Trump, despite ending his campaign in Grand Rapids and making west Michigan a focus of his campaign, raised less than 75,000 new votes. "We have no specific instances of wrongdoing.". For instance, it dropped by 8 percentage points in Emmet County, 9 in Ottawa in west Michigan, nearly 10 in Grand Traverse. The judgesdecided on a sample of 2,278 guardianship and conservatorship cases my team and I reviewed. In February 2003, Neely and Richholt pleaded guilty to one count of agreeing to engage in prostitution and received one day in jail and three years of probation, a misdemeanor. In 2005, Hornung was acquitted after his second trial in which some of the charges against him were dropped. 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. The pair and other officers brutalized and planted drugs on suspects and filed false police reports resulting in wrongful convictions. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? The initial charges against Smith were the state charges and occurred in March of 2020, and the federal charges came in September of 2020. Finally, late in the evening, too late anyway for my editor friends in Chicago to RSVP on my behalf, I received a text from my editor at the Free Press. He also saw raw numbers of voters swell in virtually every part of Michigan,which is a testament to his ability to generate additional support where it had seemed it had hit a ceiling. Most recently, investigations involve Detroit City Councilmembers Andre Spivey, Janee Ayers and Scott Benson. Can you supply one?. Far from it, at Listening Tours, she told the audience that if she found a public administrator was up to no good, she would have no compunction in firing that person.Of course not. One of the firearms found in the car was a shotgun that Neely and Richholt allegedly seized from an East Oakland mans house earlier in the day in a warrantless search. Much of his bluster was false rhetoric. Getting those voters to voice their support in public opinion polls isn't easy. Corruption cases have long riddled the Metro-Detroit region and in an upcoming post we will detail the ones that have been brought to the public eye since 2016. Read more onMichigan politics and sign up for ourelections newsletter. The journalists in attendance were, justifiably, appalled and, in the end, Burgio ended up getting far more ink than Nessel. However, on Dec. 22, 2000, Judge Jaqueline Connor overturned the jury verdict. In Wayne County (excluding Detroit), since 2016, there have been four public corruption charges. With more likely in the works, it is important to note that strong local journalism, citizen involvement in local government and an understanding of who is being elected can help reduce corruption cases. When Catallo was shooting the story, the Kirks attorney, Sterling Heights Mayor and rabid Democrat Michael Taylor showed up to do a bit of schilling for his clients. He said hed received no announcement but would check with his colleagues on the government beat. 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. Throughout the trials, the Oakland Police Departments internal culture was examined in detail, as were political decisions by city leaders to undertake a zero tolerance crackdown on drug dealers, which community activistsand even the Oakland police unionblamed for stoking violence by street cops. Mack was a Wayne County Probate Court Chief Judge when, again, two attorneys operating out of his court, John Chase, Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr, allegedly worked with Wayne County Judge Freddie Burton, Jr. to pilfer the estate of no less than Rosa Parks. Originally, the oversight was to last five years, but the police department has been slow to achieve reforms. Edward Ortiz, Officer Paul Harper, Sgt. I didn't quote him at the time but there were more than a few moments I wanted to blurt out "Well let me tell you, with a trespass on credulity that excels your best, that we do have the evidence. themselves as FBI agents during the incident. Bill Ballenger: The blue AMC Gremlin, child killer. Court records were gathered for the claims. So they didn't vote for her. All rights reserved. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasn't followed: What should you do? In fact, while Biden lost west Michigan as a region overall, he still was able to improve his percentage of support relative to Clinton's by 5 percentage points again, much of that coming from third party support from four years ago and get 119,000 more votes out of the region. OAKLAND COUNTY. I told Lucido that I had heard no mention of a Task Force at all. Plaintiffs alleged mistreatment at the hands of four veteran officers, known as the "Riders", who were alleged to have kidnapped, planted evidence, and beaten . However, on Dec. 22, 2000, Judge Jaqueline Connor. Kirkpatrick was also recently criticized in her handling of the police fatal shooting of a homeless man, Joshua Pawlik, who was found armed and sleeping in 2018. Apr 20, 2022, M. Forrest Behne, Craig Waleed, Meghan Peterson, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein However, he was never formally investigated by its internal affairs division, nor did the department track down and interview all of his victims, according to depositions taken during the civil rights suit. I was floored. In the 1960s, Oakland became the birthplace of the Black Panther movement after growing police harassment and brutality, and in 1968, anger at OPD boiled over when cops killed a 17-year-old member. The chief of staffs for Ayers and Benson are also included in this investigation but have not been charged. Numerous other officers were named during the investigation and trial as having participated in similar abuses. Charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney against Sgt. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. After all, Rossman-McKinney hadnt risen to her position without the usual, required Machiavellian dexterity. In 1945, Michigan was racked with corruption. As we moved on to Medicaid fraud allegedly committed by the public administrators, I was asked what bearing it had on the investigation. Besides, when you are investigating alleged public corruption, you lose your belief in the coincidental. They are all sharp as tacks anyway. Darwin BondGraham 2000-11-02 04:00:00 PDT OAKLAND -- In one of the toughest crackdowns against police corruption in Oakland history, the Alameda County district attorney will charge four police . Additional Emergency Contact Numbers: PPO - 248-303-1534. Under the Brady rule, prosecutors must disclose material that might help the defense, including information that undermines the credibility of state witnesses. 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. In November 2005, Valerga pleaded guilty to the charges, all misdemeanors. She filed a claim against the city in May, the first step to filing a lawsuit. OCSO in the Community. But Biden got 40% to Clinton's 36%. This was a rare opportunity to press her on the issue in person and, given its name, my questions clearly fell smack in the middle of the Task Forces wheel house. In 2003, the first trial ended in a hung jury. I checked with my editor at the Free Press who gave an enthusiastic green light. Oakland County Sheriff's deputies are searching for a driver who hit a road sign and left the scene. But I will tell you this: I am going to publish. All of them showed shocking financial malfeasance. Record turnout of 5.5 million, larger than that seen in the election of 2008,drove his victory. "That's not happening any more. As for the morning being a "high level review of elder care issues," either Rossman-McKinney lied to my editor or he lied to me. The litigants are Aretha Franklins family members. In Wayne County's Canton Precinct 2, for instance, the in-person vote broke 58%-42% for Biden, up from the52%-43% Clinton had in 2016. As part of his plea deal, Perez turned states evidence and accused dozens of other LAPD officers of misconduct. While my press badge, issued by the Chicago Police Department, pissed off Kojak to no end and at least got me in the door with Teter, maybe it had no weight when it came to last minute pressers. The Sheriff's Office continues to be active in communities throughout Oakland County by offering several programs to assist those in need. "We know that a lot of that was baked in. Mabanag and officers Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung were tried in the case twice. "We're committing Oakland County - our employees, our resources, our programs and services, to making a real and measurable impact in the areas that matter most, All ways, moving forward." County Executive, David Coulter. In total, there have been at least 32 public corruption charges since 2016 in Southeastern Michigan that involve either an elected official or a public employee. Recent headlines have been focused on several public officials, including four from the Detroit City Council, three from the Detroit Police Department and three from Macomb County. His case file remains in the archives of Los Angeless court system. Theyve been breaking the rules with impunity for so long that they dont see a problem with it.. Kirkpatrick notified city officials, and the request was included in an investigation of Harris that had been initiated by then-City Administrator Sabrina Landreth. In 2008, Oakland paid $2 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by 16 womenall of whom were Asian Americanwho said they were victims of Valerga. "I think it says a lot more about Hillary Clinton than it does Joe Biden," said David Dulio, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University. At least once a year, but usually more often than that, a public corruption cases surfaces in Southeastern Michigan that involves a public official. Chapter 2: The Obituary. We can do something right now. . Not all branches of Californias courts are as aggressive as Alameda County in destroying police corruption files. Oct 30, 2019. Bernie Porn, pollster for EPIC-MRA of Lansing, which does polling work for the Free Press, said Trump's margin in the election suggests to him that a greater-than-believed portion of undecided voters and voters who tell pollsters they are supporting third party candidates the former accounting for 6% and the latter 5% in the Free Press' last poll of the campaign are really so-called "shy" Trump supporters who mask that support. Your email address will not be published. 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. Recently backsliding has left the department, as of February, eight tasks short of full compliance with the court. While the rest of the country engages in hand-wringing over the treatment of undocumented immigrants not one civil rights group has raised a finger in protest about the rights that have been stripped from innocent, American citizens. Well let me say something to you, we do have the evidence.. B ) During the meeting, allow the AGs staff to review, but not keep, the documents. 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. Nessel claimed that the Task Force was working in concert with the Supreme Court Justices. 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. In Oakland County, for instance, where Trump got 42.3% of the vote, or just over 328,000 votes, James, did better, with 43.8% of the vote, or 334,469votes. California law also includes a provision that allowed the Riders case files to be destroyed after just three years. donate today. As a result, this activity has continued unchecked for at least three decades, with probate court audits covered up by Nessel and her predecessors, the Michigan Supreme Court and the State Court Administrator's Office. The Oakland Police Department has been under a nearly two-decade-long federal oversight program as a result of the Riders case, in which officers were accused of beating and planting drugs on West Oakland residents. Really? Charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney against Sgt. Biden was also able to flip Kent and Leelanau, though, two more traditionally Republican counties (though both also voted for Gov. The Attorney General has created an Elder Abuse Task Force, he told me. Michael Buchanan, and Officer Brian Liddy. Since 2016 there has been two public corruption cases in Oakland County and one in St. Clair County; no other county in the region has had any cases come to light. Ways to get involved in the 2022 Election. in Oakland County at their at the Red Fox in I think it was Bloomfield. Political parties have to realign their messaging," she said. Daily Kos moves in solidarity with the Black community. The president, meanwhile, has repeatedly shown himself to be a political marvel, defying odds and proving pundits, handicappers and pollsters wrong. ), I felt like Adlai Stevenson staring down Ambassador Zorin. We have it and it is clear and incontrovertible.". He is a man to whom I will be indebted for the rest of my life. The 2020 election isn't a story about corruption. The early numbers from the Secretary of State's Office indicate that was down in this election to about 45,000, far closer to normal. But police commission Chair Regina Jackson said in an interview Wednesday that she wasnt aware of any whistleblowing at the time they fired the chief. I shared the information with the AG and she would like us to get involved more deeply in a couple of cases immediately, he wrote. "Everything will have to start a lot earlier. Many of the cases are related the Rizzo Environmental Services federal case that entangled elected officials, public employees and business figures who owned the business and worked with it. In 2015, the Alameda County Superior Court destroyed the case files for Neely and Richholt, erasing the only public record of the incident aside from media reports. So, I continued my work with the security that its results, pending rigorous fact-checking, had a home. Never had I heard of a news organization siding with a public official over a journalist, freelance or not. Hundreds did and the majority of the time, their stories focused on Michigans probate courts. Its my first and last OpEd so it calls for some trial anderror. He is prepared to utilize his years of . Under the guardianship of Macomb County Public Administrator Robert Kirk and his wife Cathy, they were literally fenced inside their own home. An example of that varying support can be found in Clinton Township Precinct 38, located along Romeo Plank at Hall Road. Its really hard toconfer a whistleblowing case when no one knew the whistle had been blown, Jackson said. I did so immediately with no response. At the state level, Smith has been charged with five counts of embezzlement by a public official, one count conducting a federal enterprise, official misconduct in office, tampering with evidence in a civil proceeding, accessory after the fact to embezzlement by a public official and one count conspiracy to commit forgery, according to the Michigan Attorney Generals Office. Peter Wielhouwer, associate professor of political science and director of the Institute for Government and Politics at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, said the fact of early voting blunted Trump's aggressive campaigning in the last few weeks in Michigan. County officials say Eric Smith sentencing shows public corruption will not be tolerated Macomb County officials said Eric Smith's conviction on public corruption charges should restore the. Barry King was then in his late seventies, still practicing law. 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. In order to make her point, only one member of the public was invited to attend. And, given the hands-off approach of Michigan officials (with the exception of Wayne County, MI) and the Detroit bureau of the FBI, there's a very good chance we will never fully understand the lengths public officials and police went to in Oakland County, Michigan, to put economics and reputation ahead of child welfare. OAKLAND Former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the city on Wednesday, alleging she was fired in retaliation for exposing corruption and. But James won over Peters in that county, with 176,356 to 174,147 for Peters. The Istanbul Center hosted a discussion Jan. 19 with Ali Winston, one of the authors of The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and . Corruption in the Oakland County Child Killer case Guarded By Jackals. In the region around Saginaw Bay and the Thumb, he got 27,000 more votes than in 2016 out of an area still trying to dig itself out of long-standing manufacturing losses. That played out in other areas all over the state. By the morning of Friday March 22, I was getting nervous. Posted in: Uncategorized Every single time, they were told to "get an attorney but hardly anyone dared to represent wards or families fighting Public Administrators and court-appointed guardians. Seven points (the margin between the two candidates in the poll) is not representative of the gap (in the election). The Oakland police fired Valerga after he was criminally charged. For months, the president had been saying you can't trust absentee, mail-in ballots so his base was not using it. This year, Trump won 52%-48%.He got 552 votes to Biden's 509. Introduction. But I was assured, by Free Press leadership, that in no way had the publication ever allowed outside pressure to interfere with an investigation. Moreover, she had pledged to support the the downtrodden and, her meeting request looked like a desire to keep that campaign promise.
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