July 10, 2018
Lately I’ve been worried about potential injuries to certain people in the media and entertainment world. They may need to see an orthopedic specialist.
I worry some of them could suffer a dislocated shoulder from patting themselves on the back while claiming credit for the Michigan Parole Board granting Richard “White Boy Rick” Wershe, Jr. a parole after 29 years served on a life sentence.
A certain popular actor would have us wonder if Hollywood’s decision to make a movie about White Boy Rick motivated the Parole Board to finally take action. He wondered in a TV interview: “Is it peculiar that he (Wershe) gets released the same year that we’re making a movie that shines a little spotlight on him?”
Another entertainment guy who’s big on self-promotion would have people believe a Very Important Person he knows was persuaded by Mr. Self-Promotion to put pressure on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to free Richard Wershe, Jr. In this tale, the Parole Board bowed to pressure from the governor, who bowed to pressure from a business big shot who was motivated and inspired by the entertainment guy telling this self-serving story.
A Likely Explanation
Allow me to share a more plausible explanation. It involves a Latin legal term known as Habeas Corpus. (Pronounced HAY-be-us CORE-pus.)The translation is, “you have the body.” It’s a legal defense move to force prosecutors or prison systems to explain to a judge why they are holding an individual. In modern times, it seldom succeeds. Most habeas corpus court filings are denied because of conservative Supreme Court rulings on the issue.
Ralph Musilli, Rick’s longtime appeals attorney, struggled for years to get someone in the criminal justice system to look at the unfairness and unreasonableness of Rick Wershe’s life sentence. Admitted drug hit men served shorter sentences than Wershe. Dealers who peddled far more drugs than Rick Wershe ever saw, served less time.
But the Michigan court system is corrupt in the old-boy-network sense of the term. Relentless Detroit media coverage of Wershe describing him as a “drug lord” or “drug kingpin” calcified in to a criminal justice legend. Over the years no one in the Michigan courts had the gonads to question a media legend, based on anonymous sources, about a 16-year old white kid who supposedly became the Godfather of the Detroit cocaine market. The notion that a wimpy kid was giving orders to grown, sometimes violent black men who had done hard time in prison was ridiculous. But judges up and down the court system had swallowed the media legend. It was safer to let this guy rot in prison.
Musilli took Rick’s battle for freedom to the federal courts. It was assigned to a conservative judge in Grand Rapids who apparently isn’t fond of prisoner rights cases. Musilli was making slow progress. Then, he and his law firm team decided to take a long shot. A very long shot. They decided to file a Writ of Habeas Corpus in Detroit federal court.
A Legendary Name Gets Involved
The task was assigned to Paul Louisell, an attorney in Musilli’s firm. The name Louisell is magic in Michigan legal circles. Joe Louisell, Pauls’ late father, was a legendary defense attorney who somehow won acquittals for defendants who seemed destined for prison. Joe Louisell was regarded as one of the best defense attorneys of his generation.
Paul Louisell’s motion was assigned to Detroit federal judge George Steeh. Judge Steeh is undoubtedly mindful of the Louisell name and reputation in Michigan legal circles.
Many were astonished when Judge Steeh granted Paul Louisell’s motion for a habeas corpus hearing. As noted, such rulings are rare these days. Was Judge Steeh curious to see how the son of a legend handled himself in court? Judges don’t answer such questions.
Regardless, state officials and their lawyers had to be stunned. Now they were on the hook to come to federal court and explain why they were holding Rick Wershe when they had released dozens and dozens of other prison inmates similarly charged and sentenced. They would have to present a powerful, detailed, fact-based case for keeping Wershe in prison.
As I reported on the Informant America blog site, there is no police/prosecution documentation to support calling Rick Wershe a “kingpin’ or “drug lord.” When I demanded supporting documentation under the Freedom of Information Act, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office admitted “the records do not exist.”
Reading the Legal Cards
Judge Steeh can read the cards in legal poker as well as anyone. He wisely gave the State of Michigan several months to prepare for court. This gave the State time to totally resolve the Wershe parole and avoid a deeply embarrassing court hearing.
Steeh’s order granting a habeas corpus hearing was in early December, 2016. Within a week, the State of Michigan position on Inmate 192034 (Wershe) changed and changed dramatically. Suddenly, the Parole Board moved up a review of the Wershe parole petition by a YEAR. Suddenly, Michael Eagen, the chairman of the Michigan Parole Board personally took control of the Wershe matter. Wershe was amazed to find Department of Corrections staff working with him over the Christmas holidays to process all the paperwork associated with a pending parole. Such work never happens over the holidays. Before long, Eagen interviewed Rick Wershe personally so he could report to the full board.
By June, 2017, just before the deadline for the habeas corpus matter in federal court, Rick Wershe, Jr. had a full-day parole hearing. The Parole Board later voted unanimously for parole for Richard J. Wershe, Jr.
Them’s the facts. Decide for yourself who gets the credit for Rick Wershe’s parole from his life sentence.
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