Wayne Co. prosecutor Kym Worthy releases list of police officers unable to testify in court
WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has announced she plans to regularly make public the list of both current and former police officers in the county who she says are unable to testify in court because they had previously committed offenses involving theft, dishonesty, fraud, false statement, bias and bribery. She said these offenses which could place their credibility into question if they were to testify.
She released the list for the first time publicly on Thursday, which includes 35 officers in the county.
Twenty-seven of those officers are with Detroit police, one also in conjunction with Highland Park. Two are with Lincoln Park police, two are with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, one is with Inkster, one is with Harper Woods and one is with Van Buren.
Nine of the offenses are for federal convictions, eight are false statements, five are fraudulent activity, three are untruthfulness, three are larceny, two are obstruction of justice, one is for bribery, one is for theft and dishonesty, one is for embezzlement, one is for misconduct in office and one is for retail fraud.
App users tap here to see the list
“Last October we contacted all local Police Chiefs, representatives from the Wayne County Sheriff’s, Michigan State Police and Federal agencies. We asked for a list of their current and former officers that have committed offenses spelled out in the Giglio case for offenses involving theft, dishonesty, fraud, false statement, bias and bribery. These are crimes that can be considered by fact finders in a trial when credibility is being assessed. In addition, our assistant prosecutors are charged with letting defense attorneys know when an officer on their witness list for a case had Giglio issues or concerns," Worthy said in a press release.
“Because trials will begin again mid-August and September, we thought it was important to send this out to our prosecutors and defense attorneys. There are currently 35 officers on the list. We are taking the additional step of releasing the list to the public, because in an era of criminal justice reform, it just makes sense. We will repeat this process quarterly and expect to release an updated list in September," she continued.
In Giglio vs. The United States court precedent was established surrounding disclosing the credibility of the state's witnesses. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is going a step further and releasing that information to the public.
A former Detroit police officer, attorney and author of a book on police reform says it's a good idea.
"Damn right, absolutely. There isn't a reason not to. Prosecutors and police officers here before want to keep that information close to the vest and that doesn't serve the public's purpose," David A. Robinson said.
Though Detroit police chief James Craig told FOX 2 he has problems with the list.
"The list that she currently has of 27 [Detroit police officers] is not reflective of the current status of those individuals. I would not want those individual's names released," Craig said.
FOX 2 is working through the list to determine who is still on the force.