Rick Wershe’s battle
for freedom continues. He suffered another legal setback when the Michigan
Court of Appeals rejected a Detroit judge’s plan to re-sentence him to time
served. It may be time to start fighting for Wershe’s civil rights. This post
explains why there is a good case to be made that his civil rights have been and
continue to be violated.
I was once so
downhearted
Disappointment was my
closest friend
Higher and Higher –
Jackie Wilson
Richard
J. Wershe, Jr. is used to disappointment. The 46-year old Michigan prison
inmate has endured setbacks many times in his life. A recent ruling by the
Michigan Court of Appeals blocking a judge’s proposed re-sentencing to
time-served instead of a life term is just the latest.
Rick Wershe, Jr. with his mother, Darlene, at Oaks Correctional Facility (Photo Free Richard Wershe, Jr. Facebook page) |
Wayne
County Circuit Court judge Dana Hathaway noted the changes in law and criminal
procedure in Michigan and other states regarding inmates serving life prison
terms for crimes committed when they were juveniles when she ruled she intended
to re-sentence Richard Wershe, Jr., who is the last remaining Michigan inmate
serving a life term for a non-violent drug crime committed when he was a juvenile.
But
a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals said no. They said she
failed to take in to account a technicality in Michigan law about multiple
motions by a defendant who has been convicted and sentenced.
The
ruling came with lightning speed after the prosecution and defense filed briefs
with the higher court. It’s like they couldn’t wait to say no. That may be the
case.
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Michigan Court of Appeals - Chief Judge Michael Talbot circled in center. |
The
opinion was written by Michael Talbot, the chief judge of the Court of Appeals,
who has a reputation as a “hanging” judge. A former Grosse Pointe neighbor recalls
how Talbot used to delight in describing how he stuck it to criminal defendants
when he was a trial court judge in Wayne County.
So
where does Rick Wershe’s struggle go from here? There are several options.
One
is to appeal it to the Michigan Supreme Court. That may or may not lead to a
different outcome.
Another
option is to remedy the technicality the Court of Appeals cited and try again
with Judge Hathaway in Wayne County. But since Wayne County Prosecutor Kym
Worthy is inclined to spend whatever it takes to keep Rick Wershe in prison and with
Michael “the hanging judge” Talbot ruling the roost at the appeals level that may or may not lead to
a different outcome.
Yet
another option is to focus on Wershe’s pending lawsuit in federal district
court in Grand Rapids. The case was filed in Grand Rapids because Wershe is
incarcerated in Oaks Correctional Facility near Manistee which is in the
jurisdiction of the Grand Rapids federal court.
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Ralph Musilli, Wershe's Defense Attorney (WDIV) |
In
that lawsuit, defense attorney, Ralph Musilli, argued the Michigan Parole Board
violated Wershe’s Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
Federal
judge Gordon Quist tried to dismiss the case as frivolous but the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and sent the case back to Quist to explore whether
the parole board has given Rick Wershe fair consideration for parole. Quist has
been sitting on the case for over a year.
“Since
2003 his case has been before the Parole Board six times,” Musilli notes. “He’s
been given no (parole) consideration, yet they’ve been paroling convicted
murderers, rapists and child molesters, thousands of them. Where is the
fairness?”
The
fairness is missing in action and has been in the Wershe case for years.
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
—Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
On
its face the case of Richard J. Wershe, Jr. seems to be a violation of his
civil rights, his Constitutional right prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
The
State of Michigan, for dark and unexplained reasons, is subjecting Rick Wershe
to unusual punishment for the simple reason he is being treated differently
than everyone else. The Michigan Parole Board has released every juvenile sentenced
to life in prison for a non-violent drug crime except one: Richard John Wershe,
Jr.
“That’s
unusual,” Musilli says. “Twenty eight years is cruel.” Wershe’s defense
attorney believes this is clearly a civil rights case. “Civil rights is about
treating someone differently than everybody else convicted of the same crime.
He’s being treated differently.”
What
makes Rick Wershe’s case different—the only difference—is that he was recruited
by the FBI at age 14 to get in to the drug underworld as an informer against
the Curry Brothers—a Detroit drug gang with family ties to the late Mayor
Coleman Young. Wershe happened to be a neighbor of the drug dealers. They
trusted him and that made him an ideal secret informant.
Over
the years, Wershe helped the FBI prosecute and imprison drug-corrupted cops and
the brother-in-law of Mayor Young. What’s more, prosecution claims that Wershe
was a “drug lord” and drug “kingpin” are false. There are no facts, no charges
in any court to support the claim of the Wayne County prosecutor that Rick
Wershe is a menace to society who needs to remain in prison until he dies.
Someone needs to tell
the White House about Richard J. Wershe, Jr. President Obama has made it clear
he believes the time has come to change the nation’s policy on long prison
sentences for non-violent drug crimes. The Obama Justice Department has issued
guidelines for presidential clemency for non-violent drug offenders. Those
criteria are:
- They are currently serving a federal sentence in prison and, by operation of law, likely would have received a substantially lower sentence if convicted of the same offense(s) today;
- They are non-violent, low-level offenders without significant ties to large scale criminal organizations, gangs or cartels;
- They have served at least 10 years of their prison sentence;
- They do not have a significant criminal history;
- They have demonstrated good conduct in prison; and
- They have no history of violence prior to or during their current term of imprisonment.
With the exception of his
status as a state prisoner, Wershe qualifies for clemency on all the criteria
established by the Justice Department.
Just as important is the
fact Rick Wershe was a recruited federal law enforcement informant. By letting
him rot in prison for what is clearly retribution for informing on drug
corruption in Detroit, the Justice Department, through successive
administrations, is sending a bad message to prospective future informants: “If
you help us nab criminals with political connections don’t expect us to help
you if you get in trouble with the locals.”
Detroit
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade needs to open a civil rights investigation of the
Wershe matter. The Justice Department needs to back her up. The heat of public
opinion might light a fire under her. Here’s how to contact her:
Barbara
McQuade
U.S.
Attorney
United
States Attorney’s Office
211
W. Fort Street, Suite 2001
Detroit,
MI 48226
(313)
226-9100
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Vanita Gupta, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division (U.S. government photo) |
Another person to contact is the chief of the U.S.
Justice Department Civil Rights Division:
Deputy
Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta
U.S.
Department of Justice
Civil
Rights Division
950
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Office
of the Assistant Attorney General, Main
Washington,
D.C. 20530
(202)
514-4609
Urge them to consider opening a civil rights investigation regarding Michigan
prison inmate Richard J. Wershe, Jr., inmate # 192034. He is incarcerated in
the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee, Michigan. Explain why. Explain in your letter that he
was an FBI informant who helped prosecute public corruption in Detroit and now
his Eighth Amendment civil rights are being violated, apparently to get even for helping
the U.S. Justice Department. Maybe, just maybe someone will pay attention.
Federal
law enforcement administrators, assistant United States attorneys and Justice
Department functionaries in Washington can rationalize and make excuses all
they wish. The fact of the matter is the federal government, through the Wershe
case, is telling the people who can help them make big cases that they don’t
matter. They are expendable. No wonder the “war on drugs” is such a fiasco.
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