what they say is their illegal and inhumane confinement, 11 Wayne County Jail detainees filed suit in U.S. District Court June 23 against Co. Sheriff Raphael Washington, Wayne Co. Chief Judge Timothy Kenny, and four other county administrators.
They say the defendants are violating their constitutional rights to speedy trials, open courts, family visits, and recreation.
“All Plaintiffs and Class Members (thousands) have been charged and detained in the Wayne County Jails, that is in violation of both Michigan and the U.S. Constitution 180-day right to speedy trial,” the detainees’ original complaint begins.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox
The detainees have moved for class certification, a jury trial, and appointment of an attorney, saying up to 1500 others are being held in similar conditions. The case is registered on the trial docket of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Sean Cox and is currently awaiting a hearing.
Detainees say the defendants, who also include Wayne Co. Dep. Sheriff Frederyn Allen, Co. Chief of Jails Robert Dunlap, Co. Chief Corporation Counsel Richard Lynch, and Co. Administrator Zenell Brown, are violating the U.S. Constitution’s First, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteen Amendments and multiple federal statutes due to their detentions without trial, in some cases for as long as four years.
Other issues include cruel and unusual punishment, and denial of due process and equal protection.
Wayne County Jail Detainees Say County violates these U.S. Constitutional Amendments.
“Plaintiffs like Antonio Richards, Javonte Wiley*(see box below) and Lamont Lofton [are being] held without trial in the excess of three years—an enormous dictatorial and egregious, conscience-shocking speedy trial violation!” the complaint says.
“Plaintiffs Roderick Graham and Shannon Groom are like thousands awaiting their day in court, held without being tried three times the speedy trial guarantee—18 months. This is a disturbing and mind blowing violation of the Sixth Amendment.”‘
In amended filings Aug. 12, they are asking the court to expedite their complaint, citing in particular the Aug. 6 suicide of one detainee. They say they have been confined 24/7 to their “rocks” (cells) since the County’s cancellation of all indoor and outdoor recreation and access to even a “whiff of fresh air” at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“The conditions in the jail are the root cause of plaintiffs’ and many others’ [new] diagnoses of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, stress and mental anguish,” they say.
In response to the filings, Erika Erickson, Communications Director for Wayne Co. Sheriff Raphael Washington, and Zenell Brown, 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Administrator, each responded to VOD’s July 27 inquiry for comments on the lawsuit, that they cannot comment on pending litigation and that they have not been legally served.
In their filings, the detainees are asking Judge Cox to ensure that that legal service is carried out forthwith due to the long-standing and now immediate threats to their mental and physical health.
“Consider, due to the long-term denial of recreation and all those immured in the jail and confined strictly to their living quarters (cell), the Plaintiffs have put on and gained an excessive amount of weight during these trying times. Take Plaintiff Cotton for example . . . Since being denied recreation has gained approximately 200 pounds, is having heart problems, chest pains, became a diabetic, and is steadily gaining weight due to the Defendants’ denial of recreation. Further, Plaintiff Graham has put on 120 pounds since being denied recreation. This is sad, as jails and prisons across the state long ago gave inmates access to recreation, visitation, and fresh air.”
JAVONTE WILEY FREE! After 4 years in pre-trial detention, Javonte Wiley walked free Aug. 12. His case was the first dismissed as a result of the Michigan Supreme Court ruling outlawing one-man grand juries.
The complaint says that detainees have tried to stay in shape working out off of bars and poles in the cells, with many getting injured and ticketed when the bars break. It cites other health issues including rising blood pressure and blood sugar rates as high as 600, along with breathing and other problems related to rampant asbestos, black mold and loose lead paint chips in the jail.
Detainees were told that the Third Judicial Circuit Court would be fully open Aug. 22 to expedite trials and other hearings, but that has not happened, they say. The complaint estimates that a back-log of 10,000 cases announced by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, will not be resolved until 2050 under the current court restrictions.
“Moreover, the defendants also assume residents of Wayne County (the impoverished) can afford access to Zoom or YouTube to observe court,” the complaint notes. “A recession looms and inflation is at an all time high, yet the defendants have instituted draconian policies mandating the people of our great state to view court only via Zoom and YouTube, not allowing in-person spectators. . .This ought not to be in today’s time, when there’s a whopping amount of distrust for police and the judicial system, with an incredible rate of wrongful convictions.”
The complaint alleges that U.S. Mail including legal mail from attorneys and courts is being “held and stockpiled” for two weeks up to two months.
Each detainee has filed signed affidavits describing their own individual legal issues and complaints. Links to the actual documents in the case, available from the court’s PACER website, will be appended shortly. Meanwhile, see full statement of facts (typed) in amended operative complaint filed Aug. 12 at:
Donations for the Voice of Detroit are urgently needed to keep this paper, which is published pro bono, going. Among ongoing expenses are quarterly HostPapa web charges of $460.00 (due Sept. 4, 2022), costs for research including court documents, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their dedicated work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please, if you can:
The newscast above was published in 2021; Terry Lamont Wilson has now been in the Macomb County Jail for three years.
Terry Wilson faces new trial in Macomb County this year after judge threw out 2014 conviction due to racist comments by member of all-white jury
Wilson’s mother says, “My son is still not safe in Macomb County,” and wants a change of venue.
Macomb County known for openly racist politicians, employees, courts and police, national neo-Nazi group
Wilson testified he was defending himself in chaotic scene during shooting death of a friend, but had no intent to kill
R. Ferrell
“Unrepresentative juries . . .also produce wrongful convictions and unfair sentences that disproportionately burden Black people and people of color-” 2021 Equal Justice Initiative study
By Ricardo Ferrell, VOD Field Editor with Diane Bukowski, Editor
Terry Lamont Wilson (MDOC photo)
Terry Lamont Wilson, in prison since 2014 on a charge of first-degree murder, won a new trial in 2019 after his appellate attorney Wade Fink discovered that the jury foreman on his all-white jury, Harvey Labadie, repeatedly made racist remarks during deliberations.
Despite the testimony of four fellow jurors, Labadie denied making the remarks when confronted by a Channel 7 News reporter. “I didn’t say racist comments. I have never said racist comments in my life. I am a Democrat.
Fink said at the time, “Huge victory for our criminal justice system but also another reminder that pernicious racial bias continues to exist.”
Wilson is still locked up three years after Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Faunce, who presided over his original trial, ordered a new trial because of Labadie’s comments. At the same time, she ordered him remanded to the Macomb County Jail without bond. She has repeatedly denied motions asking for changes in his terms of confinement due to his health issues.
Macomb Cty AP Jurji Fedorak, Judge Jennifer Faunce
Wilson’s mother LaShanda Kelley told VOD she fears that flagrant racial bias is still rampant in Macomb County and wants a change of venue.
“My son is not safe in Macomb County,” she said. “He needs a change of venue. Jurors openly discussed the trial on Facebook during deliberations and one referred to my son as a ‘n—r’ repeatedly. That juror called my son ‘ghetto,’ implying that is the way THEY all are. One juror said she felt bullied into voting in favor of the verdict. Even though Terry has been granted a new trial, I still worry that he won’t receive a fair trial again.”
Judge Faunce’s 2019 ruling vacating Wilson’s conviction was widely covered by the media, but little was said about the all-white jury.
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), headed by nationally prominent Attorney Bryan Stevenson, known for his historic U.S. Supreme Court victories on behalf of juvenile defendants, published a 2021 study, “Race and the Jury.”
It begins, “Unrepresentative juries not only exclude and marginalize communities of color, they also produce wrongful convictions and unfair sentences that disproportionately burden Black people and people of color. Our failure to remedy this longstanding problem of racial bias imperils the legitimacy of the U.S. legal system.”
The report says the entire judicial system plays a role in producing all-white and non-representative juries, including judges, prosecutors, and even defense attorneys who do not challenge such juries.
It notes that, historically, not one top court in the 50 states has upheld such a challenge. However, Michigan’s Supreme Court, which has recently issued many ground-breaking rulings on behalf of defendants, may want to take a look at Wilson’s case in the event that another non-representative jury is selected or other indications of racism occur.
Macomb County has been dominated for decades by white elected politicians, courts and police. In 1972, pro-segregation presidential candidate George Wallace won the Democratic primary election there.
In recent history, leaders have included long-time Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, known for his comments likening Blacks to chimpanzees, using the “n” word, and imitating a monkey with a banana. Warren is the third largest city in Michigan. Its voters have elected and re-elected Fouts four times so far with majorities as large as 85 percent of the electorate. He is currently seeking a charter revision so he can run a fifth time.
(L-r) Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, hate group leader Richard Spencer, Sterling Heights City Council member Paul Smith
Terry Wilson is from Clinton Township, also the birthplace of Richard Spencer, leader of the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, termed a neo-Nazi hate group by civil rights organizations.
The group has faced heated protests at Michigan State University and other colleges nationally where its leaders were scheduled to speak.
Another Foundation leader is Paul Smith, who ran for mayor in Sterling Heights, the fourth largest city in the state, and still has significant support there. Deadline Detroit said, “He and his wife, council candidate Moira Smith, refer to Latino immigrants as ‘wetbacks’ and gays as ‘fags.’ At one rally, Smith displayed a protest sign depicting President Barack Obama’s severed head on a metal pole.” See: Deadline Detroit | Selweski: Hate Group Cozies Up to 2 Macomb Cities; What Does That Say About Them?
Macomb County Morgue
In 2020, three Macomb County Morgue employees were fired after allegations of sexual harassment and racism. They involved one worker bringing in a cake with a Black penis in its frosting the day after the murder of George Floyd. They were also accused of mocking Black family members, including one incident where a worker said, ‘Show them a picture of his penis. Maybe they’ll recognize him by that.” 3 Macomb County morgue employees fired amid allegations of racism and sexism | Metro Detroit News | Detroit | Detroit Metro Times
Current and former Macomb County Prosecutors Peter Lucido (l) and Eric Smith (r).
Former county Prosecutor Eric Smith, who was in office during Wilson’s trial, was sentenced to 21 months in prison in February on charges of “obstruction of justice,” related to his theft of over $74,000 from his campaign funds, and suborning perjury from witnesses who testified in front of a federal grand jury.
Current Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido has faced allegations of sexist behavior since his time in the State Senate, which have been renewed by his current employees.
Lucido is quoted in the Channel 4 broadcast at the top of this story saying that he is confident Wilson’s second trial will result in another murder conviction, although Judge Faunce introduced a third charge of voluntary manslaughter after hearing testimony at the first trial. Assistant Prosecutor Jurji Fedorak argued for first-degree murder. Fedorak told the all-white jury, “He wanted to show how big of a man he is in his neighborhood.”
Wilson says prosecution wants him to accept plea deal to second-degree murder, with a minimum sentence of 25 years, by August 16
Willie Deon Clark
Wilson was 21 when he shot a lifelong friend, Willie Clark, 24 in Prince Drewry Park in Clinton Township during an argument witnessed by dozens of people. The argument involved not only Wilson and Clark, but Clark’s two brothers. Such confrontations among Black youths are becoming more common nationally as their living conditions and prospects for the future deteriorate.
“I honestly feared for my life when Willie came galloping towards me yelling angrily after first going to his car,” Wilson told VOD. “I thought he had retrieved a gun because he was known to carry one. I was outnumbered and one of his brothers was twice my size. One brothert initiated the verbal argument and that caused the arguing between Willie and myself. Plus I suffered from an eye condition which made it difficult for me to see clearly and precisely what exactly Willie and his brothers were doing. This was happening real fast causing confusion and heightened my fear. So, I reacted instinctively thinking that I was in imminent danger of harm.
Macomb Cty. Asst. Public Defender Gary F. Kennedy II
“Yes, I am responsible for Willie’s death, but there was never any intent and I didn’t commit or plan any premeditated murder. I have been held in jail for three long years awaiting a new trial. And I have a legitimate concern that somehow the same thing will occur again with a jury not being fair and impartial. I pray that a lesser charge of manslaughter be offered by the Macomb County Prosecutors Office, as the circumstances, evidence and facts surrounding this case supports such a resolution.”
But Wilson said his current defense attorney, Gary F. Kennedy II, told him the prosecution is offering him only a plea deal involving conviction of second-degree murder with a minimum 25 year sentence. The prosecution wants his decision on whether to accept the deal by a “final pre-trial hearing” August 16. The hearing is one of a series of previous “final” pre-trial hearings on Wilson’s court docket.
VOD’s legal consultant says no prosecutor can guarantee any sentence since that function is up to the judge. Even a second-degree murder conviction can result in a sentence up to “parolable life.” There are still dozens of so-called “parolable lifers” in prison in Michigan, many for decades, due to a parole board that often refers only to the original crime, not evidence of rehabilitation, in its assessments. Michigan has the longest sentences in the country, with individuals in the Department of Correction currently serving an average of 126 percent of their minimum sentences so far.
HISTORY OF THE TRIAL AND RE-TRIAL
The racist comments by jury foreman Harvey Labadie were revealed by fellow jurors, who testified at an evidentiary hearing in 2018 that he referred to Wilson as a ‘n—–,’ and had already formed an opinion inside the jury room, as to what the punishment should be.
Harvey Labadie/photo from current Facebook page
Judge Faunce held the evidentiary hearing in June, 2018 after Wilson filed a motion for relief from judgment in her court. She granted the motion Aug 9, 2018, vacating Wilson’s conviction, but also ordered that he continued to be held without bond pending a new trial. OPINION & ORDER GRANTING DEFT TERRY WILSON’S MTN FOR RELIEF FROM JDGMT; DEFT’S CONVICTIONS ARE VACATED; DEFT TO BE HELD W/NO BOND -SGD
Labadie initially complained about being selected for jury duty in Wilson’s trial, then posted comments on his Facebook page during deliberations which showed he had already formed an opinion on his verdict. At least one improper Facebook post by Juror Gary Ludwig was made inside the jury room, as jurors were going over the case.
It should be noted there are municipalities within Macomb County with populations up to approximately 47 percent Black, including Warren, Roseville, Eastpointe, and others. Macomb County’s entire population of Black residents has risen from 11 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2020 showing the rapid growth. AP Jurji Fedorak evidently excluded Black jurors from Terry Wilson’s jury to ensure that an all-white jury would be impaneled. But there is no evidence on the record available to VOD that his defense attorney at trial challenged that selection. The EJI report says defense attorneys are frequently too fearful of prosecutors to do so.
A just remedy would be to offer a ‘Nolo Contendere’ plea to Manslaughter and in a showing of good faith, grant Wilson a bond pending the completion of trial proceedings. If that does not happen, the Michigan Supreme Court may eventually find that Wilson has cause for demanding a change of venue.
Donations for the Voice of Detroit are urgently needed to keep this paper, which is published pro bono, going. Among ongoing expenses are quarterly HostPapa web charges of $460.00 (due Sept. 4, 2022), costs for research including court documents, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their dedicated work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please, if you can:
SUNDAY. NOV. 13, 11 AM- 1 PM 18640 Harper, n. of Moross at 1-94 
Mt. Clemens, MI – George Rider, a prominent Detroit-area businessman and community activist convicted of the 2017 murder of Julii Johnson, will be back in Macomb County Circuit Court Friday Nov. 4 (postponed from Wed. Oct. 26.)
Rider’s current attorney Christine Pagac won the remand after participating in oral arguments at the appeals court.
Rider contended at trial that four cell phones, including the one seized, were commonly left at the Fine Arts Theater, which he previously owned, for anyone to use.
Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
The dismissal is WITH PREJUDICE, meaning that the charges cannot be brought back. Most of the cases of Wayne County’s 32 exonerees to date have involved only dismissals WITHOUT prejudice, leading some to speculate that possible reinstatements of their original charges have been held over their heads since.
“This Court finds the following violations of defendant’s due process rights: (1) the prosecution was aware of Witcher’s criminal history on account of DPD’s Hit List containing his infractions; (2) the prosecution intentionally violated defendant’s right under Brady by suppressing the forensic analysis of the bullet taken from the victim’s body which was not consistent with the gun offered at trial as belonging to defendant; (3) the prosecution suppressed the VHS tape; (4) the prosecution suppressed the criminal history and arrest record of the prosecution’s key witness, DeAnthony Witcher.”
VOD’s legal advisor noted many other cases involving requests for dismissal due to Brady violations will be affected by Judge Hathaway’s ruling, which sets a precedent in particular for Wayne County criminal cases brought back to the trial court on post-conviction motions.
VOD must pay its quarterly web-host fee NOW! Or, it will fold and DISAPPEAR, taking 12 years of stories with it.
this paper, which is published pro bono, going. Among ongoing expenses are quarterly HostPapa web charges of $460.00 (due at the latest by Sept. 19 this month), costs for research including court documents, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their dedicated work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated. Please, if you can:
“The conditions in the jail are the root cause of plaintiffs’ and many others’ [new] diagnoses of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, stress and mental anguish,” they say.
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), headed by nationally prominent Attorney Bryan Stevenson, known for his historic U.S. Supreme Court victories on behalf of juvenile defendants, published a 2021 study, “Race and the Jury.”
