Accident News

Brown’s Dismissal May Give Rise To Successful Civil Litigation, We Do Not Find Any Evidence Of An Obstruction Of Justice

 A look at the timeline of events sheds greater light on the allegations.  Initially, over the course of numerous interviews and informal contacts with officers from the Professional Accountability Bureau, Officer Nelthrope, a former E.P.U. officer, outlined the charges that were ultimately investigated by our office.  It was not until the third meeting that he mentioned the Manoogian rumor.  These allegations gave rise to an internal investigation by the Professional Accountability Bureau.  By Friday, May 2, 2003, a five-page internal memorandum was drafted for Deputy Chief Brown by his subordinates.  The memorandum outlined the Manoogian rumor, as well as the driving and overtime allegations against Jones and Martin.  This memorandum was entitled,
 
“ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MAYOR KWAME M. KILPATRICK, MRS. CARLITA KILPATRICK AND MEMBERS ASSIGNED TO THE EXECUTIVE PROTECTION UNIT." 

 On Monday, May 5, 2003, Chief Jerry Oliver requested a bullet point memorandum from Deputy Chief Brown regarding the investigation of the Executive Protection Unit.  The memo was entitled “INFORMATION” and did not mention the Manoogian rumor.  Oliver stated he was going to give the bullet point memorandum to Christine Beatty, Mayor Kilpatrick’s chief of staff.  Both Chief Oliver and Deputy Chief Brown agreed that the subjects of the bullet point memorandum were not criminal matters but rather should be handled internally within the Police Department.   On Tuesday, May 6, 2003, Chief Oliver and Christine Beatty met and discussed a number of police department issues.  During the course of the meeting, Oliver gave the bullet point memorandum to Beatty.  She reviewed the memorandum and agreed with the recommendation that the allegations against the Executive Protection Unit officers should be handled internally by the Police Department. 

 Ms. Beatty claims that later that same Tuesday she received an anonymous letter in her internal office mailbox.  She said the anonymous letter detailed some of the same allegations that were in the bullet point memorandum, but also included an allegation that Deputy Chief Brown was involved in other secret investigations.  She told investigators that she became alarmed by this information.  Ms. Beatty later shredded the letter.  On Wednesday, May 7, 2003, Beatty decided to discuss the matter with the Mayor.   Sometime prior to speaking with the Mayor, Ms. Beatty ordered David Rayford, City Information Officer, to copy all the files on the computers of Deputy Chief Brown as well as two of his subordinates, Commander Don Parshall and Inspector Steve Dolunt.  She then told Mayor Kilpatrick about the bullet point memorandum as well as the anonymous letter.  As the Mayor told our investigators, it “raised her ire."  

 Ms. Beatty told investigators that she recommended the Mayor should consider “unappointing” and moving Deputy Chief Brown to another position because of her concerns that Brown was possibly withholding information about ongoing investigations or even falsifying information presented to the Chief of Police.  Ms. Beatty never discussed the anonymous letter with Chief Oliver.  The Mayor stated he decided to remove Deputy Brown from his appointed position based upon the information from and recommendation of Ms. Beatty.   He further told investigators that he barely knew Brown, who is one of approximately 150 mayoral appointees supervised by Beatty and the respective city department directors. 

 On Friday, May 9, 2002, she ordered the “securing” of the computers of Deputy Chief Brown, Commander Parshall, and Inspector Dolunt to prevent them access.   According to City of Detroit information technicians, these types of lockdowns are not unusual in transfer or dismissal situations.  Later that same day, Mayor Kilpatrick, Chief of Staff Beatty, and Chief Oliver met and Oliver was told about the un-appointment based upon Brown withholding information to his superiors. 

 It is noteworthy that it was not until the following Monday, May 12, 2003, that Chief Oliver even saw, for the first time, the five-page memorandum which contained the Manoogian Mansion allegation.   According to Chief Oliver, and Brown’s immediate superior, Assistant Chief Tim Black, Brown was withholding information from them as well as engaging in an investigation that if warranted should be handled by an outside agency. Undoubtedly, Ms. Beatty’s actions and recommendation were arguably premature and heavy-handed, yet there is nothing to suggest that she obstructed a criminal investigation.  Her actions may support a civil suit, but there is no evidence she sought to obstruct justice. 

 Further, it is unclear what if any crimes arguably occurred, especially in light of Deputy Chief Brown’s recommendation that the allegations against Jones and Martin be handled internally.  Additionally, the Manoogian Mansion allegations were, at best, tenuous and unsubstantiated rumor.  In addition to an absence of criminal behavior, it is uncontroverted that the Mayor did not even know about the five-page memorandum discussing the Manoogian Mansion rumor.   As the chief executive of a large corporate entity, he necessarily placed his confidence in his chief of staff. 

 In short, while a number of decisions made were arguably shortsighted and the indications of bad judgment or inexperience, there is not any evidence of an obstruction of justice or other criminal wrongdoing.   So let me repeat, there is absolutely no evidence – outside of outlandish rumor – of the so-called Manoogian Mansion party.  Nor is there any evidence of an obstruction of justice by the Mayor or anyone working for him.  Whether any of the decisions made equal bad politics, bad policy or a wrongful termination, we leave to the civil court system and the voters of Detroit.The citizens expected their Attorney General’s Office to conduct a fair and comprehensive investigation of this matter to determine if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing.  At the same time, the citizens rightly expected that this not be a witch-hunt or a congressional hearing filled with political rhetoric or an investigation into proper employment practices.  We heard them.  We did our job and I can report that the evidence does not demonstrate any crimes.

Contact our DC Accident Lawyers if you have ever experienced a personal injury and think others are at fault for the accident.

	Did You Know?
	A Pedestrian Is Killed In A Motor Vehicle Crash Every 13 Minutes And Injured Every 8 Minutes Its estimated 68,000 pedestrians are injured and 4,641 were killed in traffic crashes in the United States, representing 2% of all the people injured in traffic crashes and 11% of all traffic fatalities.