Oakland County Sheriff's deputies are searching for a driver who hit a road sign and left the scene. They wanted his license. 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. 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. Clinton won the Democratic-leaning region 55.8%-39.9% for Trump four years ago. 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. 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.. We had supplied Teter and his people with multiple cases demonstrating pattern and practice. Kirkpatrick alleges in the suit that she was fired in February for standing up to the misconduct and reporting it. Richholt did not respond to a request for comment. Last week, Andre Spivey pled guilty to federal bribery charges and admitted he and an aide received almost $36,000 in bribes. My opinion was, and still is, is that Valerga should have gone to prison, Rullamas said during the deposition. 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. Throughout the day, I tried to call the AGs office and was repeatedly told that the entire communications team was In a meeting.. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! While he pled guilting to this federal corruption charge in January of 2021, he has yet to be sentenced, in part because of his ongoing public corruption case with the State Attorney Generals Office. Why are you working with them?. Theyve been breaking the rules with impunity for so long that they dont see a problem with it.. The litigants are Aretha Franklins family members. 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. Of course, the fix is much more complicated than that, and this too will be explored at a later date. The Section's public corruption work involves the investigation and prosecution of bribery, extortion, fraud, and embezzlement committed by elected and appointed officials, government employees, and those doing business with city, state, and federal government. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Smiths felony charges from the Michigan Attorney Generals Office are all in relation to alleged misuse of forfeiture funds. 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. 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. SF corruption scandal widens: Two business leaders charged with bribing City Hall official. Some voters are unwilling to admit they are voting for him. 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. 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. Plaintiffs alleged mistreatment at the hands of four veteran officers, known as the "Riders", who were alleged to have kidnapped, planted evidence, and beaten . Most recently, investigations involve Detroit City Councilmembers Andre Spivey, Janee Ayers and Scott Benson. From the outset, Nessel ran with the often used talking point that the majority of the abuse of Americas seniors occurs at the hands of family members or friends. After all, Rossman-McKinney hadnt risen to her position without the usual, required Machiavellian dexterity. He fought back and ended up with a reprimand. The prominent law firm alsorepresents the city of Oakland, Alameda County and the Coliseum Authority, most notably in the ongoing legal battle against the Golden State Warriors over a roughly $40 million debt the authority says the team owes. In winning Michigan, data from the Secretary of State's Office indicatedBiden, nowthe president-elect,added nearly 522,000 votes to those won by Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016. "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. It wasn't just metro Detroit, however. (Fugitive Apprehension Team/Detective Bureau) Investigative/Forensic Services. Sometimes, after a salacious bit of information is published, all the OpEd scribes line up to give their two penneth. donate today. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? 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. Moreover, she had pledged to support the the downtrodden and, her meeting request looked like a desire to keep that campaign promise. On the morning of March 25, I paused to watch Nessels presser on Facebook. I told Lucido that I had heard no mention of a Task Force at all. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. 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. An example of that varying support can be found in Clinton Township Precinct 38, located along Romeo Plank at Hall Road. Moody, you know about. However, some legal experts, including Cordell and Stanford University law professor Robert Weisberg, believe that records of police prosecutions should be maintained longer because they also constitute official histories of institutional corruption. 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. Both Moody and his wife Lauras tenures with the AGs office pre-dated Nessel. B ) During the meeting, allow the AGs staff to review, but not keep, the documents. As a result, the full extent of Valergas conduct remains unknown. I patiently reiterated that the wards had been placed in these homes by public administrators and was about to say the name Moody again when Teter lost his temper and told me I was twisting his words. In Los Angeles County, the superior courts criminal division retained files for several former officers who were charged in the. OAKLAND COUNTY. So, we started on the topic of the unlicensed group homes my team and I found across Oakland County in which conditions for the wards living there defied any kind of horrific description. 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. "My inclination was that the blue wall states were going to do what they normally do and vote Democrat.". "We know that a lot of that was baked in. 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 abuse of power in the police commission. All of them showed shocking financial malfeasance. 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. Theiralleged victims number in the high thousands of Michigan's most vulnerable senior and developmentally disabled citizens, each declared legally incapacitated wards and placed under a court-appointed guardianship and conservatorship. Hundreds did and the majority of the time, their stories focused on Michigans probate courts. That piece concluded that history indicated that anytime a Democratic presidential or gubernatorial candidate won betterthan 56% in metro Detroit defined as Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties he or she would win the state. About This Work. - John F . It spoke generally to the strength Democrats showed in growing suburbs as well as in areas where retirees from southeastern Michigan are moving into Up North. Yet, for the months which followed, Nessel refused to say the words public administrator and investigation in the same sentence. Never had I heard of a news organization siding with a public official over a journalist, freelance or not. 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. The chief of staffs for Ayers and Benson are also included in this investigation but have not been charged. We left at 5 pm with no comment but quite a lot of answers. 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 . 2. Gretchen Rachel Hammond is an award-winning freelance investigative journalist based out of Chicago. For instance, look at East Bay Township Precinct 1 in Grand Traverse County. Probate Corruption + the Michigan Attorney General + the Detroit Free Press = ? In May, 2019, she paid a visit to an elderly couple, Bob and Barb. The president, meanwhile, has repeatedly shown himself to be a political marvel, defying odds and proving pundits, handicappers and pollsters wrong. 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. There is no evidence of absentee ballot corruption in Michigan and none of widespread problems nationwide. Charges were filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney against Sgt. Former LAPD officer Rafael Perez was convicted in 2000 on state felony charges for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from an evidence locker. Apr 20, 2022, M. Forrest Behne, Craig Waleed, Meghan Peterson, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein 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. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. Meanwhile, a small contingent of family members set out for Lansing to stand outside her offices and plead their case to any passing journalists. "He (Trump) grew his base considerably. Turned out Taylors favorite hobby after Catallos story broke was taking to social media and yammering about both it and her as, ironically, being nothing more but fake news.. That held true in my February 16, 2019 email asking for a face-to-face with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. 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 . For Shaw, that is 206 cases involving 256 defendants since February 2009, according to district attorney records obtained by The Times. 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. Tipline: 1-888-TURN-1-IN or 1-800-773-2587. Republican voters, though, as well as Democratic ones, are clearly not monolithic. We have concerns that the First Amendment right of access to court records may be violated by a statute providing for so short a period before records are destroyed, Kinzinger, whose firm serves as general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition, wrote in an email. After speaking with AG [sic] office they assure me the task force has nothing to do with Oakland County issues, he wrote. Four years ago, Trump won among the 1,182 votes there53%-40%, with 6% split between Johnson and Stein. These charges have surfaced over the last year or so, and have only driven the total number of public corruption cases that can be accounted for in the last four years. Nov. 2, 2000. In addition, outside law enforcement . But, I keptthe name of the Free Press out of requests for interviews. Mar 02, 2022. You can't wait until the last week. The judgesdecided on a sample of 2,278 guardianship and conservatorship cases my team and I reviewed. This is producing unnecessary drama and complications so at this point Im asking you to skip efforts to attend. They had a history of superlative reporting which seemed to substantiate that. This year, Biden won 60%-40% and there were 1,500 voters. took a deep dive into the state's regions, their voting trends and their importance in electing statewide candidates. Whether Moody had jurisdiction over them or not, even after public administrators like Munger had been fired by him in 2017, Munger still took and was taking deceased estate as well as guardianship and conservatorship cases at the Oakland County Probate Court. For years, multiple families had gone to Michael with horror stories about hispublic administrators. Friend of the Court - 248-466-2728. My concerns about a possible catch and kill situation didnt come out of nowhere. 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. 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. 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 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 2003, the first trial ended in a hung jury. You told me you would never back down to anyone. 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. 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. And in Grand Traverse, Trump went from winning by 13 points four years ago to beating Biden by just 3. This time it was defined by a Republican senators big mouth. The second trials of Mabanag and Siapno also ended in hung juries. Rather than sticking to the letter of Michigan statute or Michigan Court Rules, the Oakland County Judges make up their own rules as they go along. I was floored. His case file remains in the archives of Los Angeless court system. 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