by P.D. Lesko
In Nov. 2023, Scio Twp. Supervisor Will Hathaway walked into the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Dept. and filed a complaint naming Scio Twp. Trustee Jillian Kerry. Hathaway alleged that Kerry had hacked his Outlook.com email account on a computer shared among Township officials, and sent documents out, including an email to the Scio Twp. Clerk. For the past several weeks, Kerry’s lawyer has requested a variety of documents, including emails, from the County Prosecutor. The requested records include any emails between Scio Twp. Trustee John Reiser, a Sheriff’s Dept. employee related to Reiser, and officials in the Prosecutor’s Dept. Kerry’s attorney suspects the charges brought against her are the result of political dirty tricks and collusion among County officials.
In 2020, Kerry ran against incumbent (now 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 is not only fighting for her political life this election cycle, she faces felony charges brought by the County Prosecutor. She stands charged with Computers – Using to Commit a Crime, punishable by 2-4 years in prison, and a fine of $5,000 and Interfering With Electronic Communications, punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.
Jillian Kerry’s attorney, R. Michael Bullotta, is a former Asst. U.S. Prosecutor in Los Angeles and Detroit. Bullotta 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. Bullotta views Kerry’s prosecution as a violation of her civil rights. He said in a phone call that he expected the charges against her were headed toward dismissal at an August 22, 2024 probable cause hearing before Judge Cedric J. Simpson in the 14-A District Court. At that hearing, the charges were not dismissed, and Judge Simpson is still waiting on evidence from the County Prosecutor is order to determine whether there is probable cause to have Kerry bound over to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court for prosecution.
Between August 22 and the Oct. 24, 2024 3 p.m. hearing, the judge has granted multiple adjournments for the Prosecutor to produce the evidence used to charge Kerry in June 2024.
Tired of the Prosecutor’s alleged stonewalling, Kerry’s attorney filed a Motion to Compel Discovery. In other words, Bullotta asked Judge Simpson to issue an Order which would force the Washtenaw County Prosecutor to produce the evidence requested, or be held in contempt.
In the case of D’Angelo McWilliams, an alleged serial rapist hired as a Sheriff’s Deputy, D’Angelo’s attorneys also complained that Eli Savit’s office ignored requests to produce discovery. Like Bullotta, the attorneys in the McWilliams case also filed a Motion to Compel Discovery.
Judge Simpson began the hearing by asking Bullotta how he knew the requested emails between Hathaway, and the Sheriff’s IT expert Kevin Parviz, exist. Bullotta said that Hathaway’s emails had been forwarded to another Scio Twp. official. That official, Jillian Kerry explained, then told her about them.
Judge Simpson then asked, “Where’s this employee?”
Bullotta, frustrated by Simpson’s pointed questions, at one point tried to lecture the Judge on how Discovery should work. Simpson became angry and called a recess.
At the end of the recess, Bullotta apologized for “disrespecting the Court.”
“How do I know these emails exist?” asked Simpson, once again.
“I just want to know if they exist,” said Bullotta. “The Prosecutor hasn’t said the emails don’t exist and he is required to do so.”
The Asst. Prosecutor complained to Judge Simpson, “The Defense has misrepresented the statements I made. The contents of our phone conversations has shown up in the pleadings, inaccurately represented….What I told defense counsel is that there are no emails. I have never emailed with him [Mr. Hathaway]. I am not aware of any email correspondence between Det. Parviz and Will Hathaway….The allegations that this is some grand conspiracy is insane, and I take great offence to it. I can’t create discovery where no discovery exists.”
Judge Simpson addressed Bullotta after the Asst. Prosecutor spoke: “I’ll just say this, maybe what you say happened, happened, but when questioning the ethics of individuals, you better bring it. When I’m reading this, counsel, I have serious doubts…and I don’t think it fair to make accusations about people, offices, how they operate, without being able to substantiate.”
Bullotta replied, “This case seems fishy judge.”
Simpson replied, “You need to be respectful of the process and the people, and I think some people don’t do that, and sometimes they don’t do that with just the words they use.” Then, Simpson read Bullotta’s filing out loud and criticized it extensively.
“I don’t operate on speculation. By the way, some of this you can FOIA or subpoena it,” said Simpson.
Simpson called Bullotta’s Motion to Compel, “Crazy. It just doesn’t make sense. I think you just messed this one up counsel.”
Simpson denied Bullotta’s Motion to Compel.
“As to the Probable Cause Hearing,” said Simpson, “where do we go from here?”
He then adjourned the Probable Cause Conference until the end of November. At that hearing, based on evidence provided by the Prosecutor, Judge Simpson will determine if Kerry will be bound over for trial in the 22nd District Court.
In 2014, Simpson was 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.”
Joined in the majority opinion were Justices Joan Larsen, Richard Bernstein, and Bridget Mary McCormack. Justices Stephen Markman and Brian Zahra dissented; Markman and Zahra opined that Simpson should have been removed from the bench.
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