by P.D. Lesko
Thanks to a series of events characterized as political dirty tricks on the part of former Scio Twp. Supervisor Will Hathaway, or current Scio Twp. Supervisor Jillian Kerry, Superior Twp. Supervisor Kerry stands charged with Computers – Using to Commit a Crime, punishable by 2-4 years in prison, and a fine of $5,000. Kerry is also charged with Interfering With Electronic Communications, punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. The felony case against Kerry revolves around an accusation she accessed Hathaway’s Outlook email account on a shared township laptop computer, then forwarded an email from Hathaway’s email address, according to a report from the sheriff’s office.
Supervisor Kerry, through her lawyer R. Michael Bullotta, denies the charges.
Kerry’s case is being heard by 14A-1 District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson. At Kerry’s April 29, 2025 preliminary hearing, the normally affable Judge Simpson once again became enraged at Kerry’s lawyer, Bullotta, whom he accused of (again) trying to run the courtroom.
At the Apr. 29 preliminary hearing, in a marked departure from his usual courtroom demeanor, Judge Simpson was, in turn, bored, testy and rude (with Bullotta).
Bullotta is a former Asst. U.S. Prosecutor who worked in Los Angeles and Detroit. He was part of the team that prosecuted Kwame Kilpatrick in a trial that resulted in a 28-year prison sentence for the former Detroit Mayor.
At around 1:30 pm during Bullotta’s Apr. 29, 2025 cross-examination of former Scio Twp. Supervisor Will Hathaway, Judge Simpson raised his voice and said to Bullotta, “We’ve been through this before, about who runs this courtroom.” Judge Simpson, furious, announced a recess and yelled at Kerry’s lawyer, “Sit down!” Judge Simpson then left the courtroom for 30 minutes.
At an Oct. 24, 2024 pre-trial hearing, Bullotta had called the case against Kerry “fishy” and suggested the charges against Kerry might be the result of political corruption in Washtenaw County. Judge Simpson called that allegation, “Insane.”
In Oct. 2024, Bullotta complained to Judge Simpson that the Asst. Prosecutor, who’d had months to respond to discovery requests, had not produced the requested evidence. Between August 22 and the Oct. 24, 2024 3 p.m. hearing, the judge had granted multiple adjournments for the Prosecutor to produce the evidence used to charge Kerry in June 2024.
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office is said to be behind in processing and evaluating approximately 2,000 cases. There has been a steady exodus of attorneys from Prosecutor Eli Savit’s office and Doug Winters, Ypsilanti Twp.’s attorney, has publicly accused Eli Savit of under-charging dangerous felons who use firearms to commit crimes.
At Kerry’s Oct. 24, 2024 pre-trial hearing, Bullotta asked Judge Simpson to issue an Order which would have forced the Washtenaw County Prosecutor to produce the evidence requested, or be held in contempt.
Judge Simpson declined to grant Bullotta’s Motion then criticized the language of the Motion from the bench. Bullotta, frustrated by Simpson, at one point tried to lecture the Judge on how Discovery should work. Simpson became furious and called a recess.
In 2020, Scio Twp. Trustee Jillian Kerry ran against outgoing Supervisor Will Hathaway and captured 44 percent of the vote. Thanks to a criminal complaint filed against her in Nov. 2023 by Hathaway, Jillian Kerry faced felony charges brought by the County Prosecutor just in time for the Aug. 2024 primary in which she ran for Township Supervisor. Kerry won the primary election and went on to be elected.
At Kerry’s Apr. 29, 2025 preliminary hearing, the prosecution called two of its three witnesses: Ian Hubert, and former Supervisor Will Hathaway. Sheriff’s Office Det. Kevin Parviz, Ph.D. will testify on Apr. 30.
Ian Hubert is the Vice Chair of the Scio Twp. Roads Advisory Commission. Hubert testified he has 30 years of experience in computer science.
“Supervisor Kerry was trying to get a two-factor authentication code for a public meeting held by Zoom, to launch a meeting,” said Hubert. Hubert testified that Kerry said, “Will’s [former Scio Twp. Supervisor Will Hathaway] email keeps popping up.”
Hubert testified that Will Hathaway had left his desktop version of Outlook email open and logged in on the township’s one, shared laptop computer.
Kerry’s lawyer repeatedly raised the issue of whether any emails sent from the shared township laptop was caused by Will Hathaway leaving his Outlook email signed in, or whether Jillian Kerry willfully and maliciously used Will Hathaway’s email account to forward an email and an invite—the crimes for which Kerry faces felony charges.
When asked by Kerry’s attorney whether he’d told the Sheriff’s Dept. Kerry’s actions were “politically motivated,” Will Hathaway admitted he had. Hathaway also admitted that Scio Twp.’s email policy is that employees have no expectation of privacy—all employee emails are subject to third-party inspection, including by the FOIA coordinator.
At the Apr. 29, 2025 preliminary hearing, Simpson inserted himself into the questioning, answered Bullotta’s questions for Hathaway and frustrated Bullotta’s efforts to question Hathaway about a January 31, 2024 email in which Hathaway apologized to recipients because the email had “sent itself.” This is exactly what Kerry says happened to her when she logged onto the township’s shared laptop computer and found herself logged into Hathaway’s email account.
Kerry’s lawyer sent The A2Indy the Jan. 31, 2024 email which he believes exculpates his client and explains what happened to Jillian Kerry on Nov. 15, 2023. Hathaway’s Outlook email opened when Kerry started the shared laptop in order to log in to a different township email account to find a Zoom two-factor identification code. Kerry was there to chair a Zoom meeting of the Road Advisory Committee.
Hathaway’s Jan. 31, 2024 email was forwarded to Jillian Kerry on Feb. 2, 2024 by Kristy Aiken, a Twp. Officer Coordinator.
When asked in Oct. 2024 in an interview about the Jan. 31, 2024 email in which he says his email “sent itself again when I logged on,” Hathaway did not respond.
On Jan. 31, 2024 (just two months after Hathaway filed charges against Kerry), he sent an email to the members of the Scio Twp. Transit Advisory Committee in which he wrote: “Sorry. This email seems to have sent itself again when I logged on just now.”
The remainder of Supervisor Kerry’s Apr. 29, 2025 preliminary exam was postponed until May 13, 2025 at 11 a.m. At that time, Sheriff’s Det. Kevin Parviz will testify.
In 2014, Judge Simpson was himself the victim of political dirty tricks.
Then, the sole Black judge in the County, an anonymous complaint was filed against him alleging he had an improper relationship with his intern.
The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) authorized a formal complaint against Simpson in November 2014 in which it was alleged he had an inappropriate relationship with his intern, Crystal Vargas. The Washtenaw County 14A-1 District Court Judge faced accusations of improper conduct resulting from his involvement during and after a routine field sobriety test administered to Crystal Marie Vargas by Pittsfield Twp. Police in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, 2013.
In a subsequent investigation into Simpson’s actions, it was alleged by the Judicial Tenure Commission that Judge Simpson and Vargas exchanged thousands of text messages and the JTC recommended Simpson be removed from the bench.
Judge Simpson, steadfastly denied any misconduct, but in 2017, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Simpson to serve a nine-month suspension without pay and pay a fine of $7,565. The decision was written by Justice David Viviano. Viviano wrote that Simpson “failed to prudently guard against influencing the investigation or used his judicial office in an effort to interfere with it.”
In Oct. 2024, the Scio Twp. Board of Trustees voted to reimburse Jillian Kerry $92,000 for legal fees through Sept. 30, 2024.
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