Wayne County assistant prosecutors write letters of support for convicted cop
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says her assistant prosecutors blindsided her when they advocated for a federally convicted cop. She says it was inappropriate and they lacked judgment.
Chirstina Guirguis is one of four Wayne County APA's, or assistant prosecuting attorneys in hot water for supporting a Detroit cop convicted in a case involving drugs.
She and others asked U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy to give David Hansberry probation and not throw him behind bars for 20 years.
Detroit Police Department sources tell Fox 2 that officers are concerned that Guirguis - who admitted to dating Hansberry - signed off on several of his search warrants at the same time he was suspected though not convicted of stealing from drug dealers and putting their dope back
on the street for a profit.
They're unnerved APA Ron Haywood was put in charge of the prosecutor's office vertical narcotics unit.
“In any event his responsibility is to stop the very scourge that he's asking the judge to give a break to. The irony in that is just unbelievable.”
Former Detroit police Chief Ralph Godbee has worked closely with prosecutor Kym Worthy and says, she has to be livid.
“Regardless of what you think about her, she works hard to bring about justice and particularly in areas where police cross the line. To know those who work for her could in any way endorse either tacitly or otherwise.”
Hansberry and former Detroit cop Bryan Watson were convicted of plotting with known drug dealers to steal dope and cash seized in raids.
The jury cleared the men of nine other charges.
In their letters to Judge Murphy, the APA’s vouched for the convicted cop's character, disputed the evidence federal prosecutors presented in court, and questioned the jury's verdict.
“So it’s essentially criticizing the federal government for prosecuting the police officers and saying they shouldn’t have been found guilty.”
Wayne State law professor and former federal prosecutor Peter Henning says that's something you normally don't see in a letter submitted to the court.
“What’s happening is, you're getting a lot of lines blurred here. We think of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, he Detroit Police Department t and the federal government at these big giant entities. In fact, this is a very small world. They know each other, they work with each other, and that’s where you have problems. You have assistant prosecutors who are willing to overlook cutting corners or maybe being a little too aggressive. What message does that send?”
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says they're going to look into this to figure out what action to take against those assistant prosecuting attorneys. They'll also look into search warrants the APA who dated the corrupt cop signed off on.