Prosecutor, Judge & 2 Cops Charged By Mich. AG in Detroit Perjury Case
A retired Detroit area prosecutor and a retired Michigan judge have been criminally charged, along with two police officers, concerning an alleged conspiracy to conceal information about a witness in a 2005 drug trial in which all four of the defendants are accused either of participating or turning a blind eye.
A request for charges was filed this morning in the 36th District Court by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, reports the Detroit News. His office investigated the case after prosecutors in four counties declined to serve as a special prosecutor.
Those facing charges are: Karen Plants, 46, a former assistant Wayne County prosecutor who retired in November; former Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mary Waterstone, 69, who is also retired; and two Inkster police officers.
Plants, a former top drug prosecutor, faces five counts of misconduct and one count of conspiring to commit perjury. Waterstone faces three counts of misconduct (including improper communications with Plants and concealing perjured testimony). And the police officers each have been charged with two counts of conspiring to commit perjury and one count each of misconduct, according to the Detroit News, the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press.
Each of the defendants was released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond, following an arraignment today at which all pleaded not guilty.
“These charges are obscene,” said attorney Ben Gonek, who represents Plants, outside the courtroom, the AP reports. “The defendant in the criminal case was a piece of garbage who was dealing poison in our community.”
Lawyers for the other defendants declined to comment.
Transcripts of private talks between Waterstone and Plants helped Cox bring charges in the case, which concerns testimony by an informant at the 2005 drug trial of Alexander Aceval, the AP reports.
In an effort to conceal the informant’s identity, Plants allegedly allowed the two officers to lie on the witness stand, with the judge’s knowledge, the news agency recounts.
An attorney discipline case reportedly is pending against Plants, but there is no such proceeding concerning Waterstone.
Additional coverage:
Detroit Free Press: “LIVE BLOG: The scene in court”
