Tuesday, March 27, 2001

03272001 - Senator David Jaye - Committee Assignments Restored After Completing Rehab Program - Macomb County

 




SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:


























On June 12, 2000, Senator David Jaye pleaded guilty to a drunk driving offense [March 2000]. On June 20, the Senate stripped Jaye of  his committee assignments . He was also barred from state-paid business travel that would take him out of state, until next year. Senator Jaye's assignments were restored to him on March 27, 2001 after he completed an alcohol rehab program. Less than three weeks later, Jaye was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend [April 12, 2001].










Taking on an easy target is no real leadership
June 29, 2000
Record-Eagle
Toward the end of the latest legislative session, the leader of the Senate determined that a fellow senator had so embarrassed their institution that he had to be disciplined.

Sen. Dan DeGrow, the leader, stripped Sen. David Jaye, the embarrassment, of his committee assignments. That left Jaye with the ability to vote, thus representing his constituents, but without any real power.

DeGrow took this action because Jaye had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, second-offense operating under the influence of alcohol. "The Senate needed to take action," DeGrow said, adding that the decision was his alone.

Jaye, a 42-year-old Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, has embarrassed the Senate before. He is the one you can count on to have the most extreme position on almost any bill and to make sure that everyone knows how he feels about things.

If there is an issue on which everybody can agree, it is that drunken driving is not good. The liquor companies discourage it; the laws prohibit it; the editorial writers condemn it without fear of getting a letter in rebuttal.

So it should come as no surprise that the senate leader also is appalled at the action of one of his colleagues. The question remains, however, if what he did was fair or wise or even useful.

Jaye, after all, is paying the price that others pay when they run afoul of the law. He will lose time and money; he could lose his license; he may even end up in jail.

Some people lose their jobs after a drunk driving conviction, but most do not. Most employers, especially those who consider themselves somewhat enlightened, understand that alcoholism is a condition best treated with treatment. If the courts handle the punishment, which they appear to be doing in Jaye's case, then the job of the employer is not to add to the punishment but to do something to prevent it from happening again.

The Senate, in this case, is not even Jaye's employer. He is employed by his constituents and they, for reasons it has been hard to understand, have consistently given him the job he wants in Lansing.

There appear to be no rules guiding the leader's decision. He just felt that he had to do something, so he did it. But that's not fair to voters, who never were told that they might be throwing away their vote if their candidate somehow crossed an ethical line that nobody had yet drawn.

And if DeGrow or other legislative leaders really want to do something about embarrassing behavior, they can expand their horizons into areas that are not already being punished by another branch of government.

They could go after the legislators who waste our time and money proposing bills to name the official state this and the official state that. Nobody needs them, nobody wants to waste the time and money. They can go after the intransigents who hold up all of the state's business just so they can lobby for a particular favorite cause. It happened with the telecommunications bill and DeGrow declined to strip that committee chairman of his powers, powers that clearly he was abusing to the detriment of everybody in the state.

Leaders should operate under clear rules, not make them up as they go along. They should apply the rules fairly with an eye toward setting a consistent standard. Slapping a drunk driver is easy. Taking on the more damaging excesses in the Legislature is the real test of leadership.














Police: Jaye stopped after assault report 
A witness at a gas station said he saw the state senator slap and kick his girlfriend, a police report says. Jaye was soon pulled over on Int. 75.
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
December 20, 2000 
BAY CITY -- State troopers "had reason to believe that a life-threatening felony was being committed" by Sen. David Jaye and his brother Joseph when they detained the men on Int. 75 Nov. 19, according to a police report.

A man pumping gas at a service station told police that he saw a man -- later identified as Jaye -- slap and kick a woman before pushing her into his vehicle and speeding off, said the report.

Bay County officials filed an arrest warrant for Jaye, R-Washington Township, on Dec. 12, charging him with violating restrictions placed on his driver's license. The restrictions were from previous drunken driving convictions.

"Based on all the information provided to me, I do not believe that any other charge could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said this morning.

Michigan State Police this morning provided a copy of the police report on the incident to The Bay City Times, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request for it on Monday.

The names and phone numbers of the witness who called police and the alleged victim were blocked out.

According to the report, a customer at the Mobil gas station at Int. 75 and Beaver Road in Monitor Township called police at 6:08 p.m. on Nov. 19, a Sunday.

The caller told police he had observed a man beat a woman before throwing her into his red Plymouth Sundance and heading south on the highway.

Once troopers pulled his vehicle over, Jaye told police that the woman -- whom he claimed was his fiancĂ©e -- had been taking too long in the women's rest room. He said he was returning to his Macomb County home after deer hunting and needed to get to the airport.

Jaye said he yelled at the woman and ordered her into the car, but that he didn't touch her.

The woman said she had been in the men's rest room at the gas station with two men and attempted to stand on the toilet seat and hide when Jaye entered the rest room.

Jaye became jealous when he saw her boots underneath a stall door, the woman said. She denied that he had physically assaulted her and stated that she just wanted to leave.

Troopers searched Jaye's 1989 vehicle with his consent, according to the report. They advised Jaye to place two long guns that were in the passenger compartment into his trunk.

"Due to the lack of cooperation by all parties involved, they were released," the trooper wrote.

The report says that Jaye told them he was on his way home from deer camp. When told that was a violation of his license restrictions, "Jaye stated that he was not in violation and that he had given a speech at Turtle Lake," a Montmorency County resort.

But Jaye produced no proof of being at Turtle Lake or of giving a speech, according to police.

Attorney Robert Huth Jr. said this morning that Jaye "has not done anything improper with respect to his driving," and that he had a sworn statement from organizers of the hunting meeting where Jaye spoke.

As far as the other allegations, Huth said, "I'm inclined to think that if there's any merit to it there would have been charges brought."

Jaye has waived arraignment and Huth said he expects his client to be found innocent or to have the case dismissed.

While a state representative in 1993, Jaye spent 10 days in jail after a drunken-driving conviction. Jaye was arrested March 5 in Macomb Township on his second drunken-driving offense. He was sentenced to 45 days but was released after 35 days in the St. Clair County Jail after being given time off for good behavior.

His restricted driver's license allowed him to drive only for work-related travel, medical and counseling appointments and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.















Warrant issued for Jaye
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
December 19, 2000 
BAY CITY -- Bay County officials have issued an arrest warrant for state Sen. David Jaye that accuses him of violating his restricted drivers license to go deer hunting.

Jaye has had a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, now can drive only to work, medical visits and counseling sessions.

On Nov. 19, Michigan State Police pulled over a vehicle driven by Jaye on Int. 75, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said. Jaye told police he was returning home from a northern deer camp.

Jaye told The Associated Press on Monday that he was driving back from a legislative meeting.

Jaye, 42, faces up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.











Charges dropped against Jaye
Grand Rapids Press
March 22, 2001  
LANSING -- Sen. David Jaye was cleared Wednesday of charges he was driving on a restricted license, a day before the case was scheduled for trial.

The charges stemmed from a Nov. 19 Bay County traffic stop. County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he had to dismiss the charges after 74th District Judge Scott Newcombe ruled Jaye's statements couldn't be used because state police didn't read his Miranda rights at the scene.

Jaye said Wednesday that the charges were "baseless" and suggested they were meant to persecute him for his pro-gun activities. Jaye pointed out that Sheeran had testified against one of Jaye's gun bills in a legislative hearing.

"(Sheeran) apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me," Jaye said. "Fortunately, Judge Newcombe of Bay County... does not let politics interfere with justice."

Sheeran said that wasn't his intent. "It would be very wrong for any prosecutor to prosecute someone for their beliefs. That's not the case here," Sheeran said. "I frankly think if he's embarrassed, it's more of a result of his own actions."

Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, had a restricted license after pleading guilty to drunken driving on June 12, 2000. The license allowed him to drive only to work, counseling or medical appointments.

On Nov. 19, state police in Bay County pulled Jaye over after a witness called to report that he was hitting and kicking a woman at a gas station. Jaye and his girlfriend, Sonia Kloss, said they had a fight, but no assault charges were ever filed.















Sen. Jaye will not face traffic charges 
Arresting officer did not inform lawmaker of Miranda Rights
Detroit News
March 22, 2001  
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- State Sen. David Jaye, known as much for his run-ins with the law as his controversial viewpoints, is off the hook after his latest encounter with police.

Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran on Wednesday dropped charges against the Washington Township senator for driving on a restricted license because a state trooper failed to read Jaye his Miranda rights last November.

Sheeran said without statements Jaye made to police -- which a Bay County District Court judge suppressed last week -- the case couldn't proceed. A trial was scheduled to start today.

"Without this evidence, I would not be able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," Sheeran said.

Jaye was convicted March 5, 2000, of drunken driving. It was his second offense, and he served 35 days in jail. In 1993, he was jailed for 10 days for a similar offense.

His license was restricted last June, limiting him to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings and community service and school.

The 42-year-old Republican maintains he was on state business when he was stopped in November in Monitor Township near Bay City after a motorist notified police about a man kicking and slapping a woman at a nearby rest stop. Police pulled over Jaye, who was then handcuffed and questioned for 40 minutes.

Jaye's fiancee has denied being assaulted. Attorney Rob Huth said Jaye was on his way back from official business at the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in northern Michigan.

Jaye, a gun advocate, blamed Sheeran's anti-gun politics for his arrest.

"He apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me, and filed baseless charges for driving outside of the former restrictions permitted on my driver's license," Jaye said Wednesday.

Said Sheeran: "I'm a fair prosecutor that makes decision based on the facts of the law," Sheeran said.
















Senator Jaye Gets Assignments Restored
Republican Stripped Of Duties After Pleading Guilty To Drunken Driving
March 27, 2001
Click On Detroit
State Sen. David Jaye had his committee assignments restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., was stripped of his Senate duties in June after pleading guilty to drunken driving. .He was charged with driving on a restricted license six months later, but was cleared of those charges last week

Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow restored Jaye as Chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.

Jaye will also return to his membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.

Neither DeGrow nor Jaye commented on the restored positions.















Sen. Jaye back in key committee positions 
He gets them back after he completes an alcohol rehabilitation program
Grand Rapids Press
March 29, 2001  
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye, who was stripped of his Senate duties after pleading guilty to drunken driving, had his committee assignments and other privileges restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, restored Jaye as chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.

Jaye also was returned to membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.

DeGrow made no comment in reassigning Jaye, and Jaye declined comment on his restored positions.

Jaye, R-Washington Township, lost his committee assignments and travel privileges in June, a week after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge.

Six months later, Jaye was charged with driving on a restricted license, but he was cleared of those charges last week.

Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he had to dismiss the charges after a judge ruled that Jaye's statements couldn't be used because state police didn't read his Miranda rights at the scene.

DeGrow said he had little choice but to reinstate Jaye's committee memberships after Jaye was cleared of violating the license restrictions.



Thursday, March 15, 2001

03152001 - Detroit Firefighter Ardra Young - Filed Petition For Writ Of Habeas Corpus - Michigan US District Court















On February 7, 1997, Detroit Firefighter Ardra Young, who also owned a truck business, went to Bolingbrook Illinois to purchase vehicles for his business.

On the evening of February 8th, Young claimed to be ill during a business dinner. He returned to his hotel room and claimed he passed out and did not wake up until approximately 3a.m.. It was when he called home at 3 a.m. and spoke with his brother, that he learned that his ex-wife Terri and teenage son Emmanuel had been shot. He was informed that his ex-wife had died and although his son had survived, he was on life support.

Young immediately left Illinois and drove home to Detroit. At the hospital, Young ordered that his son be removed from life support. Young was allowed to sign the form to have life support disconnected for Emmanuel, who died shortly after life support was removed.

On February 9th, Firefighter Young confessed to killing his wife and teenage son. According to Young, after excusing himself from the business dinner on Saturday evening, he did not return to his room. Instead he drove to Detroit and arrived at approximately 9:30pm. From a phone booth, Young called his wife to meet him in Detroit. When his wife and son arrived, he shot and killed them both. He flattened one of the tires on his wife's car and threw the contents of her purse around to make it appear as though his wife and son were robbed and killed after their car broke down. Young then drove back to Bolingbrook Illinois.

During his confession, Young claimed to police that he had killed his family, "To be free..."

Young was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony- firearm in the shooting deaths of his wife Terri and son Emmanuel.

In November 1998, Young was sentenced to concurrent terms of life imprisonment and to consecutive two-year terms for felony firearm.













1 CHARGED IN DEATHS OF WIFE, SON
South Bend Tribune (IN)
February 12, 1997 
Detroit - A former Detroit firefighter was charged with killing his wife and teen-age son.

Ardra Young, 34, was arraigned Monday on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Terri Young, 34, and Emmanuel Young, 14.

Young arranged a meeting Saturday evening with his wife of 14 years at a park near their home in Wayne County's Redford Township, police said. Terri Young insisted that Emmanuel accompany them to the park - where Ardra Young allegedly shot them both.

Young returned to his home, washed his bloodstained clothes and drove to the home of a female acquaintance in Illinois, investigators said. He returned to Detroit early Sunday, ordering doctors at Grace Hospital to turn off his son's life-support system, police said.

Young then went to Detroit police headquarters, where investigators said he described his role in the shootings.

Young, a firefighter for seven years, resigned Monday. He is jailed without bond.













Hate letters stir Detroit Fire Dept.
Newswire - UPI (USA)
January 30, 1998 
The Detroit Fire Department is on edge while the FBI investigates hate letters that claim white firefighters are ready to kill black colleagues and their families. Fire Commissioner James Bush says he's taking the threats from an unknown group called the White Fire Fighters Association 'very, very seriously.'

However, Bush is declining comment about one letter that allegedly ties the mysterious group to the shooting deaths of a black firefighter's wife and son last year. The firefighter, Ardra Young, was later dismissed and convicted on two murder counts, for which he's now serving life in prison. The letter's claim that the killings were racially motivated to punish Young has prompted his lawyer to plan an appeal. In an interview with UPI today, Bush implied that one distraught firefighter may be responsible for the letters threatening harm to any black firefighters who harass whites. At least four letters were sent in recent weeks to fire officials and the mayor's office. Bush says, 'We're a family here and when there's a member who needs guidance we all try to help.' About two-thirds of the city's 1,400 firefighters are black. Bush says the department's blacks and whites 'have a good relationship. We work very well together.' The FBI is working with Detroit police on the investigation. There've been no arrests. ---








































January 05, 1998:
Ardra Young filed an appeal on his conviction for his wife's and son's murders. On March 14, 2000, Young's conviction was confirmed.













March 14, 2000:
Michigan Court Of Appeals Affirmed Ardra Young's conviction




















March 15, 2001
Ardra Young filed a Petition For Writ Of Habeas Corpus with the Michigan US District Court















November 14, 2004:
Michigan US District Court denied Ardra Young's Petition For Writ Of Habeas Corpus