May 05, 2006: Officer Dahood Ali, Detroit Police Department.
Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards
Commission Meeting Minutes June 5, 2007
MCOLES Offices, Lansing, Michigan
MCOLES MEMBERS PRESENT:
Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth, representing the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association
Mr. John Buczek, representing the Fraternal Order of Police
Mr. Jim DeVries, representing the Police Officers Association of Michigan
Lt. Col. Timothy Yungfer, representing Colonel Peter C. Munoz, Michigan State Police
Mr. Bill Dennis, representing the Attorney General Mike Cox
Chief Richard Mattice, representing the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police
Mr. David Morse, representing the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan
Deputy Chief Deborah Robinson, representing Chief Ella M. Bully-Cummings, Detroit
Police Department
Mr. Raymond Beach, Executive Director
Mr. Tom Furtaw, Commission Counsel
MCOLES MEMBERS PRESENT BY TELEPHONE:Chief Doreen Olko, representing the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police
Director Kurt Jones, representing the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police
Trooper Michael Moorman, representing the Michigan State Police Troopers Association
Sheriff Robert Pickell, representing the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association
COMMISSION MEMBERS EXCUSED:Prof. Ron Bretz, representing the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan
Sheriff James Bosscher, representing the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association
Officer Richard Weaver, representing the Detroit Police Officers Association
COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT:Ms. Hermina Kramp Ms. Cheryl Hartwell
Mr. David King
Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards Commission Meeting, Lansing June 5, 2007 Page 2GUESTS (signing in):There were no guests.
CALL TO ORDER:
The Commission Meeting was called to order by Chairman Gene Wriggelsworth at 10:04 a.m. at the MCOLES Offices in Lansing, Michigan.
A roll call attendance was taken to establish attendance for Commission action during the meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Revocations/Contested Cases
Dahood Ali, Docket #2007-118 – Mr. Dahood was convicted by jury on May 5, 2006 of two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct 2nd Degree (MCL 750.520c) and one count of Child/Accost/Immoral Purposes (MCL 750.145a). He was convicted in the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County.A MOTION was made by Lt. Colonel Yungfer and supported by Mr. Dennis to concur with the finding of facts and conclusion of law by administrative law Judge Zimmer in this case and to issue a Final Decision and Order revoking the law enforcement license of Mr. Dahood Ali.
A roll-call VOTE was taken.
Director Kurt Jones – yes
Chief Doreen Olko – yes
Trooper Michael Moorman – yes
Sheriff Robert Pickell – yes
Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth – yes
Lt. Colonel Timothy Yungfer – yes
Mr. Bill Dennis – yes
Deputy Chief Deborah Robinson – yes
Chief Richard Mattice – yes
Mr. Jim DeVries – yes
Mr. David Morse – yes
Mr. John Buczek - yes
The MOTION carried unanimously.
S T A T E O F M I C H I G A N
C O U R T O F A P P E A L S
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,Plaintiff-Appellee,
UNPUBLISHED December 6, 2007
v
No. 271063
Wayne Circuit Court
DAHOOD ALI,
LC No. 06-001505-01
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Saad, P.J., and Jansen and Beckering, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial convictions of two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), MCL 750.520c(1)(b)(iii) (sexual contact by an actor with position of authority over a minor between the ages of 13 and 16), and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes, MCL 750.145a.
Defendant was acquitted of two additional counts of second-degree CSC. Defendant was sentenced to 2 ½ to 15 years’ imprisonment for the CSC convictions and one to four years’ imprisonment for the accosting a child for immoral purposes conviction. We affirm.
Defendant, a former Detroit police officer, contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, defendant contends that his trial counsel failed to call four proposed witnesses to establish his habit and routine, pursuant to MRE 406, of giving his business card and cellular telephone number to people in need of assistance. According to defendant, this evidence was necessary to rebut the prosecution’s argument that he gave his cellular telephone number to the complainant, a 13-year-old girl, with the intention of engaging in an inappropriate relationship. Defendant requests a new trial or, in the alternative, a remand for an evidentiary hearing.
A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel should be raised by a motion for a new trial or an evidentiary hearing pursuant to People v Ginther, 390 Mich 436, 443; 212 NW2d 922 (1973). This Court previously denied defendant’s motion to remand for a Ginther hearing.
People v Ali, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered April 6, 2007 (Docket No. 271063). Therefore, our review of this issue is limited to the existing record. People v Rodriguez, 251 Mich App 10, 38; 650 NW2d 96 (2002).
To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, defendant must show that defense counsel’s performance was so deficient that it fell below an objective standard of reasonableness
Page 2and denied him a fair trial. People v Henry, 239 Mich App 140, 145-146; 607 NW2d 767
(1999).
Furthermore, defendant must show that, but for defense counsel’s error, it is likely that the proceeding’s outcome would have been different. Id. at 146. Effective assistance of counsel is presumed; therefore, defendant must overcome the presumption that defense counsel’s performance constituted sound trial strategy. Id.
Defense counsel’s failure to investigate and call a witness does not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel unless the defendant shows prejudice as a result. People v Caballero, 184 Mich App 636, 640-642; 459 NW2d 80 (1990).
In other words, defense counsel’s failure to call the proposed witnesses in this case can only constitute ineffective assistance of counsel if it deprived defendant of a substantial defense. People v Dixon, 263 Mich App 393, 398; 688 NW2d 308 (2004); People v Hyland, 212 Mich App 701, 710; 538 NW2d 465 (1995), vacated in part on other grounds 453 Mich 900 (1996).
A substantial defense is one which might have made a difference in the outcome of the trial. Id. at 710. Moreover, the decision whether to call a witness is presumed to be a matter of trial strategy, Dixon, supra at 398, and we will not substitute our judgment for that of counsel regarding matters of trial strategy, People v Matuszak, 263 Mich App 42, 58; 687 NW2d 342 (2004).
Evidence of habit and routine is admissible pursuant to MRE 406, which provides: Evidence of the habit of a person or of the routine practice of an organization, whether corroborated or not and regardless of the presence of eyewitnesses, is relevant to prove that the conduct of the person or organization on a particular occasion was in conformity with the habit or routine practice.
In Laszko v Cooper Laboratories, Inc, 114 Mich App 253, 255; 318 NW2d 639 (1982), this Court held that “evidence of habit or routine practice is admissible to show like conduct on the occasion in question.” The proffered evidence “must establish a set pattern or show that something is done routinely or has been performed on countless occasions.” Id. at 256. Before a witness may testify to a defendant’s habit or routine, the defendant must make an offer of proof establishing that the witness has sufficient knowledge to testify to the routine nature of the practice. Id.
“Character” and “habit” are similar concepts. Pursuant to MRE 404(a), evidence of a defendant’s character is generally not admissible to establish “action in conformity therewith on a particular occasion.” A defendant may, however, offer “[e]vidence of a pertinent trait of character” and the prosecution may offer rebuttal character evidence when the defendant “opens the door.”
MRE 404(a)(1). In general, a defendant may offer character evidence only by testimony regarding the defendant’s reputation or by opinion testimony. On cross-examination, however, the prosecution may inquire into specific instances of conduct. MRE 405(a). The defense may only present evidence of specific instances of conduct to establish a defendant’s character when the character trait is “an essential element” of the charged offense. MRE 405(b).
Black’s Law Dictionary (6th ed) defines “character” using the term “habit.”
The aggregate of the moral qualities which belong to and distinguish an individual person; the general result of the [sic] one’s distinguishing attributes. That moral predisposition or habit, or aggregate of ethical qualities, which is
Page 3-3- believed to attach to a person, on the strength of the common opinion and report concerning him. A person’s fixed disposition or tendency, as evidenced to others by his habits of life, through the manifestation of which his general reputation for the possession of a character, good or otherwise, is obtained. . . .
In turn, Black’s Law Dictionary (6th ed) defines “habit” as follows:
A disposition or condition of the body or mind acquired by custom or a usual repetition of the same act or function. The customary conduct, to pursue which one has acquired a tendency, from frequent repetition of the same acts. . . .
A regular practice of meeting a particular kind of situation with a certain type of conduct, or a reflex behavior in a specific set of circumstances. . . .
There is no relevant, published Michigan case law describing the relationship between
“character” and “habit” evidence. However, we find the following reasoning of the Arkansas Supreme Court to be persuasive:
The state urges that evidence of a person’s good habits naturally leads to an assumption of good character, but that does not preclude its introduction. As stated in McCormick on Evidence § 195 (2nd Ed. 1972):
“Character and habits are close [sic] akin. Character is a generalized description of one’s disposition, or of one’s disposition in respect to a general trait, such as honesty, temperance, or peacefulness.
‘Habit,’ in modern usage, both lay and psychological, is more specific. It describes one’s regular response to a repeated specific situation . . . A habit . . . is the person’s regular practice of meeting a particular kind of situation with a specific type of conduct . . .
Character may be thought of as the sum of one’s habits though doubtless it is more than this.” [Derring v State, 273 Ark 347, 352; 619 SW2d 644 (1981).]
The commentary accompanying MRE 406 notes that the Michigan rule is identical to its federal counterpart. MRE 406 Comments. The commentary accompanying FRE 406 states that:
Courts have generally proceeded cautiously in permitting the admission of a pattern of conduct as habit, “because it necessarily engenders the very real possibility that such evidence will be used to establish a party’s propensity to act in conformity with its general character, thereby thwarting Rule 404’s prohibition against the use of character evidence except for narrowly prescribed purposes.”
Simplex, Inc v Diversified Energy Sys, 847 F2d 1290, 1293 ([CA 7], 1988). That is, Courts are concerned that the rule admitting evidence as habit will swallow the rule that excludes character evidence. . . . [FRE 406, Commentary, Character Distinguished.]
In determining whether evidence establishes an individual’s character or habit, the commentary reasons:
Page 4-4-
“[H]abit refers to the type of non-volitional activity that occurs with invariable regularity. It is the non-volitional character of habit evidence that makes it probative.” Weil v Seltzer, 873 F2d 1453, 1460 (DC Cir[,] 1989).
Thus, activity that is extremely complicated is unlikely to be considered habit, since such activity would ordinarily be dependent on a significant thought process, as well as a number of contingencies, and all of this is inconsistent with the notion of habit as reflexive and semiautomatic. . . . [FRE 406, Commentary, Character Distinguished.]
At trial, before opening statements, defense counsel moved to admit testimony from four witnesses regarding defendant’s “reputation in the community with respect to truth and honesty” and his “good moral character.”
Defense counsel admitted that the prosecution would be free to rebut the witnesses’ proposed testimony during cross-examination. The trial court postponed its ruling on the motion. Defense counsel did not, however, attempt to call the witnesses later in the proceedings.
On appeal, defendant submitted an offer of proof regarding defense counsel’s trial strategy and the affidavits of four proposed defense witnesses.
1
In their affidavits, the witnesses averred that defendant frequently gave his time and money to help youth in need of assistance.
Generally, we do not review documents that are not part of the lower court record. MCR
7.210(A)(1); People v Eccles, 260 Mich App 379, 384 n 4; 677 NW2d 76 (2004). We will, however, review the documents for the purpose of deciding defendant’s request for a remand. See MCR 7.211(C)(1)(a)(ii).
According to defendant, his trial counsel should have introduced the witnesses’ proposed testimony because it was relevant to establish his habit and routine, pursuant to MRE 406, of giving his business card and cellular telephone number to people in need of assistance.
We note, however, that the majority of the statements in the witnesses’ affidavits relate to defendant’s caring and generous behavior toward youth in general. In fact, only one of the proposed witnesses stated that she personally observed defendant give his business card and cellular telephone number to people he considered “needy.”
We find that the proposed testimony does not describe the type of simple conduct that could be defined as “reflexive” or “non-volitional” as anticipated in the commentary to FRE 406.
Thus, it is unlikely that the trial court would have admitted the testimony as evidence of routine or habit under MRE 406. It is more likely that the testimony falls into the category of general character evidence under MRE 404, the admission of which would open the door to rebuttal character evidence. Bearing this in mind, we cannot find that defense counsel’s failure to call the four proposed witnesses, and to keep the door closed to potential rebuttal evidence, was anything but sound trial strategy. Dixon, supra at 398; Henry, supra at 146.
Moreover, defendant has not shown that he was denied a substantial defense by defense counsel’s failure to call the proposed witnesses. Dixon, supra at 398; Hyland, supra at 710.
Defendant claims that the witnesses’ proposed testimony was necessary to rebut the prosecution’s argument that he gave his cellular telephone number to the complainant in order to
Page 5-5- engage in an inappropriate relationship. But, evidence of defendant’s alleged habit of helping youth in need and handing out his cellular telephone number does not counter the allegations of his particular conduct toward the complainant. The complainant testified that defendant “fondled” her breasts and that she masturbated defendant when he asked her to do so.
Additional testimony at trial established that there were at least 48 telephone calls between the complainant and defendant over several months, 34 of which were initiated from defendant’s telephone.
In light of this evidence, we cannot conclude that the jury would have acquitted defendant if presented with the proposed testimony. Henry, supra at 146; Hyland, supra at 710.
A new trial is not warranted. Moreover, because defendant has failed to demonstrate that facts elicited during an evidentiary hearing would support his claim, we decline to order a remand. See MCR 7.211(C)(1)(a)(ii).
Affirmed.
/s/ Henry William Saad
/s/ Kathleen Jansen
/s/ Jane M. Beckering
[MI POLICE OFFICER INVOLVED PERPETRATED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW ENFORCEMENT MURDER SUICIDE]
Friday, May 5, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
04272006 - Officer Matthew Thompson - Sentenced - Manistee PD
Also See:
Officer Matthew Thompson charged with domestic violence [Jan. 19, 2006]
Former Manistee police officer Matthew Thompson charged with sexual assault of relatives between 1987 - 1994 [April 17, 2012]
Former Manistee Officer found guilty of violence
Mon. May 01, 2006
By: Chuck Randall
http://www.wkla.com/newsarchive.php?news_id=5342
A former Manistee City Police Officer is found guilty of domestic violence following a trial with a special prosecutor with the Michigan State Police.
34-year old Matt Thompson was a 9-year veteran with the City Police Department before he got into an altercation with his fiancée outside of their home at about 4am on January 19th.
During a night of drinking, according to authorities, Thompson, who no longer works for the Manistee City Police, was sentenced to one year probation, including anger concealing and alternative to violence classes.
Former cop guilty in domestic violence case
Ludington Daily News
Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=31137
MANISTEE - A jury found former Manistee Police Sgt. Matthew Thompson guilty of domestic violence Thursday and sentenced him to a year of probation.
The trial in Manistee County's 85th District Court followed Thompson's arrest on the charge in January. The incident occurred at his home while he was off duty.
Thompson had been on unpaid administrative leave following his arrest, and Manistee Police Chief Dave Bachman said this morning that Thompson resigned a few weeks ago and is no longer a member of the department.
In addition to probation, Thompson was ordered to pay fines and costs totaling $820. He was also ordered to receive anger management counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse, as required by his probation officer.
The Michigan State Police investigated the incident.
Monday, April 24, 2006
04242006 - Officer Brent Craft - Jackson PD
Former cop gets probation, avoids jail
By Scott Hagen
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-17/115142440675760.xml&coll=3
A former Jackson police officer got scolded Monday but will avoid jail as long as he completes a rehabilitation program.
District Judge Darryl Mazur told Brent Craft he held a position of authority in law enforcement and should have acted appropriately.
Craft, 32, resigned from the Jackson force April 26, two days after he was arrested on drunken-driving and domestic assault charges.
"One assumes you knew more and knew better," Mazur said.
Craft pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was placed on probation for 15 months.
Prosecutors dropped the drunken-driving charge as part of a plea agreement. The domestic assault charge is dropped if Craft completes the batterer-intervention program.
On Monday, attorney Sean Carroll told Mazur the arrest had "life-changing effects" on the eight-year police veteran.
Craft apologized to Mazur personally and to the court, saying it was a "one-time mistake."
State troopers found him and his wife parked on a Liberty Township road. Troopers determined there had been a traffic crash that evening and that Craft, who was off duty, had been drinking and was driving. He also was charged for a fight with his wife.
Craft will spend time in the batterer-intervention program, designed to reduce the recurrence of domestic attacks.
He also was ordered not to drink alcohol during probation and must pay $865 in fees.
Local Officer Arrested/Resigns
WLNS, MI - 4 hours ago
April 24, 2006 12:57 PM PDT
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=4809711&nav=0RbQ
A Jackson police officer is arrested for misbehavior.
A call for help lands a Jackson police officer in jail. Michigan State Police responded to a domestic dispute which included an off-duty officer. Officer Brent Craft is charged with domestic assault and with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Those charges left Craft with out a job. For eight years, Officer Brent Craft protected Jackson residents. During those years, he performed his duties well.
Chief Ervin Portis, Jackson Police Department: "Officer Craft has been a very good police officer for us."
But two bad decisions this weekend- damaged Crafts' reputation, landed him in jail and ended his career with the Jackson Police Department.
Chief Ervin Portis: "Circumstances in his personal life spiraled out of control."
Those circumstances all unfolded here on Gillet Road. State troopers arrested Craft for domestic assault and for driving while intoxicated, Irving Portis was visibly hurt by Craft's actions.
Chief Ervin Portis: "I was mad and disappointed."
Craft resigned. He left his badge behind and a few parting words for his former employer.
Chief Ervin Portis: "He came in this morning, apologetic to me, to the men and women of our department and to the citizens here he served. He apologized for the embarrassment he caused."
A court hearing for Craft has not been set. The eight-year officer's registration is effective immediately.
---------------
Man gets 10 to 15 years after struggle with police
Jackson Citizen Patriot (MI)
Friday, August 6, 2004
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2014/01/officer-timothy-hibbard-jackson-pd.html
"This is an assaultive individual who wants to put the blame on everyone else," Assistant Prosecutor Allison Bates said of Gerald Landrum.
A jury last month acquitted Landrum of the most serious offense of attempting to murder an officer, but convicted him of four counts: assault with intent to do great bodily harm against Officer Timothy Hibbard ; resisting and obstructing police causing injury, and two counts of resisting and obstructing officers Ryan LePeak and Brent Craft.
Landrum, 31, was on parole for assault with intent to do great bodily harm when Hibbard attempted to arrest him in the 900 block of Williams Street on April 17. Police said Landrum was drunk and out past his 11 p.m. curfew.
Hibbard said Landrum tried to choke him and grab his handgun in the struggle. All three police and Landrum scuffled on the ground before Landrum was subdued with pepper spray and some punches to the head. Landrum blamed the fight on Hibbard, who was not in court Thursday.
" Timothy Hibbard tried to stretch the truth," Landrum said. "The entire sum of his injuries was a sore throat and bruised shoulder. It was not me causing injuries."
"Grotesque," Bates said of Landrum's explanation. "He is the one who chose to fight."
Landrum's criminal background includes second-degree criminal sexual conduct, possession of cocaine, open intoxicants, marijuana possession, loitering, attempted resisting and obstructing and assault.
[MI POLICE OFFICER INVOLVED PERPETRATED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW ENFORCEMENT MURDER SUICIDE]
Saturday, April 22, 2006
04222006 - Officer Phillip Bal - Suspended - Iron Mountain PD
Also See:
1995 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC allegation - Iron Mountain PD
04012004 - Officer Phillip Bal - Home invasion and CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04012005 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04212006 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04222006 - Officer Phillip Bal - Suspended - Iron Mountain PD
07112006 - Officer Phillip Bal - Terminated - Iron Mountain PD
08152007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Appeal Filed - COA 280009 - Iron Mountain PD
09172007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Appeal Filed - COA 280601 - Iron Mountain PD
10182007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - COA Appeal 280009 - Dismissed - Iron Mountain PD
11082007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - LE license revoked - Iron Mountain PD
05242020 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Released From Prison - Iron Mountain PD
Iron Mountain Daily News
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/image_generator.asp?path=D:%5Coweb.net%
July 17, 2006
Article from 10-7 Forum
http://www.10-7.com/forum/viewtopic.phpt=24687&highlight=&sid=b9413b2a894295af48d7a2a7cfe53554
IRON MOUNTAIN — A former Iron Mountain police officer was bound over to Circuit Court to face criminal sexual conduct charges following a preliminary hearing Monday.
After hearing from both the prosecution and the defense, District Court Judge Michael Kusz ruled he was satisfied their was sufficient evidence to send the charge of criminal sexual assault — fourth degree against former Iron Mountain police officer Phillip Bal to Circuit Court. Preliminary examinations do not determine guilt.
A preliminary examination in District Court is an evidentiary hearing for felonies where the prosecutor must present evidence amounting to at least probable cause that a crime occurred and that the defendant may have been involved.
If the prosecutor meets his burden of proof, the case is bound over to Circuit Court for arraignment.
Special Prosecutor Joe Sartorelli of Crystal Falls told The Daily News the criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree charge against Bal is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $500 fine.
Bal is also facing two misdemeanor charges including assault and battery and being a disorderly person — intoxicated in public.
Only one person was called to the witness stand, the alleged victim, a Florence County woman.
She told the court that on Friday, April 21, around 11 p.m., she saw Phillip Bal at Off the Wally’s Bar on Fifth Street on Iron Mountain’s northside.
The plaintiff said she knew Bal from when she was having domestic violence problems with her ex-husband.
Seeing Bal at the bar, she went up to him and thanked him for all his help during her domestic violence ordeal, and asked if she could buy him a beer.
Bal said he already had a beer, but she could buy him one later.
Later that night, Bal sat next to her and put an empty beer bottle on the bar. She then bought Bal a beer.
“We started to chat,” she said, “and within a few minutes he started telling me how difficult his marriage was, and how tough things were going for him at home. He then leaned over and kissed me. I slapped his hand and said, ‘You’re married.’” She then left the bar to go play some video games. arraignment.
“I was just about to put money into one of the games, when I heard somebody call my name,” she testified.
“I turned around and Bal was in my face. Bal asked me if I wanted to go home and have some fun with him. I said, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘You have a wife and kids at home. You’re a police officer. Don’t do this.’”
Bal asked her where she lived, and she said she was staying with a girlfriend who was with her at the bar.
Bal asked her girlfriend where she lived, but she wouldn’t tell him.
She then went back and sat at the bar. She was talking with one of her friends when she heard someone call her name. She said that when she turned around, Bal grabbed her face and kissed her.
“I said, ‘You can’t do this,’ but he did it again,” she said.
When asked by Prosecutor Sartorelli what she did next, she said she tried to ignore Bal and he went to the end of the bar. Some 15 minutes later, she told her friend she was going to use the restroom. Her friend asked if she wanted her to with her, but she said, “No.”
She testified that she was about to go into the women’s room, when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a storage area. The door slammed and when she turned around it was Bal, she said.
She said Bal grabbed her by the neck with his left hand and threw her against the wall.
“He kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “He pinned my left arm up against the wall and started rubbing the left side of my body including my left breast. He also thrust his pelvis against me repeatedly simulating sex.”
A friend walked in and asked what was going on, the alleged victim testified. Bal told her the two were just talking and slammed the door in her face, she told the court.
She said she felt very helpless and frightened.
“He kept telling me how pretty I was and kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “I finally bit his lip hoping to get him to stop. I told him he was drunk and that I was sober and that I wasn’t going to forget this.”
Sartorelli asked if biting Bal’s lip made him stop.
“For a short time,” she responded.
“Around that same time,” the plaintiff said, “an employee of Off the Wally’s came into the room and that made him stop,” the plaintiff said.
The plaintiff told the court she doesn’t remember how she got out of the room. Bal left the bar shortly thereafter.
On Saturday, April 22, around 3 p.m., the plaintiff received a phone call from Iron Mountain Police Chief Pete Flaminio. Flaminio asked the plaintiff to tell him what had happened at Off the Wally’s. The plaintiff told the chief what had happened.
During cross-examination, the plaintiff relayed many of the same details to defense attorney Frank Stupak of Escanaba.
The plaintiff told Stupak that she and two friends had arrived at Off the Wally’s bar around 9:45 p.m. that evening. She said she had been going there with friends once a week for approximately three months. The plaintiff told Stupak the alleged incident with Bal happened between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
When asked how many drinks she had consumed prior to the alleged incident with Phillip Bal, the plaintiff said she had consumed two drinks.
Stupak asked the plaintiff what kind of crowd was in the bar that night and how many of them she knew.
“I would say there were approximately 35 people there,” the plaintiff said. “I knew about 15 of them, including the owner and the bartender.”
Stupak asked the plaintiff why she didn’t scream for help?
“The jukebox was so loud,” the plaintiff said, “nobody would have heard me.”
Stupak then asked the plaintiff if she recalled what she was wearing and what Bal was wearing?
“I was wearing jeans and a tank top with a short sleeve wrap. Bal was wearing jeans with a blue polo shirt and a white t-shirt underneath,” the plaintiff replied.
Stupak asked the plaintiff if police ever examined her clothing?
“No they didn’t,” said the plaintiff.
Bal’s Circuit Court arraignment is set for Monday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m.
Iron Mtn officer arraigned on sex misconduct, assault charges
WOOD-TV, MI
Jul 3, 2006
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5108150&nav=menu44_2
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. An Iron Mountain police officer will appear in court again later this month after being arraigned last week on assault and sexual misconduct charges.
Officer Phillip Bal didn't say a word as a Dickinson County judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. If convicted, the 32-year-old officer could face two years in prison.
The charges stem from events on April 21st at a bar in Iron Mountain. The criminal sexual conduct charge involves a 23-year-old Wisconsin woman. The alleged assaults involved an Iron Mountain man and woman. Bal was off duty at the time.
He has been suspended without pay. His next court appearance comes July 17th.
Friday, April 21, 2006
04212006 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC - Iron Mountain PD
Also See:
1995 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC allegation - Iron Mountain PD
04012004 - Officer Phillip Bal - Home invasion and CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04012005 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04212006 - Officer Phillip Bal - CSC - Iron Mountain PD
04222006 - Officer Phillip Bal - Suspended - Iron Mountain PD
07112006 - Officer Phillip Bal - Terminated - Iron Mountain PD
08152007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Appeal Filed - COA 280009 - Iron Mountain PD
09172007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Appeal Filed - COA 280601 - Iron Mountain PD
10182007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - COA Appeal 280009 - Dismissed - Iron Mountain PD
11082007 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - LE license revoked - Iron Mountain PD
05242020 - Former Officer Phillip Bal - Released From Prison - Iron Mountain PD
On April 21, 2006 a woman who knew Officer Phillip Bal, saw him in a bar in Iron Mountain. The woman went up to Bal and thanked him for his handling of her recent domestic incident. She offered to buy Bal a drink. Bal later went up to the woman and attempted to kiss her. The woman rejected Bal's advances. Bal suggested they go home to have some fun and again the woman rejected Bal's advances. Later that night, when the woman was walking to the bathroom, Bal grabbed her and pushed her into a closet where he sexually assaulted her.
The woman immediately reported the assault to the Iron Mountain PD. After criminal charges against Officer Bal were filed, other victims who had been sexually assaulted by Officer Bal began to step forward.
Officer Bal was convicted in May 2007 and sentenced to 10 - 20 years in prison for an April 2004 sexual assault.
Bal blames media, says victim is lying
The Daily News
By PETE FRECCHIO, Staff Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2007
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6994
IRON MOUNTAIN — In Dickinson County Circuit Court on Wednesday, convicted sex offender Phillip Bal told Judge Richard Celello he was sentencing "an innocent man.”
Celello, saying he had thought long and hard about his decision, sentenced Bal, 34, of Iron Mountain, to 11 to 20 years in prison.At a jury trial in May, Bal, a former Iron Mountain police officer, was found guilty of criminal sexual conduct-first degree and home invasion-first degree.
The charges were related to an assault on an Iron Mountain woman at her home in April 2004.Celello sentenced Bal to 11 to 20 years on each count. The two sentences will run concurrently. Bal was given credit for 55 days served and ordered to register as a sex offender.
"This is one of the most difficult cases I have ever presided over," Celello told Bal. "(The defense) questioned the decision making methods of the jury. I can’t second guess the jury. I am not punishing you because you are a former police officer," Celello told Bal.
Bal told the court that since he was off-duty when the incident occurred, he should not be held to a higher standard because he was a police officer.
"Bal being a police officer should definitely be considered in determining his sentence," said special prosecuting attorney Jennifer Mazzuchi of Marquette. "When a gang member is involved in a crime, people are not shocked. When a police officer is involved in a crime, people are shocked. It is an abuse of his power."
At his first sentencing hearing on June 27, Bal informed the court he wished to dismiss attorney Frank Stupak of Escanaba and retain the services of appellate attorney Sanford Schulman of Detroit. The change in legal counsel delayed Bal’s sentencing three weeks.
Emotions were running high as supporters of both Bal and the victim filled the benches in the third floor courtroom.
In response to a statement Bal made before the court saying the victim was lying, Judge Celello responded, "The victim is telling the truth. She was brutally assaulted by you. I can’t think of anything short of murder that is as bad as what happened here. Alcohol has caused you terrible problems in your life," Celello said.
Several motions brought forward by Schulman concerning a proposed polygraph test, the jury’s method of reaching a guilty verdict and sentencing guidelines in the pre-sentence report were denied by Judge Celello.
In his statement before the court, an emotional Bal said the justice system let him down.
"I stand before you an embarrassed and humiliated man," he said. "My sinful and immoral action is responsible for everything that has happened.
I apologize to my wife for breaking her trust and violating the sanctity of our marriage. Her love has kept me strong. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her," Bal said.
"I apologize to my (four) kids, my parents, my family and my friends for what has happened the last 15 months and for letting them down," he continued. "I thank everyone for their letters of support. I thank the people of St. Mary and St. Joseph church for welcoming my family there and for the support they will give them when I am gone. I apologize to (the victim) and her family for what I have done. I pray life will return to normal for them."
Bal went on to list a number of injustices he felt had occurred.
"Several stories in the newspaper (about my case) slowly poisoned the selection of my jury and took away any chance I had for a fair trial," he said.
"My family was publicly humiliated. Because I was a police officer, my name and my family’s name was dragged through the mud. I lost my job. The prosecution never asked me for my side of the story," Bal said.
"The court allowed two women who had cases pending against me to testify against me," he said.
"Jurors later said they used that (information) to convict me. I was convicted based on what was said about two cases that never went to trial," he said."
I never asked for special treatment because I was a police officer. I feel I was prosecuted because I was a police officer. I ask the court for mercy and leniency. I have four kids that need a father. I have a wife who needs a husband. God has forgiven me. The victim is lying. You are sentencing an innocent man," Bal said.
Bal will be remanded to the custody to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He will be transported to the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson where he will be a part of the general prison population.
Bal’s attorney, Sanford Schulman, said an appeal will be filed.
"(Bal) was convicted on the testimony of two women whose charges against (Bal) were never brought to trial. The jury was hit with three cases at once. The evidence in the (case of the victim) was weak," said Schulman.
A Wisconsin woman who says she was involved in an encounter with Bal in the mid-1990’s attended Wednesday’s sentencing. She approached The Daily News outside the courthouse to offer her thoughts on Bal.
"It’s been 12 years, but justice was finally served," she said. "Bal was lying in court today. I saw firsthand what he is capable of," the woman said. The unnamed woman says she hopes to see the other man that was involved in her encounter with Bal brought to justice. "Eventually, it all catches up with them," she said.
Bal could still face a criminal sexual conduct charge involving an Iron Mountain woman in May 2005 at the C&R Bar in Aurora, Wis.
Florence County District Attorney Douglas Drexler has indicated he will decide shortly how he will proceed.
Bal is facing one count of criminal sexual conduct—second degree, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Bal blames media, says victim is lying
The Daily News
By PETE FRECCHIO, Staff Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2007
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6994
IRON MOUNTAIN — In Dickinson County Circuit Court on Wednesday, convicted sex offender Phillip Bal told Judge Richard Celello he was sentencing "an innocent man.”
Celello, saying he had thought long and hard about his decision, sentenced Bal, 34, of Iron Mountain, to 11 to 20 years in prison.At a jury trial in May, Bal, a former Iron Mountain police officer, was found guilty of criminal sexual conduct-first degree and home invasion-first degree.
The charges were related to an assault on an Iron Mountain woman at her home in April 2004.Celello sentenced Bal to 11 to 20 years on each count. The two sentences will run concurrently. Bal was given credit for 55 days served and ordered to register as a sex offender.
"This is one of the most difficult cases I have ever presided over," Celello told Bal. "(The defense) questioned the decision making methods of the jury. I can’t second guess the jury. I am not punishing you because you are a former police officer," Celello told Bal.
Bal told the court that since he was off-duty when the incident occurred, he should not be held to a higher standard because he was a police officer.
"Bal being a police officer should definitely be considered in determining his sentence," said special prosecuting attorney Jennifer Mazzuchi of Marquette. "When a gang member is involved in a crime, people are not shocked. When a police officer is involved in a crime, people are shocked. It is an abuse of his power."
At his first sentencing hearing on June 27, Bal informed the court he wished to dismiss attorney Frank Stupak of Escanaba and retain the services of appellate attorney Sanford Schulman of Detroit. The change in legal counsel delayed Bal’s sentencing three weeks.
Emotions were running high as supporters of both Bal and the victim filled the benches in the third floor courtroom.
In response to a statement Bal made before the court saying the victim was lying, Judge Celello responded, "The victim is telling the truth. She was brutally assaulted by you. I can’t think of anything short of murder that is as bad as what happened here. Alcohol has caused you terrible problems in your life," Celello said.
Several motions brought forward by Schulman concerning a proposed polygraph test, the jury’s method of reaching a guilty verdict and sentencing guidelines in the pre-sentence report were denied by Judge Celello.
In his statement before the court, an emotional Bal said the justice system let him down.
"I stand before you an embarrassed and humiliated man," he said. "My sinful and immoral action is responsible for everything that has happened.
I apologize to my wife for breaking her trust and violating the sanctity of our marriage. Her love has kept me strong. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her," Bal said.
"I apologize to my (four) kids, my parents, my family and my friends for what has happened the last 15 months and for letting them down," he continued. "I thank everyone for their letters of support. I thank the people of St. Mary and St. Joseph church for welcoming my family there and for the support they will give them when I am gone. I apologize to (the victim) and her family for what I have done. I pray life will return to normal for them."
Bal went on to list a number of injustices he felt had occurred.
"Several stories in the newspaper (about my case) slowly poisoned the selection of my jury and took away any chance I had for a fair trial," he said.
"My family was publicly humiliated. Because I was a police officer, my name and my family’s name was dragged through the mud. I lost my job. The prosecution never asked me for my side of the story," Bal said.
"The court allowed two women who had cases pending against me to testify against me," he said.
"Jurors later said they used that (information) to convict me. I was convicted based on what was said about two cases that never went to trial," he said."
I never asked for special treatment because I was a police officer. I feel I was prosecuted because I was a police officer. I ask the court for mercy and leniency. I have four kids that need a father. I have a wife who needs a husband. God has forgiven me. The victim is lying. You are sentencing an innocent man," Bal said.
Bal will be remanded to the custody to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He will be transported to the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson where he will be a part of the general prison population.
Bal’s attorney, Sanford Schulman, said an appeal will be filed.
"(Bal) was convicted on the testimony of two women whose charges against (Bal) were never brought to trial. The jury was hit with three cases at once. The evidence in the (case of the victim) was weak," said Schulman.
A Wisconsin woman who says she was involved in an encounter with Bal in the mid-1990’s attended Wednesday’s sentencing. She approached The Daily News outside the courthouse to offer her thoughts on Bal.
"It’s been 12 years, but justice was finally served," she said. "Bal was lying in court today. I saw firsthand what he is capable of," the woman said. The unnamed woman says she hopes to see the other man that was involved in her encounter with Bal brought to justice. "Eventually, it all catches up with them," she said.
Bal could still face a criminal sexual conduct charge involving an Iron Mountain woman in May 2005 at the C&R Bar in Aurora, Wis.
Florence County District Attorney Douglas Drexler has indicated he will decide shortly how he will proceed.
Bal is facing one count of criminal sexual conduct—second degree, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Former officer bound to Circuit Court
Iron Mountain Daily News
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/image_generator.asp?path=D:%5Coweb.net%
July 17, 2006
Article from 10-7 Forum
http://www.10-7.com/forum/viewtopic.phpt=24687&highlight=&sid=b9413b2a894295af48d7a2a7cfe53554
IRON MOUNTAIN — A former Iron Mountain police officer was bound over to Circuit Court to face criminal sexual conduct charges following a preliminary hearing Monday.
After hearing from both the prosecution and the defense, District Court Judge Michael Kusz ruled he was satisfied their was sufficient evidence to send the charge of criminal sexual assault — fourth degree against former Iron Mountain police officer Phillip Bal to Circuit Court. Preliminary examinations do not determine guilt.
A preliminary examination in District Court is an evidentiary hearing for felonies where the prosecutor must present evidence amounting to at least probable cause that a crime occurred and that the defendant may have been involved.
If the prosecutor meets his burden of proof, the case is bound over to Circuit Court for arraignment.
Special Prosecutor Joe Sartorelli of Crystal Falls told The Daily News the criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree charge against Bal is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $500 fine.
Bal is also facing two misdemeanor charges including assault and battery and being a disorderly person — intoxicated in public.
Only one person was called to the witness stand, the alleged victim, a Florence County woman.
She told the court that on Friday, April 21, around 11 p.m., she saw Phillip Bal at Off the Wally’s Bar on Fifth Street on Iron Mountain’s northside.
The plaintiff said she knew Bal from when she was having domestic violence problems with her ex-husband.
Seeing Bal at the bar, she went up to him and thanked him for all his help during her domestic violence ordeal, and asked if she could buy him a beer.
Bal said he already had a beer, but she could buy him one later.
Later that night, Bal sat next to her and put an empty beer bottle on the bar. She then bought Bal a beer.
“We started to chat,” she said, “and within a few minutes he started telling me how difficult his marriage was, and how tough things were going for him at home. He then leaned over and kissed me. I slapped his hand and said, ‘You’re married.’” She then left the bar to go play some video games. arraignment.
“I was just about to put money into one of the games, when I heard somebody call my name,” she testified.
“I turned around and Bal was in my face. Bal asked me if I wanted to go home and have some fun with him. I said, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘You have a wife and kids at home. You’re a police officer. Don’t do this.’”
Bal asked her where she lived, and she said she was staying with a girlfriend who was with her at the bar.
Bal asked her girlfriend where she lived, but she wouldn’t tell him.
She then went back and sat at the bar. She was talking with one of her friends when she heard someone call her name. She said that when she turned around, Bal grabbed her face and kissed her.
“I said, ‘You can’t do this,’ but he did it again,” she said.
When asked by Prosecutor Sartorelli what she did next, she said she tried to ignore Bal and he went to the end of the bar. Some 15 minutes later, she told her friend she was going to use the restroom. Her friend asked if she wanted her to with her, but she said, “No.”
She testified that she was about to go into the women’s room, when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a storage area. The door slammed and when she turned around it was Bal, she said.
She said Bal grabbed her by the neck with his left hand and threw her against the wall.
“He kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “He pinned my left arm up against the wall and started rubbing the left side of my body including my left breast. He also thrust his pelvis against me repeatedly simulating sex.”
A friend walked in and asked what was going on, the alleged victim testified. Bal told her the two were just talking and slammed the door in her face, she told the court.
She said she felt very helpless and frightened.
“He kept telling me how pretty I was and kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “I finally bit his lip hoping to get him to stop. I told him he was drunk and that I was sober and that I wasn’t going to forget this.”
Sartorelli asked if biting Bal’s lip made him stop.
“For a short time,” she responded.
“Around that same time,” the plaintiff said, “an employee of Off the Wally’s came into the room and that made him stop,” the plaintiff said.
The plaintiff told the court she doesn’t remember how she got out of the room. Bal left the bar shortly thereafter.
On Saturday, April 22, around 3 p.m., the plaintiff received a phone call from Iron Mountain Police Chief Pete Flaminio. Flaminio asked the plaintiff to tell him what had happened at Off the Wally’s. The plaintiff told the chief what had happened.
During cross-examination, the plaintiff relayed many of the same details to defense attorney Frank Stupak of Escanaba.
The plaintiff told Stupak that she and two friends had arrived at Off the Wally’s bar around 9:45 p.m. that evening. She said she had been going there with friends once a week for approximately three months. The plaintiff told Stupak the alleged incident with Bal happened between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
When asked how many drinks she had consumed prior to the alleged incident with Phillip Bal, the plaintiff said she had consumed two drinks.
Stupak asked the plaintiff what kind of crowd was in the bar that night and how many of them she knew.
“I would say there were approximately 35 people there,” the plaintiff said. “I knew about 15 of them, including the owner and the bartender.”
Stupak asked the plaintiff why she didn’t scream for help?
“The jukebox was so loud,” the plaintiff said, “nobody would have heard me.”
Stupak then asked the plaintiff if she recalled what she was wearing and what Bal was wearing?
“I was wearing jeans and a tank top with a short sleeve wrap. Bal was wearing jeans with a blue polo shirt and a white t-shirt underneath,” the plaintiff replied.
Stupak asked the plaintiff if police ever examined her clothing?
“No they didn’t,” said the plaintiff.
Bal’s Circuit Court arraignment is set for Monday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m.
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/image_generator.asp?path=D:%5Coweb.net%
July 17, 2006
Article from 10-7 Forum
http://www.10-7.com/forum/viewtopic.phpt=24687&highlight=&sid=b9413b2a894295af48d7a2a7cfe53554
IRON MOUNTAIN — A former Iron Mountain police officer was bound over to Circuit Court to face criminal sexual conduct charges following a preliminary hearing Monday.
After hearing from both the prosecution and the defense, District Court Judge Michael Kusz ruled he was satisfied their was sufficient evidence to send the charge of criminal sexual assault — fourth degree against former Iron Mountain police officer Phillip Bal to Circuit Court. Preliminary examinations do not determine guilt.
A preliminary examination in District Court is an evidentiary hearing for felonies where the prosecutor must present evidence amounting to at least probable cause that a crime occurred and that the defendant may have been involved.
If the prosecutor meets his burden of proof, the case is bound over to Circuit Court for arraignment.
Special Prosecutor Joe Sartorelli of Crystal Falls told The Daily News the criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree charge against Bal is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $500 fine.
Bal is also facing two misdemeanor charges including assault and battery and being a disorderly person — intoxicated in public.
Only one person was called to the witness stand, the alleged victim, a Florence County woman.
She told the court that on Friday, April 21, around 11 p.m., she saw Phillip Bal at Off the Wally’s Bar on Fifth Street on Iron Mountain’s northside.
The plaintiff said she knew Bal from when she was having domestic violence problems with her ex-husband.
Seeing Bal at the bar, she went up to him and thanked him for all his help during her domestic violence ordeal, and asked if she could buy him a beer.
Bal said he already had a beer, but she could buy him one later.
Later that night, Bal sat next to her and put an empty beer bottle on the bar. She then bought Bal a beer.
“We started to chat,” she said, “and within a few minutes he started telling me how difficult his marriage was, and how tough things were going for him at home. He then leaned over and kissed me. I slapped his hand and said, ‘You’re married.’” She then left the bar to go play some video games. arraignment.
“I was just about to put money into one of the games, when I heard somebody call my name,” she testified.
“I turned around and Bal was in my face. Bal asked me if I wanted to go home and have some fun with him. I said, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘You have a wife and kids at home. You’re a police officer. Don’t do this.’”
Bal asked her where she lived, and she said she was staying with a girlfriend who was with her at the bar.
Bal asked her girlfriend where she lived, but she wouldn’t tell him.
She then went back and sat at the bar. She was talking with one of her friends when she heard someone call her name. She said that when she turned around, Bal grabbed her face and kissed her.
“I said, ‘You can’t do this,’ but he did it again,” she said.
When asked by Prosecutor Sartorelli what she did next, she said she tried to ignore Bal and he went to the end of the bar. Some 15 minutes later, she told her friend she was going to use the restroom. Her friend asked if she wanted her to with her, but she said, “No.”
She testified that she was about to go into the women’s room, when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a storage area. The door slammed and when she turned around it was Bal, she said.
She said Bal grabbed her by the neck with his left hand and threw her against the wall.
“He kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “He pinned my left arm up against the wall and started rubbing the left side of my body including my left breast. He also thrust his pelvis against me repeatedly simulating sex.”
A friend walked in and asked what was going on, the alleged victim testified. Bal told her the two were just talking and slammed the door in her face, she told the court.
She said she felt very helpless and frightened.
“He kept telling me how pretty I was and kept trying to kiss me,” she said. “I finally bit his lip hoping to get him to stop. I told him he was drunk and that I was sober and that I wasn’t going to forget this.”
Sartorelli asked if biting Bal’s lip made him stop.
“For a short time,” she responded.
“Around that same time,” the plaintiff said, “an employee of Off the Wally’s came into the room and that made him stop,” the plaintiff said.
The plaintiff told the court she doesn’t remember how she got out of the room. Bal left the bar shortly thereafter.
On Saturday, April 22, around 3 p.m., the plaintiff received a phone call from Iron Mountain Police Chief Pete Flaminio. Flaminio asked the plaintiff to tell him what had happened at Off the Wally’s. The plaintiff told the chief what had happened.
During cross-examination, the plaintiff relayed many of the same details to defense attorney Frank Stupak of Escanaba.
The plaintiff told Stupak that she and two friends had arrived at Off the Wally’s bar around 9:45 p.m. that evening. She said she had been going there with friends once a week for approximately three months. The plaintiff told Stupak the alleged incident with Bal happened between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
When asked how many drinks she had consumed prior to the alleged incident with Phillip Bal, the plaintiff said she had consumed two drinks.
Stupak asked the plaintiff what kind of crowd was in the bar that night and how many of them she knew.
“I would say there were approximately 35 people there,” the plaintiff said. “I knew about 15 of them, including the owner and the bartender.”
Stupak asked the plaintiff why she didn’t scream for help?
“The jukebox was so loud,” the plaintiff said, “nobody would have heard me.”
Stupak then asked the plaintiff if she recalled what she was wearing and what Bal was wearing?
“I was wearing jeans and a tank top with a short sleeve wrap. Bal was wearing jeans with a blue polo shirt and a white t-shirt underneath,” the plaintiff replied.
Stupak asked the plaintiff if police ever examined her clothing?
“No they didn’t,” said the plaintiff.
Bal’s Circuit Court arraignment is set for Monday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m.
Briefs from the Upper Peninsula
Associated Press
Duluth News Tribune, MN
Jul. 12, 2006
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/15023867.htm
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (AP) - A city police officer charged with criminal sexual conduct and other charges has been fired.
City Manager John Marquart announced Tuesday that Phillip Bal had lost his job.
Bal, 32, of Iron Mountain, is charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of assault and battery and one county of being drunk and disorderly. He has been with the local police department for six years.
"Officer Phillip Bal vehemently denies the accusations against him," said his attorney, Frank Stupak. "Bal is surprised the city of Iron Mountain would terminate him in advance of proof of the accusations which come from a barroom while Bal was off duty."
A preliminary examination and a pretrial hearing are scheduled for Monday on the charges.
They involve an incident alleged to have taken place at Wally's Bar on April 21.
Iron Mountain Officer Fired
Iron Mountain
WLUC TV6
July 11, 2006
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5137526&nav=menu134_5_9
Iron Mountain city officials have fired police officer Phillip Bal over allegations arising from an off-duty bar fight. He was dismissed Tuesday following an internal investigation that lasted nearly three months.
Bal was arraigned last week on charges of criminal sexual conduct, assault, and drunken and disorderly conduct
City Manager John Marquart said the city had no other option except to terminate Bal.
"We did an investigation and this is what the results showed," he said. "We feel that for the best interest of the city, this is the correct step to follow."
Bal and his attorney Frank Stupak disagree. "Officer Bal is surprised that the presumption of 'innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt' apparently carries no weight with the police administration," Stupak told TV6.
Bal makes another court appearance on Monday for a pre-trial hearing.
Iron Mtn officer arraigned on sex misconduct, assault charges
WOOD-TV, MI
Jul 3, 2006
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5108150&nav=menu44_2
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. An Iron Mountain police officer will appear in court again later this month after being arraigned last week on assault and sexual misconduct charges.
Officer Phillip Bal didn't say a word as a Dickinson County judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. If convicted, the 32-year-old officer could face two years in prison.
The charges stem from events on April 21st at a bar in Iron Mountain. The criminal sexual conduct charge involves a 23-year-old Wisconsin woman. The alleged assaults involved an Iron Mountain man and woman. Bal was off duty at the time.
He has been suspended without pay. His next court appearance comes July 17th.
News in brief from Upper Michigan
7/2/2006, 10:28 p.m. ET
The Saginaw News, MI
The Associated Press
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news35/1151894381117650.xml&storylist=newsmichigan
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (AP) — An Iron Mountain police officer was arraigned on two counts of assault and battery and one count each of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and being drunk and disorderly.
Officer Phillip Bal, 32, stood mute to the charges Friday in Dickinson County District Court. Judge Michael J. Kusz entered not guilty pleas on Bal's behalf.
The charges stem from a series of events that occurred April 21 at Off the Wally's Bar in Iron Mountain. The criminal sexual conduct incident involved a 23-year-old Florence, Wis., woman. The alleged assaults involved a 27-year-old Iron Mountain woman and an Iron Mountain man.
Bal was released on bond. A preliminary hearing on the criminal sexual conduct charge, a felony punishable by up to 2 years in prison, was scheduled for July 17.
Bal has been suspended without pay, The Daily News of Iron Mountain reported.
Officer pleads not guilty
Charged after alleged assaults at IM tavern
Iron Mountain Daily News
July 01, 2006
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=2381
CAPTION: Iron Mountain Police Officer Phillip Bal, left, his attorney, Frank Stupak of Escanaba, center, and Special Prosecutor Joe Sartorelli of Crystal Falls are shown in Dickinson County District Court on Friday morning. Bal entered not guilty pleas to one count of criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree, two counts of assault and battery and one count of disorderly person/drunk. A preliminary examination has been set for Monday, July 17, in district court.
IRON MOUNTAIN — An Iron Mountain police officer entered not guilty pleas Friday to one count of criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree, two counts of assault and battery and one count of disorderly person/drunk.
Officer Phillip Bal, 32, of Iron Mountain sat quietly in Dickinson County District Court as his attorney, Frank Stupak of Escanaba, chose to stand mute on the charges before Judge Michael J. Kusz. Pleas of not guilty were automatically entered on each count.
Special Prosecutor Joe Sartorelli of Crystal Falls told The Daily News the criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree charge is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $500 fine.
The two assault and battery charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to 93 days in jail. The disorderly person/drunk charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. Bond for Bal was set at 10 percent of $3,000. While out on bond, Bal is not to possess or consume alcohol, not to enter or remain in any establishment where alcohol is sold for use therein, not to engage in any harassing, intimidating, assaultive or threatening behavior and is not to have contact with any of the witnesses.
A preliminary examination on the felony has been set for Monday, July 17, in district court. A pre-trial hearing on the misdemeanor charges will also be held on that date.
The charges stem from a series of events that occurred at Off the Wally’s Bar in Iron Mountain on April 21, 2006. The alleged CSC-fourth degree incident involved a 23-year-old Florence, Wis. woman. The two alleged assault and battery incidents involved a 27-year-old Iron Mountain female and an Iron Mountain man.
“Michigan Attorney General (Mike Cox) took quite a while in deciding who should be appointed as special prosecutor in this case,” said Sartorelli. “It was quite recently that I was chosen as the special prosecutor.”
Sartorelli’s normal responsibilities are as Iron County Prosecuting Attorney.
“I want to get this case to trial as quickly as possible. I also want to reassure the public that this case will be treated as any other case would be treated involving serious crimes such as these,” Sartorelli said. “A police officer is put in a position of public trust and is not above the law. In the end I want the public to feel that justice was done.”
As of Friday morning, Iron Mountain City Manager John Marquart said that Officer Bal was still suspended without pay.
Dickinson County Police Message Board
- Fire Phil Bal
Author Comment The Truth
5/06/06 at 01:08 PM
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/jeeves/vpost?id=1104566
Recently a complaint of physical abuse was filed against Phil Bal, An IMPD officer. I have no idea whether it is true or not. I was not there nor have I talked to any witnesses. But if true signifies that someone has an alcohol problem coupled with an unstable temper. Just what we need walking around town armed.
What I do know is this; Officer Bal needs to be fired. He has a childish lack of brain control and also is a plain outright liar. He has in the past stated that "they tag-teamed me and gave me a blow job". They "they" he was referring to were two DCSD dispatchers. He told that lie to every badge that would listen to him. When it got back to one of the dispatchers he was of course directly confronted about the maliciously false statements he had made. He stammered and stuttered and apologized and said it was all a joke. That was no joke, it is was a blatant outright lie by an immature individual who should be digging ditches for a living and not dealing with the public.
Question:
What would this officer say about someone who had no defenses in the course of an investigation. Would he lie about something?
How about in court? Could this persons testimony be considered valid.
It is extremely plausible that past cases where he testified may contain false testimony and need to be carefully looked at.
Why did these two dispatchers do nothing. Plain and simple, they are afraid for their jobs. Afraid to make waves, for they work in a very vulgar and degrading atmosphere at times.
This is a person that the community DOES NOT need to be protected by but rather it seems the community needs protection FROM this unstable individual.
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