Besides, when you are investigating alleged public corruption, you lose your belief in the coincidental. You lied to me, I wrote back. The Riders case is significant for police accountability in Oakland. About This Work. The March 12 meeting had yielded no comment to any of my questions concerning what was allegedly happening in Oakland County and statewide nor had Nessel, herself, been present. They always left with no result. But not this time, evenwith Trump winning Macomb for a second time. By the morning of Friday March 22, I was getting nervous. So, I never took for granted the honor of telling someones story and elevating a voice; especially if they had suffered from injustice or been discarded by society. The case led to a parallel civil rights lawsuit brought by. In May, 2019, she paid a visit to an elderly couple, Bob and Barb. True to form, it was a downright bizarre four hours during which our summary of findings was received with moments which ran the gamut between receptive and defensive. Your email address will not be published. This year, despite trailing in many independent public opinion polls such asthe Free Press' by around 7 points, he brought it closer to 2 by outgaining Biden in areas like St. Clair County, where he added more than 10,000 votes, and Monroe, where he added 9,400. Gretchen Whitmer two years ago). The Attorney General has created an Elder Abuse Task Force, he told me. At least two other cases identified by The Appealone involving officers Eric Richholt and Mark Neely Jr., the other involving Richard Valergahave also been destroyed. The subjects of Nessels proclamation were alsocentral figures in my investigation alongside attorney Jon B. Munger (fired in 2017), Oakland County Probate Court Chief Judge Kathleen Ryan and her colleagues Linda Hallmark, Daniel A. OBrien and Jennifer Callaghan. Rather than address the serious issues Chief Kirkpatrick raised, the city of Oakland, through Mayor Libby Schaaf and the members ofpolice commission, fired the most progressive police chief in the citys history for blowing the whistle on the commissions misconduct, said her attorney R. James Slaughter of the law firm of Keker Van Nest & Peters, in a statement. The afternoon was led by Assistant Attorney General Scott Teter. For years, multiple families had gone to Michael with horror stories about hispublic administrators. My advice is to contact the Macomb County Bar Association, the Michigan State Police or the FBI." First time I can remember I've tried to report a crime and no one has . This request came because, according to news reports, Millers attorney claims there was no criminal intent with his interaction related to the larger case of alleged misuse of forfeiture funds by Smith. Biden, for instance, did far better than Clinton did in some other areas, and in some of them may have been helped by forces outside hisor Trump's control. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Flowingdata.com "But what happened was the Democrats got their voters out it wasn't enough to overcome what they were able to get out in voter-rich southeastern Michigan.". in Oakland County at their at the Red Fox in I think it was Bloomfield. The meeting was set for March 12. by Nicole Audrey Spector Sure, the president of the United States wields immense power, as does the average member of the Senate and House of Representative, but when it comes to unchecked lawlessness, abuse of authority and corruption, they've got nothing over the county sheriff. We left at 5 pm with no comment but quite a lot of answers. This year, Biden won 60%-40% and there were 1,500 voters. 28 police officers with allegations involving a prostitute. I called my editor at the Free Press. But he won three more counties than Clinton did and did better in those he didn't win than Clinton did in a state known to be more Democratic-leaning than Republican in presidential elections. However, on Dec. 22, 2000, Judge Jaqueline Connor. Introduction. (Fugitive Apprehension Team/Detective Bureau) Investigative/Forensic Services. The paper that would never bow to a public official. That left about 1.5% for the third party candidates. Some voters are unwilling to admit they are voting for him. Two leaders of an Oakland construction management firm pleaded guilty Thursday to felony charges in the far-reaching San Francisco City Hall corruption scandal centered . Investigative and Forensic Services Division - Captain Joseph Quisenberry: 248-858-5087. Oakland County Sheriff's deputies are searching for a driver who hit a road sign and left the scene. An Oakland County man faces two years in prison after he admitted in federal court Tuesday that he was part of a scheme involving trash-hauler Chuck Rizzo Jr. to steal hundreds of thousands of doll On August 23, 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that she hadfired three Oakland County Public Administrators, John Yun, Jennifer Carney and Thomas Brennan Fraser and one Macomb County Public Administrator Robert Kirk. In Oakland County, the state's second largest county, turnout was nearly75%, higher than the 72% seen in 2008; in Detroit which is getting smaller and the rest of Wayne County, turnout was 62%, just under that seen in the 2008 election. In my national background research, I spoke to families in Washington and Oklahoma who said that reporters who had been committed to investigating guardianship issues, in those states, were suddenly told by their editors to stop. Guys like John Chase and Alan May have been running roughshod for so long that theyve utterly lost their principles, he told me. It is now . He was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of probation. Prior to the Task Force presser, Nessel moved to dismiss Gellers lawsuit while I repeatedly emailed my teams findings to Michigan Supreme Court Director of Communications John Nevin with no response. Enthusiasm was clearly up, too. They will take months to do anything. By Nate Gartrell | ngartrell@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group. On Sept. 26, 2002, narcotics unit officers Richholt and Neely were arrested at a beauty salon after offering $160 to several women in exchange for oral sex. Far from the Michigan election being stolen from Trumpas he claims, the president did a remarkable job of energizing support, especially, but not only, in older industrial and rural parts of the state. On the morning of March 25, I paused to watch Nessels presser on Facebook. Just like Caring Hearts, ADDMS was founded by attorneys who had donated to Georges 2003 campaign. The Oakland Police Commission, made up of seven appointed residents, was created to oversee the police departments policies and practices, and the Community Police Review Agency, which investigates police misconduct.. According to news reports from the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, at least three members of the Detroit Police Department are suspected of accepting bribes from towing industry figures; no charges have been filed so these unnamed individuals were also not included in the regional public figure count. In suburban Oakland County, meanwhile, Biden's support grew by 91,000 votes though the president isn't making claims about trucks pulling up in the dead of the night there. The Oakland Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation has dedicated resources to unraveling the truth behind the extensive web of corruption, which Mohammed Nuru presided over, during his tenure leading the San Francisco Department of Public Works," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Pearson. In Oakland County, the state's second largest county, turnout was nearly 75%, higher than the 72% seen in 2008; in Detroit which is getting smaller and the rest of Wayne County, turnout . I was fundamentally clear to him that, if Lucido was right about his dates, it was vital that I attend. Required fields are marked *. Both officers falsely represented themselves as FBI agents during the incident. Well let me say something to you, we do have the evidence.. And in Grand Traverse, Trump went from winning by 13 points four years ago to beating Biden by just 3. (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication. If you want to know exactly what Yun, Carney, and Fraser did to earn their brief,moment in the sun Friday, then you are quite welcome to click the links below: These stories goto the heart of both Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessels 2018 campaigns for Michigan Governor and Attorney General. I checked with my editor at the Free Press who gave an enthusiastic green light. What is fundamentally clear is that neither the Free Press nor Nessel wanted me there asking anything specific. After she was fired, Kirkpatrick told this news organization that she believed she was terminated as a result of retaliation for refusing a police commissioners request to be reimbursed for towing fees. No other county in the region or the state has had as many corruption cases the as Wayne and Macomb counties. After all, Rossman-McKinney hadnt risen to her position without the usual, required Machiavellian dexterity. A documentary crew with exclusive access follows the new leadership with the cold case team devoted to Morgan's case. Lucido seemed equally surprised because, he said, there was supposed to be a press conference about it on March 25. The Appeal was unable to contact Neely. You shared the chart of the home sales information with me and it included one sale that was over $100,000 below the market value. The Appeal was unable to locate Valerga for comment. The U.S. Supreme Court has explained that the rule extends to any favorable evidence known to others acting on the governments behalf in the case, including the police.. With no due process, or medical evidence presented as to a wards incapacity, shocking judicial overreach led them to be stripped of each of their constitutional, statutory, civil and human rights. Teter looked me square in the face and asked me who they were. Theres a reason why this story is my last as a journalist. And while we don't know precisely what that percentage was yet across the state, Kiska's key precincts give a decent idea. Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper: "The Senator does not appreciate your constant attacks on the Attorney General." Michigan Sen. Peter Lucido: I can't help you. Friend of the Court - 248-466-2728. He is a man to whom I will be indebted for the rest of my life. But Biden was able to show some surprising levels of support in Republican areas relative to Trump. Nessel, Bernstein and Cavanaugh attended Listening Sessions across Michigan during which seniors and their families could tell their stories, within three-minute reason. Driving Biden's success wasn't only the fact that he did better percentage-wise than Clinton did in 2016 across metro Detroit, however. The Oakland Public Ethics Commission has broadened the scope of its investigations into allegations of corruption by building code enforcement officers. Nessel claimed that the Task Force was working in concert with the Supreme Court Justices. You can't wait until the last week. The decision to purge the files was legal, according to Tom Kinzinger, an attorney with Bryan Cave law firm who reviewed the Alameda County Superior Courts destruction of records for The Appeal. But the four kids were kidnapped Her work has won or been nominated for four successive Chicago Press Club awards, been recognized by the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists (NLGJA), and covered topics such as. You cant give that stuff to them. In addition, former Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland pled guilty to misconduct in office in May of 2021, and he resigned from City Council following the plea. ), I felt like Adlai Stevenson staring down Ambassador Zorin. Moreover, she had pledged to support the the downtrodden and, her meeting request looked like a desire to keep that campaign promise. At that point, I was struggling to keep a grip on my own temper. From one standpoint, Biden didn't overachieve: Where Trump in 2016 flipped a dozen counties from blue to red, Biden flipped only three. It wasn't just metro Detroit, however. Since the inception of the consent decree, the agency has cycled through 10 police chiefs, all of whom have failed to fulfill the reform programs mandates. Hes part of a case there right now. The department remains under a federal judges authority and bound by a settlement agreement that details numerous reforms. There are lessons within it, for me most of all, but I hope also for those journalists who choose to stay on the ship, maybe of what not to do, even as the last few chords of Nearer My God to Thee play out in New York and Washington DC. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? Detroitography.com Under Kirkpatrick, five previously achieved tasks were brought out of compliance. Bill Ballenger: The blue AMC Gremlin, child killer. If your case does not appear in the MiFIle efiling system please email efiling@oakgov.com to have it added. Charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney against Sgt. Wayne County, including Detroit, has the highest number of public corruption charges in the region, and the state, followed by Macomb County. Republican voters, though, as well as Democratic ones, are clearly not monolithic. This year, 1,311 voters cast ballots, andit was Trump 49.4% to 49.1% for Biden. Fired Oakland police chief sues city for, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Chart: Bay Area rainfall totals for this week, Fired Oakland police chief sues city for alleged retaliation for exposing corruption, abuse of power. And it tells us about Trump, a combativeand polarizing politician who has continued to shock with his claims and surprise with the resilience he has shown in drawing support in places like Michigan. As part of his plea deal, Perez turned states evidence and accused dozens of other LAPD officers of misconduct. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. So, it didnt pass anyones notice that, despite the simplicity of the job, the Attorney General couldnt even bring herself to say the word fired., Instead, after careful internal deliberation, she decided relieve these public administrators of their appointments.. Those officers have since been fired. Two suicides. Yet she, somehow, forgot to mention to them the evidence my team and I brought to her staff and years of complaints to her office, and that of her predecessor, by wards and their families. Dear Abby: Why do they imply my husband is a freak? If you have any . Third parties. The commission and Mayor Libby Schaaf on Feb. 20 jointly fired Kirkpatrick without cause, ending months of tension between the chief and the independent citizens board. The department remains under a federal judges authority and bound by a settlement agreement that details numerous reforms. He is prepared to utilize his years of . Oakland County Courts are known for their corruption and their extortion. Meanwhile, a small contingent of family members set out for Lansing to stand outside her offices and plead their case to any passing journalists. It probably explains why they joined the Michigan Guardianship Association and a host of like-minded pro-guardianship organizations and the omnipresent Probate Judges Association as Task Force members. It was even apparent looking at the statewide vote for university trustees, which have often been seen as a barometer for partisanship since voters don't give them nearly as much attention as the top of the ticket and may merely have followed their party inclination. With Detroit having turnout not seen in 20 years and turnout upsignificantly in both Oaklandand Wayne counties relative to 2016, Biden's margins in those counties he won in Oakland 56%-42%, compared with Clinton's 52%-34% and in Wayne 68%-31% to Clinton's 67%-29% more than made up the difference. That's only part of the story to Biden winning Michigan: Even as Trump was adding to his vote totals in every county of the state but one Dickinson, in the Upper Peninsula, where Secretary of State records show he lost 111 votes his margin of victory in several counties long considered friendly to Republicans fell. I emailed my editor again with no response. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. On the other hand, what happened this year with the Detroit Free Presstook the prize andwas a gut-punch to what had been my rose-tinted view of the profession. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. themselves as FBI agents during the incident. donate today. Two years later, ADDMS was also found to be up to its ears in all kinds of alleged malfeasance (of course, no one was ever prosecuted) and it was also a company to which George handed over rewards in the form of docket-fulls of wards. As for Smith, he pled guilty to a federal obstruction of justice charge for covering up theft from his campaign fund. Hundreds did and the majority of the time, their stories focused on Michigans probate courts. Originally, the oversight was to last five years, but the police department has been slow to achieve reforms. I was quite surprised when, almostimmediately I heard back from her Communications Director Kelly Rossman-McKinney asking if my team and I would be willing to meet with a long list of Nessel staff members in order to overview our findings. Thatdifference was even more stark in Kent County in west Michigan, where Trump lost,getting 165,318 votes to Biden's 186,753. On August 23, 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that she had fired three Oakland County Public Administrators, John Yun, Jennifer Carney and Thomas Brennan Fraser and one. "We have no specific instances of wrongdoing.". Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The three officers, who patrolled West Oakland together on the graveyard shift in 2000, were accused of violating the civil rights of innocent suspects by illegally detaining them, planting drugs. Exposing how the U.S. criminal legal system fails to keep people safe and perpetuates harm. With the help of Democrat activist and State Court Administrator Milton Mack, Jr., she decided to stick around the Macomb County bench, if only when she felt like it. Under the Brady rule, prosecutors must disclose material that might help the defense, including information that undermines the credibility of state witnesses. Edward Ortiz, Officer Paul Harper, Sgt. 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