PROSECUTORS CLASH IN DETROIT COPS CASE

Misconduct Charges For 17 Officers Are Disputed

A high-profile corruption case involving 17 Detroit cops is caught up in a
dispute between Wayne County prosecutors, who say there's no evidence of
misconduct in many of the cases, and federal prosecutors who say there is.

Kevin Simowski, a top lieutenant to Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan,
says federal prosecutors and the FBI apparently were "conned by a network of
career criminals" who claim the cops planted evidence and lied about arrests.

But U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said Tuesday that he stands by his
investigation.

"The appropriate forum to discuss the government's evidence is in federal
court," he said. "But I will tell you this: In general, when we indict any
case, we do so because the evidence indicates guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

Attorneys critical of the county prosecutors' review said it was self-serving
because it involved cases originally handled by the office.

Duggan did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Simowski said he and other prosecutors found no evidence that convictions in 17
cases handled in Wayne County courts based on arrests by the indicted cops
should be overturned.

"We are convinced, through a review of all the available information, that no
credible evidence exists to doubt the validity of the convictions in state
court," Simowski said. "We are not going to set aside convictions based on the
uncorroborated testimony of career criminals."

Three men remain jailed and one is in a halfway house after being convicted in
arrests the federal government portrays as tainted by police wrongdoing.
Simowski said the men, three of whom pleaded guilty and one who was convicted
at trial, were fairly prosecuted.

Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver said Tuesday the department's internal
affairs investigators found the claims against the indicted cops "substantive."

"These aren't frivolous cases," Oliver said. "There seems to be these issues
between the prosecutors. It doesn't change anything for the Police Department.
Maybe Mike Duggan has some information that we don't. All that will have to
play out."

He said the indicted officers have been suspended without pay. The indicted
officers have denied wrongdoing.

Many of the people who complained about mistreatment and false arrests have
long criminal records, including convictions for murder, armed robbery and drug
dealing, which federal prosecutors acknowledge.

Some of those who allege police harassment have added more arrests and
convictions to their rap sheets in the nine weeks since the officers were
indicted. And two people who the federal government said were harassed by
Detroit police are now suing the city, using the indictment as ammunition to
seek damages.

On June 19, the federal government charged that Dontae Lindsey was illegally
searched and arrested by Detroit cops in February 2002. But on July 17, Lindsey
pleaded guilty to perjury in an unrelated attempted murder investigation in
Wayne County.

Another witness, Michael Holt, told federal investigators that Detroit cops
dangled him from a window and put a noose around his neck while threatening to
strangle him in February 2002. The cops didn't arrest Holt during that
incident, but Holt filed a complaint a few days later at a precinct.

On July 8, Holt filed a federal lawsuit seeking $21 million. On Aug. 4, he was
arrested with 56 rocks of crack in southwest Detroit, police said.

The 17 indicted officers also allegedly stole drugs, firearms and money from
suspected drug dealers over two years. The indictments stemmed from citizen
complaints and an investigation by a task force from the FBI, the U.S.
Attorney's Office and the Detroit Police Department's professional
accountability bureau.

Darrell Robinson, who is imprisoned on drug and gun charges based on the arrest
cited in the federal indictment, has a hearing Friday before Wayne County
Circuit Judge Deborah Thomas to seek a new trial because of the allegations of
police misconduct in his case.

Robinson's attorney, Brian Selburn, shrugged off the Wayne County review.

"The Wayne County prosecutors are doubtful on the federal case and strong on
the Wayne County cases. How self-serving can you get?" Selburn said.

Steven Fishman, an attorney for indicted Officer Jerrod Willis, lauded the
review.

"I am certain that the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office did a thorough
investigation. I am happy to see that they believe, as I do, that Officer
Willis and the other officers made good arrests that resulted in valid
convictions," Fishman said. "Hopefully, the federal prosecutors will soon
arrive at the same conclusion."

Simowski said his office reviewed the cases handled by the cops to ensure that
no one was unfairly charged or convicted.

The federal indictment cites 35 incidents, and named 32 people as victims of
police misconduct. Most of the alleged incidents occurred in southwest Detroit.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office did not review police misconduct
allegations made by nine people in the federal indictment because they had not
been arrested or charged in Wayne County. But Simowski and others in his office
reviewed 26 cases cited in the federal indictment where charges were brought in
Wayne County courts as a result of arrests now called tainted by federal
prosecutors:

*- Fifteen people pleaded guilty to charges stemming from arrests cited in the
indictment.

*- Two people who say they were victims of police misconduct were found guilty
at trial.

*- One person, Dontae Lindsey, was found not guilty in a bench trial.

*- One person has an outstanding warrant for her arrest based on the incident
cited in the indictment.

*- One arrest was dismissed because the person, Robert Blackwell, was murdered
in June 2002 in an unrelated case.

*- One case was dismissed in July because the arresting officers were indicted
the month before.

*- Two cases were transferred from Wayne County Circuit Court to U.S. District
Court, so the defendants would face stiffer penalties under federal gun
charges. Once they were in federal custody, federal investigators dismissed the
cases.

*- Three dismissed cases involved Clifton White, whom federal investigators
cite three times as the victim of police harassment. But in January, White was
picked up for cocaine possession and sentenced to probation.

Attorney Heather Bendure, who plans to file a civil suit for White, said the
accused officers had a vendetta against her client.

"It's easy to say they're not very credible . . . that it's just a bunch of
drug dealers doing this," Bendure said Tuesday. "But the FBI investigated, and
everything he told them -- drugs being planted on him and guns being planted on
him -- was confirmed by independent witnesses."

Court testimony from various cases shows both the cops and their accusers knew
for a few years that claims of police misconduct were being investigated.

Most of the people complaining about police misconduct live in southwest
Detroit, know each other and have criminal backgrounds.

Simowski, who has worked in the Prosecutor's Office for 20 years and previously
headed its homicide division, said it appears "criminals . . . knew that the
feds were looking for allegations against officers."

In the review, Simowski was aided by assistant prosecutors Paul Bernier and
Robert J. Donaldson. Donaldson also has dual credentials to work as an
assistant U.S. attorney and so had access to the federal government's evidence.

David Lee, attorney for indicted Police Officer William Melendez, reiterated
Tuesday what he has said in court.

"The government is relying on a parade of criminals of every sort -- drug
dealers, liars, cheats, prostitutes and thieves of every description," Lee
said.

Melendez, nicknamed Robocop, is considered one of the federal government's top
targets. He has been sued four times for the alleged use of unreasonable force,
and in 1999, the city settled a claim about his conduct for $1 million. But
Melendez also was honored as 4th (Fort/Green) Precinct Officer of the Year in
2001.

Bendure said she's studying claims by a dozen people who say the police
violated their civil rights, and may file a lawsuit seeking damages. Some of
her clients, she said, do not have criminal records. She also represents White,
Lindsey and Thearthur Williams, who were identified in the federal indictment
as victims of police misconduct.