"Several employees – including a former chief of staff – knew or should have known about policy violations by a former assistant attorney general alleged to have been in a relationship with a sexual assault victim in a case he was prosecuting, according to an internal investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel."
AG Nessel Issues Statement on Resignation of AAG Brian Kolodziej
Michigan Department Of Attorney General
September 10, 2019
https://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-359-92297_47203-507072--,00.html
LANSING - The following statement from Attorney General Dana Nessel was released September 10, 2019:
“Good afternoon. I want to thank you for taking the time to be here this afternoon on such short notice. I asked you to be here because ethics, integrity and transparency in office and in government are incredibly important to me. I am committed to being as transparent with you today as I possibly can be under the circumstances.
"As many of you may already know, Brian Kolodziej was until Friday an Assistant Attorney General here. He was hired by the Schuette Administration in September of 2018 and immediately assigned to handle criminal sexual assault cases – exactly the work he had done for the Macomb County Prosecutor’s office.
"On Thursday, September 5th, I was notified by the Michigan State Police (MSP) of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct involving now former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej – specifically, his alleged involvement in an improper relationship with a victim in a case assigned to him shortly after he was hired last September. Within an hour of this notice, Mr. Kolodziej was placed on administrative leave.
“The next morning Mr. Kolodziej admitted to engaging in the relationship and subsequently resigned from his employment with the Department of Attorney General in lieu of immediate termination. The MSP has opened a criminal investigation and I have informed them that my team will fully cooperate with all elements of their investigation. I have also requested the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council’s prompt appointment of another prosecutorial agency to assist in the event MSP requires prosecutorial or investigative services.
“Lastly, I have submitted all relevant information to the Attorney Grievance Commission for review, and both the court and the defense counsel in the case relevant to Mr. Kolodziej’s alleged misconduct have been notified. A copy of that letter will be made available to you after the news conference.
“Most important, we also have been in constant communication with the victims on his cases.
“While the ongoing investigation means I cannot provide any additional details at this time, it is important to make clear that I expect everyone who works here to hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct when working on behalf of this office. Those standards require that all of our employees demonstrate honesty and integrity in the administration of justice and that their conduct always conforms to the ethical rules of our profession. Staff who fail to live up to these requirements will have no place in my Department.
“We have hundreds of dedicated public servants who respect their work and the trust we put in them. Several of them have already been assigned to take on the cases assigned to Mr. Kolodziej.
“Finally, let me say this: This man’s actions do not define our department, but our response will.”
###
Police open criminal investigation into former prosecutor over relationship with victim
The Detroit News
Sept. 10, 2019
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/09/10/assistant-michigan-attorney-general-quits-relationship-assault-case/2276698001/
Michigan State Police have opened a criminal investigation into a former assistant attorney general who allegedly confessed to having an intimate relationship with a victim in a sexual misconduct case he was prosecuting.
Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej admitted to the relationship Friday morning and resigned before the department could immediately end his employment, Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a Tuesday press conference.
Nessel's office had been notified by state police of the allegations Thursday evening and had put Kolodziej on leave within an hour of receiving the information, she said.
"To say that I'm horrified, to say that I'm disgusted, it's really an understatement," Nessel said.
The revelation has prompted internal reviews at both the Attorney General's office and at Kolodziej's former employer, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.
Defense attorney Joe Barberi told The Detroit News Tuesday afternoon that he was informed by Nessel's office Monday of the prosecutor's resignation, which was first reported by the Morning Sun of Alma.
Barberi had represented Ian Elliott, who pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County and is serving a year in prison. Elliott is a former Central Michigan University student who was accused of sexually assaulting two women.
Elliott’s case was handled by Kolodziej, a 41-year-old former film actor and former Macomb County assistant prosecutor from March 2, 2015 to Sept. 14, 2018. Kolodziej couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Kolodziej's alleged relationship with a victim in the Elliott case took place while the case was pending, Nessel said.
Barberi told The News he’s reached out to Nessel’s office “to see if the injustice that’s been done here can be corrected.”
Barberi said he raised concerns about Kolodziej as early as April, when a judge in the case determined the assistant attorney general had violated court rules with “false pleadings.” At sentencing, Kolodziej verbally attacked Barberi’s defense of Elliott, he said.
Barberi said he's still uncertain of the best path forward.
“The problem I have is, how will this man ever get a fair trial when Mr. Kolodziej was tainting witnesses because of his relationship with (the victim)?” the defense attorney said. "...The only right thing to do is to dismiss these charges."
Nessel's office is conducting an internal review of any cases Kolodziej was involved in, she said Tuesday.
The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office is conducting a similar review of the cases Kolodziej prosecuted there. While the office is "very troubled" by the allegations, it had "never received any accusations of wrongdoing by Mr. Kolodziej," Prosecutor Eric Smith said.
He served as a member of the county's Child Protection Unit prosecuting sexual assault crimes involving minor victims.
"I have ordered an immediate internal investigation to be conducted on all files handled by Mr. Kolodziej during his tenure in our office," Smith said. "If anyone has information about a particular case where inappropriate behavior transpired, we encourage you to come forward and let your voice be heard."
Kolodziej also worked as a general assignment assistant prosecutor in Genesee County. Prosecutor David Leyton's office was unable to provide further information about his employment there Tuesday night.
Any potential charges that stem from the Michigan State Police investigation into Kolodziej would be referred to the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council for an independent prosecution, Nessel said.
Barberi's concerns regarding courtroom behavior were never brought to her attention, Nessel said, but have already spurred changes in the department. She said all allegations of ethical or prosecutorial misconduct now will be brought to her directly or her executive team.
She said she also will require staff to undergo training on the boundaries that should be maintained with witnesses and victims.
"This man's actions do not define our department but our response will," Nessel said.
State police investigating prosecutor for inappropriate relationship with victim
Michigan Radio
SEP 10, 2019
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/state-police-investigating-prosecutor-inappropriate-relationship-victim
A state sex crimes prosecutor is now the one under criminal investigation.
On Thursday, the Michigan State Police notified the state Attorney General that Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej “had allegedly engaged in an intimate relationship with one of the victims” in a high-profile sexual assault case involving Central Michigan University students.
Kolodziej resigned on Friday after admitting to the relationship, which he says began in April of 2019 and continued through August.
Asked if the relationship was consensual, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she couldn’t comment because of the ongoing investigation.
“I have never before even heard of a situation like this,” Nessel said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I've never heard of a prosecutor involved in this kind of relationship with a victim in a case, much less on a sexual assault case. So this was incredibly disturbing.”
Nessel says her office is now reviewing all of Kolodziej’s cases, and has notified the defense attorneys and the judge who presided over the Central Michigan University case.
While the victim he admitted to being involved with isn’t being named, the case centered on former CMU student Rachael Wilson’s accusations of sexual assault against Ian Elliott, a former student body president.
The former county prosecutor initially dropped the case against Elliott. But the Michigan Attorney General's office decided to refile charges after Wilson said she'd been denied her day in court in a powerful piece for the student newspaper, Central Michigan Life.
What followed were days of emotional testimony in court by both Wilson and another accuser of Elliott’s, Landy Blackmore. Elliott eventually took a plea deal in August, pleading no contest to third degree criminal sexual conduct, and is currently serving a one-year sentence.
It’s not clear whether Kolodziej’s misconduct will put that outcome at risk, Nessel says.
“I’ve already indicated that I’m more than happy to sit down with Mr. Elliott’s defense council and to discuss the matter with him. And obviously it will be up to his council to decide what, if any, motions he decides to make,” says Nessel.
Elliott’s attorney, Joe Barberi, said he reached his client last night to tell him about the development. “I got ahold of him for eight minutes last night [because that’s all the time he gets for a phone call in prison,] and he and his father were shocked. Everybody has been shocked by the revelations.”
But Barberi says he’s been trying to bring attention to Kolodziej’s handling of this case for months now. While Barberi says he didn’t know about the prosecutor’s relationship with the victim, Barberi previously filed a motion asking the court to sanction Kolodziej, he says, for withholding evidence that would be helpful to the defense.
Asked if he plans to file a motion to get the conviction set aside, Barberi says he’s first going to meet with Nessel.
“I’m planning to present to Dana Nessel what Brian Kolodziej did to taint and change witness testimony, such that my client could never get a fair trial. I’m hoping she’ll do the right thing, and she’ll decide what justice requires in this case. I hope she decides that steps need to be taken to eliminate his conviction,” he says.
Nessel 'disgusted' by former state prosecutor Kolodziej's conduct with sexual assault victim
ABC News - Detroit
Sep 10, 2019
https://www.abc12.com/content/news/AG-Nessel-disgusted-by-former-AAG-Ko--559997211.html
LANSING (WJRT) (09/10/19) - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was visibly angry while talking about a sexual abuse case involving one of her former assistants.
Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej resigned and is under investigation for allegedly engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a female victim in the Ian Elliott sexual assault case, which Kolodziej prosecuted.
"To say that I am horrified, to say that I am disgusted is really an understatement," Nessel said.
Two women accused Elliott of sexually assaulting them while he was the Student Government Association president at Central Michigan University. The Isabella County Prosecutor's Office initially dropped charges, but Nessel took over the case and reinstated charges.
That is when Kolodziej, who was hired under former Attorney General Bill Schuette's administration, got involved with the case.
"It's important to make clear that I expect everyone who works here to hold themselves to the highest standard of conduct when working on behalf of this office." Nessel said.
She said Kolodziej has admitted to engaging in the relationship. She called the situation rare and said it won't define the work of her department.
"In over 25 years of practice in criminal law as, both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I have never before even heard of a situation like this,"Nessel said.
The attorney general's office now has to regroup on cases Kolodziej was assigned. They include a high profile investigation into Michigan State Police Trooper Adam Mullin allegedly assaulting his female partner while on duty last winter.
The trial in Mullin's case has been delayed to Oct. 10.
"Unfortunately, that's more time that my client is going to wait for the day of court for justice, but we are looking forward to it," said defense attorney Matthew Norwood. "We were ready for court today, we're ready for court in a couple of weeks. But in the spirit of fairness, I want the prosecutor to be prepared, because that's what I would expect them to be able to do in a situation would have."
Michigan prosecutor resigns after relationship with victim in rape case
Detroit Free Press
Sept. 10, 2019
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2019/09/10/michigan-prosecutor-resigns-after-relationship-rape-victim/2279097001/
LANSING — Michigan State Police have launched a criminal investigation into an assistant attorney general who has been accused of having an inappropriate, intimate relationship with the victim in a rape case he was prosecuting.
Brian Kolodziej, who was hired in September 2018 under former Attorney General Bill Schuette, was put on administrative leave and subsequently resigned last week after the relationship came to light, said Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“To say I’m horrified and disgusted is really an understatement,” she said. “In over 25 years of practice, I have never before even heard of a situation like this.”
Nessel wouldn’t provide details of the situation because it’s still under investigation, but noted that she learned of it after a complaint was filed with State Police. All of the cases handled by Kolodziej will be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office to make sure defendants received due process.
“We have an internal investigation going on and we’re going to review every aspect of that case and any case that Mr. Kolodziej handled,” Nessel said. “I want to make certain that each and every one of the defendants on his cases was provided due process and nothing that Mr. Kolodziej did tainted that.”
The case involved Ian Elliott, a CMU student who pleaded no contest to a charge of sexual assault stemming from complaints from two women during the summer of 2016. The cases were combined and he was sentenced to one year in prison in June.
Kolodziej was allegedly involved in an intimate relationship with one of the women in the case. The Free Press was unable to reach him for comment.
The 41-year-old Clinton Township native was an actor before becoming a lawyer, appearing in minor television and movie roles, including “Creep Van,” “Flight of the Living Dead,” “The Girl Next Door” and “Malibu Spring Break.”
According to a 2013 profile of Kolodziej in the Legal News, he was a special assistant attorney general in Genesee County as well as an assistant prosecutor in Macomb County before he joined the state Attorney General's Office last year.
Nessel said as a result of the incident, she will start a new training session in the AG’s office.
“It never occurred to me that we would have to train prosecutors to not engage in intimate relationships with witnesses,” she said. “One of the things I ask myself is, were there any signs that we should have known about this … But everybody was blown away by this.”
In addition to the criminal and internal investigations, Nessel also forwarded the complaint to the Attorney Grievance Commission, which could affect Kolodziej’s law license.
If a criminal investigation leads to charges against Kolodziej, Nessel said the matter would be referred to another prosecutor’s office to pursue.
Prosecutor in CMU sexual assault case resigns after inappropriate relationship with victim, AG's office confirms
Huron Daily Tribune
September 10, 2019
https://www.michigansthumb.com/state-news/article/Prosecutor-in-CMU-sexual-assault-case-resigns-14479077.php
LANSING, MI -- The Michigan assistant attorney general who prosecuted a former Central Michigan University Student Government Association president on sexual assault charges has resigned after having an inappropriate relationship with a victim in the case, the attorney general’s office confirmed Tuesday.
Assistant Michigan Attorney General Brian Kolodziej resigned on Friday, Sept. 6, according to Kelly Rossman-McKinney, the office’s spokeswoman. She confirmed media reports that Kolodziej resigned after it was learned he had had an improper relationship with a victim in the Ian D. Elliott case.
Attorney General Dana Nessel is hosting a press conference on the issue at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Lansing. It will be live-streamed on the office’s Facebook page. Nessel will be the only speaker at the conference, said Rossman-McKinney, adding she could not provide additional details.
Elliott, 24, of Cheboygan, in June pleaded no contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Isabella County Circuit Judge Eric R. Janes on Aug. 2 followed a sentencing agreement in ordering Elliott be imprisoned with the Michigan Department of Corrections for a year and a day to 15 years. He also ordered him to pay $198 in fines and costs.
Elliott’s two victims, Rachel Wilson and Landrea Blackmore, gave impassioned statements at Elliott’s sentencing. Kolodziej stood beside them both as they spoke and described them as “brave, heroic survivors.”
Kolodziej said the treatment they endured makes it clear why so few sexual assault victims come forward, specifically addressing the defense’s questioning of them when they were witnesses in prior court hearings.
“Rachel Wilson provided the blueprint for rape survivors going forward: Fight until your voice is heard, demand fairness,” Kolodziej said.
The charge to which Elliott pleaded is connected to Wilson’s assault. In exchange for his plea, the Attorney General’s Office dismissed two more counts of the same charge and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.
The Attorney General’s Office filed its first three charges against Elliott in December after the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed their case. Wilson had previously gone public with what happened to her in an interview with Central Michigan Life.
A February preliminary examination ended with Elliott being bound over for trial. The AG’s Office said witness testimony in that hearing led to the issuing of another third-degree criminal sexual conduct count in March. That charge related to the assault Elliott was accused of perpetrating against Blackmore.
CMU’s Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity investigators previously ruled in favor of Wilson when she made the allegations against Elliott. They concluded Elliott had engaged in sexual contact with a person who “was incapacitated on the evening of Aug. 31” and that she “therefore was incapable of consenting to sexual activity,” Central Michigan Life reported.
Elliott is currently incarcerated at the Central Michigan Correctional Facility in St. Louis, his earliest possible release date being Aug. 1, 2020.
Macomb Prosecutor's Office to investigate former assistant who resigned from state post
Morning Sun
September 11, 2019
https://www.themorningsun.com/news/copscourts/macomb-prosecutors-office-to-investigate-former-assistant-who-resigned-from-state-post/article_293e91f1-7f60-58fd-b62a-fc87a390800b.html
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office will investigate a former assistant prosecutor who resigned his state attorney post last week due to an affair with a victim in a sex-crime case he handled.
Prosecutor Eric Smith said his office never received any complaints about Brian Kolodziej during his 3-1/2 years in the office but ordered a probe of cases he handled. Kolodziej spent a portion of his Macomb time prosecuting sex offenders.
“We are very troubled by the allegation regarding Mr. Kolodziej,” Smith said Wednesday in a written statement. “We have never received any accusations of wrongdoing by Mr. Kolodziej while he was an assistant prosecutor in our office. Nevertheless, I have ordered an immediate internal investigation to be conducted on all files handled by Mr. Kolodziej during his tenure in our office.”
Kolodziej, 41, resigned as an assistant attorney general prosecuting sex offenders as a result of a relationship with a victim in a recently resolved sex-crime case in Isabella County. Ian Elliott was convicted by plea of third-degree criminal sex charge related to allegations by two young women, both of whom made victim-impact statements last month in the Mount Pleasant courtroom.
Kolodziej, a Chippewa Valley High School graduate, worked in Macomb County from March 2015 to September 2018, when he was hired by former Attorney General Bill Schuette. In Macomb, he prosecuted sex crimes and other types of cases. Before arriving in Macomb, he worked as a special assistant attorney general assigned to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office as part of a crackdown on crime along the Interstate 75 corridor.
Several attorneys who knew Kolodziej while he worked in Macomb County said this week they were surprised by the accusations.
“He was a good attorney, well-prepared,” one attorney said.
Kolodziej earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 2012 after spending nearly nine years in California working as an actor.
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Kolodziej’s resignation Tuesday and indicated he was under investigation by Michigan State Police. A complaint will be made to the Attorney Grievance Commission for possible ramifications to his law license.
Nessel said she learned about Kolodziej’s alleged misconduct last Thursday, and Kolodziej admitted to the relationship and resigned Friday.
Nessel said she has been in contact with Elliott's attorney, Joe Barberi, and that she plans a thorough review of not just that case, but of all the work he handled for the AG's office. Isabella County Chief Judge Eric Janes also was informed of the matter.
Kolodziej--15
The affair started in April and ended in late August, the letter says.
Smith said anyone who has information about improper behavior by Kolodziej related to a court case to contact his office at 586-469-5350.
Prosecutor in Mullin case under criminal investigation
Trial postponed to October
Huron County View
September 12, 2019
https://huroncountyview.mihomepaper.com/articles/prosecutor-in-mullin-case-under-criminal-investigation/
BAD AXE — The trial involving a former state trooper who is alleged to have assaulted his partner while on duty has been adjourned to a later date, coming after the prosecutor on the case resigned.
The four-day trial of Adam S. Mullin, 25, of Millington, who was charged five times after police allege he assaulted his female partner in February while they were on duty in Bad Axe, was set to begin on Tuesday. However, the prosecutor on the case, Assistant Michigan Attorney General Brian J. Kolodziej, resigned late last week.
On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel held a press conference addressing Kolodziej’s resignation. She said the Michigan State Police notified her on Thursday, Sept. 5, of allegations Kolodziej had an improper relationship with a victim in a separate, sexual assault case that had been assigned to him shortly after he had been hired last year. An hour after she was notified, Nessel said Kolodziej was placed on administrative leave. He resigned the following day.
“To say that I’m horrified,” Nessel said, “to say that I’m disgusted, is really an understatement.”
She went on to say Kolodziej is now under criminal investigation by Michigan State Police.
Mullin’s attorneys, Matthew L. Norwood and Christopher McGrath, were ready to begin trial.
“Obviously we’re ready for trial and we’re going to be ready for trial,” Norwood told the VIEW, “but the court found good cause to adjourn the trial and we respect the court’s decision. We’re eager to finally get all the information out there.”
What’s more, Judge Gerald Prill issued a gag order on the lead detective of the case, Det. Sgt. Brian Reece with the Michigan State Police. Mullin’s attorneys requested the order after Reece spoke with media about current investigations into their client.
“As far as the gag order on detective Reece,” Norwood said, “the attorney general’s office even agreed with that.”
The gag order means Reece is not allowed to speak with media agencies about the case.
“That’s not really uncommon with a high-profile case,” said Shanon Banner, a spokesperson with the Michigan State Police, “and we fully intend to comply with it.”Mullin’s nearly half-dozen charges include assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They arise after an incident between Mullin and his female partner at the time. On February 10, an argument ensued between the troopers inside the Bad Axe detachment, resulting in Mullin throwing his partner at least six feet across the room, according to testimony from Reece and police reports obtained by the VIEW.
Shortly after the alleged assault, Mullin and his partner staged a fake traffic stop, during which she would fall on the ice to cover up injuries from the incident. Reece testified further saying he discovered another assault in 2018, when Mullin allegedly assaulted his partner while they were in their patrol vehicle. Audio recordings from inside the vehicle reveal Mullin saying “why do you make me get to that point?” and his partner saying “stop hitting me.”
Mullin was released on bond in February; however, it would later be revoked after he mouthed the words “you’re dead” to his partner when she testified at a subsequent hearing. He would later be taken into custody by Huron County sheriffs, where he remains in jail.
The remaining charges against Mulling are as follows: Obstruction of Justice, Misconduct in Office, Assaulting, Resisting, Obstructing and/ or Causing Injury to a Police Officer and Aggravated Domestic Violence.
The trial is set to begin on Tuesday, October 8.
AG Nessel examining past cases of former assistant after reports he slept with victim of his cases
FOX 2 News - Detroit
September 13, 2019
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/ag-nessel-examining-past-cases-of-former-assistant-after-reports-he-slept-with-victim-of-his-cases
Before Brian Kolodziej was hired by former Attorney General Bill Schuette, he worked at the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office in the sex crimes unit. The same unit that he was evenutally pulled from for having relationships with rape victims.
"So when this came out I, wasn't surprised at all because of what had happened before," said Criminal Defense Attorney Nicole Blank-Becker.
Last week, Nessel announced in a press conference that Kolodziej had admitted to the acts.
"Mr. Kolodziej admitted to engaging in the relationship," said Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Blank-Becker, speaking exclusively with FOX 2, said while she was head of the sex crimes unit at the Macomb County Prosecutor's office, employees confided in her about strange behavior between Kolodjziej and female victims in cases he was working.
"The victim advocates report - one of them in particular - reported to me for example, she said that he was getting love letters from a victim and a mom of the victim," Blank-Becker said. "I found out that he was meeting with victim's alone at their house and that's just not the way it's supposed to be done."
In one instance, he was allegedly spotted sitting in a car after hours alone with a female victim.
Following those reports, Blank-Becker reported the behavior to Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.
In a statement, Smith said:
However, Blank-Becker said she took him off the sex crimes unit because "of all the things I either saw or were told or followed up on." While she can't definitively say he was sexually involved with the victims in the past, there were glaring red flags that showed up during his time at Macomb County.
"I think it is very important to find out, are there other victims that felt this way," said Blank-Becker
Kolodziej also worked in the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office. However, Prosecutor David Leyton has told FOX 2 they are unaware of any inappropriate behavior between Kolodziej, but are now looking into it.
State police investigating former prosecutor for potential sexual misconduct
The Detroit News
Sept. 13, 2019
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/09/13/msp-investigating-former-prosecutor-possible-sexual-misconduct/2311553001/
The Michigan State Police will investigate potential charges of misconduct in office and criminal sexual conduct in the case of a former assistant attorney general who is alleged to have had an intimate relationship with a victim.
The criminal investigation commenced roughly a week ago when the state police were notified of allegations that Brian Kolodziej had a relationship with the victim in a sexual misconduct case, said Detective 1st Lt. Tom DeClercq, commander of the Michigan State Police’s Special Investigations Section.
No charges have been filed.
Kolodziej resigned from Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office last week, after he was confronted about the allegations connected to a high-profile case against a Central Michigan University student accused of sexually assaulting two women.
The Detroit News was unable to reach Kolodziej for comment.
The alleged relationship occurred between April and August of this year as a trial was pending against Ian Elliott, Nessel’s office told Elliot’s attorney and the Isabella County judge who handled the case.
Elliott pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal sexual conduct this summer in Isabella County and is serving a year in prison.
Former Attorney General Bill Schuette said, to his knowledge, no one in the hiring process was aware of any past allegations of misconduct against Kolodziej when he was hired in September 2018.
Kolodziej’s alleged misconduct is “absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
Kolodziej’s admission to the relationship and resignation Friday came in lieu of an immediate firing, Nessel told reporters this week.
Nessel’s office referred the issue to the Attorney Grievance Commission and is reviewing all of the cases Kolodziej has handled since his hiring in September 2018. She also is developing training for all employees on appropriate relationships with victims.
The Attorney Grievance Commission does not disclose complaints against an attorney until or unless the group authorizes a formal complaint, said deputy administrator Robert Edick.
In similar cases, the commission might examine any such complaint for a potential conflict of interest, general ethical rules governing a lawyer's honesty or fitness, and the prosecutorial obligation to share any exculpatory evidence with a defendant, Edick said.
The commission largely examines complaints in light of the rules governing lawyers, he said, "but any criminal charges that could result would also be a potential basis for licensing sanctions.”
Any potential charges that stem from the Michigan State Police investigation into Kolodziej would be referred to the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council for an independent prosecution, Nessel said.
Elliott’s lawyer Joseph Barberi has said he plans to meet with Nessel soon about Elliott's case and hopes to convince her that the only possible way forward is to dismiss the case against his client.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith also is reviewing the cases Kolodziej may have handled during his three-year tenure as an assistant prosecutor. Kolodziej served on the county’s Child Protection Unit and prosecuted sexual assault crimes involving minors.
He also worked as a general assignment assistant prosecutor in Genesee County from December 2013 through February 2015.
Ian Elliott could withdraw plea, lawyer to meet with AG
Morning Sun
September 13, 2019
https://www.themorningsun.com/news/copscourts/ian-elliott-could-withdraw-plea-lawyer-to-meet-with-ag/article_cfb54bb6-d620-11e9-979a-5793299903c1.html
Defense attorney Joe Barberi said he hasn't talked at length with Ian Elliott, but that one option the young man is considering is pulling his no-contest plea.
Meanwhile, Barberi has requested a transcript of an early April hearing that he plans to share with Attorney General Dana Nessel during a meeting scheduled for next week.
Barberi said Friday morning that he has had two brief conversations with Elliott since this week's revelation that Brian Kolodziej, the assistant attorney general who prosecuted him, had a romantic relationship with one of the two women who accused Elliott of rape.
It's not a lock that Elliott will withdraw his plea, but Barberi said that under court rules he has six months to do it. Elliott pleaded no-contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a deal that included one year and one day in prison and a lifetime of registering on the state's sex offender's registry.
The deal resolved two cases brought against Elliott by the state. One case, based on the accusations of Rachel Wilson, involved three charges: two of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one of assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct. That case involves Rachel Wilson, who although not officially named was the woman Kolodziej was romantically involved with.
The second case was for one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. It was based on accusations made by Landy Blackmore during Elliott's February preliminary exam. As part of Elliott's deal, that case was dismissed with a stipulation that it can't be reopened.
One thing firmly inked onto his calendar is a meeting next Wednesday with Nessel, Barberi said. When they meet, he plans to present her with the transcript of an April hearing at which Barberi said he raised questions about Kolodziej's conduct.
During that hearing, Barberi asked Isabella County Chief Judge Eric Janes to sanction Kolodziej for a February filing Barberi said was an intentional attempt to cast Elliott as a sexual predator who drugged women.
The filing in question said that Elliott and a friend had connived to spike a woman's drink. In reality, the two had a conversation about taking ecstasy but referring to it by its street name of Molly.
Kolodziej told Janes that after they realized that Elliott and his friend were talking about their own use of the drug rather than using it to make women more pliable to incapacitated sex, he attempted to correct the error. At first, he called the courthouse and attempted to get the filing corrected. Court staff told Kolodziej that would have been unethical and advised him that he need to file new documents. Janes ruled that it was wrong for Kolodziej to have attempted to correct the record, but accepted Kolodziej's explanation that it was an honest mistake.
Barberi said the filing was the basis for media reports casting Elliott as a sexual predator that turned out to be factually in error. He said that this poisoned Isabella County's jury pool and made it impossible for Elliott to get a fair trial. For that, he laid the blame at Kolodziej's feet.
Wednesday's meeting isn't the first contact between Barberi and Nessel's office. Nessel's Chief of Operations Christina Grossi discussed the matter with him earlier this week, Nessel's spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said in an email. So far, the AG's office has yet to assign a new assistant attorney general to the case.
Kolodziej is under criminal investigation by the Michigan State Police. At Tuesday's press conference, Nessel said that a Lansing unit of the state police is handling it, but declined to specify which one. He's also been referred for professional investigation.
Details are being withheld until the investigation remains open, but information about the affair may have originated from Isabella County. Josh Lator, commander of the Mt. Pleasant state police post, said Thursday that he became aware of the relationship and promptly passed it along.
Ian Elliott’s Attorney, Joseph Barberi Responds to Kolodziej’s Resignation
9 & 10 News
September 13, 2019
https://www.9and10news.com/2019/09/13/ian-elliotts-attorney-joseph-barberi-responds-to-kolodziejs-resignation/
“Obviously what Mr. Kolodziej did with this woman accuser was terribly wrong,” said Joseph Barberi, attorney for Ian Elliott.
Earlier this week, we told you about the relationship between former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej and a victim in the Ian Elliott rape case, Rachel Wilson.
Kolodziej resigned.
Friday, we talked to Elliott’s attorney, Barberi about the new revelations.
Barberi represented Elliott who was sentenced to up to 15 years for the rape of Rachel Wilson and Landrea Blackmore.
Now finding out about the relationship between Wilson and Kolodziej, Barberi scheduled a meeting with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel next week.
Barberi says even if he can get the plea withdrawn, Elliott will never have a chance at a fair trial.
He says he is going to make that case to Nessel.
“I’m hoping that she’s going to realize that he has impermissible engaged in activities that will forever deny my client due process and the right to a fair trial,” said Barberi.
They are set to meet next Wednesday to discuss the case.
Ex-prosecutor left a trail of red flags before 'inappropriate relationship’ with victim
Michigan Radio
Sep 13, 2019
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/ex-prosecutor-left-trail-red-flags-inappropriate-relationship-victim
More than a year before ex-Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej resigned for having an “inappropriate relationship” with a sexual assault victim in one of his cases, his previous employer, the Macomb County Prosecutor, moved him off the Child Protection and Sex Crimes unit.
That’s because there were serious concerns about Kolodziej being “flirtatious” with victims he represented, meeting with them alone, and repeatedly violating forensic interview protocol, according to Nicole Blank Becker, his former supervisor.
But apparently no one from Macomb County alerted the Michigan Attorney General’s office to those concerns when they hired Kolodziej for the prestigious job of prosecuting sex crimes at the state level, says former Attorney General Bill Schuette.
Now, the Michigan State Police are investigating Kolodziej for prosecutorial misconduct and criminal sexual conduct, after he had a relationship with Rachel Wilson, whose sexual assault case Kolodziej was prosecuting.
Speaking with Michigan Radio on Friday, Wilson said she wanted to put on the record “these exact words that I said to the detective: ‘Brian did not rape me. He did not rape me. But that does not mean that the Michigan State Police’s criminal investigation is not needed.’”
Asked if the relationship with Kolodziej was consensual, Wilson began crying. “I just don’t know how to answer that.”
Concerns about “really shady” behavior on sex crime cases
As head of the Child Protection and Sexual Crimes Unit at the Macomb County Prosecutor’s office, Nicole Blank Becker was Kolodziej’s supervisor in 2017. That’s around the time she became concerned, she says, about Kolodziej’s “really shady” handling of sexual assault cases.
“There was no proof of him sexually doing anything [with victims,] but there was flirtatious stuff that my victim advocates let me know about,” says Blank Becker. “He was not interviewing victims appropriately, based on forensic interviewing protocol. He was meeting with them alone.”
But that behavior wasn’t just inappropriate, she says - it could potentially threaten the credibility of their cases in court.
‘And what we learn in my unit, especially with children and other victims of this kind of crime, is there’s a special way you’re supposed to ask questions. You’re not supposed to be [asking] leading [questions.] You’re definitely not supposed to be reading an entire police report to them and saying, ‘Isn’t all this true?’ That’s clearly leading. Which is a problem.”
But Kolodziej didn’t handle that feedback well, Blank Becker recalls, describing his attitude as “my way is the best way.”
“He’d say things like, ‘Well, if you’re going to order me to do it that way, I guess I’ll have to do it.’ And he’d continue to do it his way.”
Eventually, Blank Becker says she brought her concerns to her boss, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith. Smith agreed to remove him from her unit, she says. Michigan Radio obtained documents showing that by February 2018, Kolodziej had been moved to a unit handling district court cases.
Asked why Kolodziej wasn’t fired, Blank Becker says, “I don’t have the authority to do that.”
Concerns about Kolodziej didn’t come up when he was hired by the AG
Yet despite the transfer, by September 2018, Kolodziej’s career was on the rise: he was hired to prosecute sex crimes for then-Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.
No one from Macomb County raised any red flags about Kholodziej during the hiring process, Schuette told Michigan Radio.
“If there was information that the Macomb County Prosecutor, or any other lawyer had that was not shared with the AG’s office, that’s a huge ethical flaw,” Schuette says. Among staffers, Kolodziej’s hire was a “unanimous decision,” Schuette recalls. “But if information wasn’t shared, that’s an ethical violation, if any lawyer knew of any situation that showed poor character or poor conduct.”
But Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith says no one from the AG’s office ever asked him for references.
“Two Assistant Prosecutor’s [sic] left my office around the same time for employment with the Attorney General’s Office,” Smith said in an emailed statement. “The first time I heard that they were leaving, was when they put in their notice, after they had already been hired. No one from Attorney General Schutte’s office contacted me or my office for additional information about the Assistant Prosecutors or to seek a reference.”
Smith says while his office is now reviewing all of Kolodziej’s cases, Kolodziej “worked in several different units” in his office, and the transfer out of the sex crimes unit wasn’t punitive.
“He was removed from the Child Protection Unit due to a conflict with the Chief of the Unit. He was NOT removed from the Unit as an act of discipline. The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office has never received a complaint about Mr. Kolodziej while he worked as an Assistant Prosecutor.”
But Nicole Blank Becker, former chief of the Child Protection and Sex Crimes Unit, disagrees.
“That is a complete lie. As chief of the unit, I was told to go through [Kolodziej’s] files. And talk to him about issues that came up with regards to how he was handling his files, including how he was handling victims.
“And when [Smith] says it wasn’t an act of discipline, that was the only reason he was removed. It was an act of discipline. I mean, to get taken out of my unit? And my unit was Eric’s highest, most adored unit? It was discipline.”
Blank Becker left the Macomb County Prosecutor’s office last year to go into private practice as a defense attorney. She specializes in sexual assault cases, and is a member of R. Kelly’s defense team.
Kolodziej assigned to prosecute high-profile campus rape case
Kolodziej first met Rachel Wilson, the victim with whom he would later have an “intimate relationship,” soon after he got the job with the AG’s office in September 2018. His first big case was prosecuting Wilson’s alleged rapist.
In 2016, Wilson accused former Central Michigan University student body president Ian Elliott of assaulting her. The case was initially bound over for trial, but then-Interim Isabella County Prosecutor Robert Holmes dismissed the case before it went to trial in the spring of 2018.
In October 2018, Wilson gave an emotional interview to the student newspaper, Central Michigan Life, recounting her rape and accusing Holmes of victim-blaming.
That same month, Kholodziej and the AG’s office intervened, reinstating three criminal charges against Elliott. “Reinstating these charges is about justice for survivors of sexual assault and making sure that those that hurt others know the consequences of their actions,” then-Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a press release at the time.
A second victim, Landrea Blackmore, also came forward against Elliot. This summer, he pleaded no contest to one felony count of Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Both Wilson and Blackmore made victim impact statements in court last month.
Then, on September 5th, the Michigan State Police notified Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel they were investigating Kolodziej for prosecutorial misconduct and criminal sexual conduct. Kholodziej resigned, and admitted to having a relationship with Wilson from April through August of this year.
At a press conference Tuesday, Nessel called the news “incredibly disturbing.”
“I have never before even heard of a situation like this,” she told the media. “I've never heard of a prosecutor involved in this kind of relationship with a victim in a case, much less on a sexual assault case.”
Asked if they were aware Kolodziej had previously been removed from the sex crimes unit in Macomb County, a spokeswoman for Nessel sent this statement:
“A former employee in the Macomb County Prosecutor’s office reached out to us with similar information following our news conference. We were not aware of it prior to that and, as you know, Mr. Kolodziej was hired by the prior administration. We are conducting our own internal investigation into Mr. Kolodziej’s hiring and tenure here. As part of that investigation, we will evaluate whether there should be any changes to our hiring and background check process.”
Victim hopes this won’t take away their “little piece of justice”
Blackmore, the second victim in the Elliott case, says she was “completely shocked” to hear Kolodziej had a relationship with Wilson.
“I never felt uncomfortable with Brian,” Blackmore says, adding he was always accommodating of her husband being present for meetings about the case, both in person and on Skype. “So I never felt that he had crossed any lines with me. And so that wasn’t really a concern [I had] for Rachel as well.”
But Blackmore says she can understand how those lines get blurred for victims.
“Because it is confusing when you’re telling someone all of your most personal trauma. It’s confusing… there was a closeness, a bond. Once you share those details, you do feel especially vulnerable. And I’m very, very disappointed Brian would cross that line knowing how vulnerable we were. I’m so upset about it. I don’t know if I have all the words yet. I’m extremely, extremely disappointed that he would prey [on Rachel] like that.”
What matters now, Blackmore says, is ensuring Elliott’s conviction isn’t overturned because of the alleged prosecutorial misconduct. He’s currently serving a one-year sentence.
“I truly hope there’s nothing’s found [to suggest Kolodziej’s behavior interfered with or prejudiced their case.] So that we can kind of keep the little piece of justice we got… We all agreed to a plea. We were prepared to go to trial. And while this does make the situation a little more complex, I am still ready to go to trial, because Ian Elliott is a rapist and he needs to be in jail.”
Elliott’s defense attorney, Joe Barberi, told Michigan Radio on Tuesday he’ll be meeting with Attorney General Dana Nessel soon to discuss setting aside his client’s conviction.
“I’m planning to present...what Brian Kolodziej did to taint and change witness testimony, such that my client could never get a fair trial,” Barberi said. “I’m hoping she’ll do the right thing, and she’ll decide what justice requires in this case. I hope she decides that steps need to be taken to eliminate his conviction.”
Blackmore says considering that possibility is deeply upsetting, both for her and Wilson.
“We are having a really hard time,” she says. “Like seriously, to have a sentence and to think we were done with this. I think it’s worse than any of the court stuff has been thus far.”
Victim: There’s more to story
Former CMU student defends ex-assistant AG as investigation into alleged improper conduct proceeds
Saginaw News
September 15, 2019
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
LANSING — A victim in a high-profile sexual assault case says there’s more to the accusations of an inappropriate relationship that led an assistant Michigan attorney general to resign.
Rachel Wilson identified herself to MLive.com as the woman who had a relationship with the ex-assistant attorney general. Wilson is one of the sexual assault victims who gave statements during the sentencing of a Central Michigan University student leader.
Wilson said there is more to the story of ex-Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej. The pair are reported to have had a relationship from April to August.
“There is more to this than what is being currently portrayed in the media,” Wilson said. “I ask that people hold off on drawing conclusions simply from seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
She declined to comment further.
Police are continuing to investigate Kolodziej, 41.
“We’re looking at the possibility of misconduct in office (and) the possibility of criminal sexual conduct,” said Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Tom DeClercq, commander of the First District Special Investigations Section, based in Lansing. “We don’t know where this will end up.”
DeClercq declined to say who initially contacted police to report the alleged misconduct.
Michigan State Police personnel on Sept. 5 informed Attorney General Dana Nessel they were investigating Kolodziej. Nessel placed Kolodziej on administrative leave. The next day, Kolodziej admitted to having an improper relationship with a victim in the Elliott case and resigned, Nessel has said.
Nessel said during a news conference Tuesday that employees in her office’s criminal division are to undergo immediate training.
“It never occurred to me that we would have to train prosecutors and tell someone who’s a licensed attorney and working as a prosecuting attorney, ‘Don’t engage in intimate relationships with your victims,’” Nessel said.
MLive was unable to reach Kolodziej for comment.
Before becoming a lawyer, Kolodziej worked as an actor and has a profile on the Internet Movie Database website.
According to his imdb.com biography, Kolodziej was born and raised in Clinton Township. He later worked as a head brewmaster at a Los Angeles brewpub before moving back to Michigan to pursue a law degree at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, graduating with his juris doctorate in 2012. He also has been a certified personal trainer, according to a feature on legalnews.com.
Kolodziej had internships at both the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. In 2013, he was working as a special assistant prosecutor for the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office. He then worked in the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office for about three and a half years before then-Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette hired him in September 2018. He handled sexual assault cases.
CMU sexual assault case
Wilson was a plaintiff in the case against Ian Elliott, 24, of Cheboygan, in June. Elliott pleaded no contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County Circuit Court in exchange for the dismissal of two more counts of the same charge and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration. Chief Judge Eric Janes on Aug. 2 sentenced Elliott to 366 days to 15 years in prison.
Elliott had been a Central Michigan University Student Government president when he was accused of sexually assaulting two students — Wilson and Landrea Blackmore. Elliott’s conviction stems from his assault on Wilson, which occurred after Blackmore’s, though Wilson came forward to authorities first.
Attorney Joseph Barberi, who represented Elliott, has said due process was not afforded to his client and he now is prevented from getting a fair trial.
A letter Barberi received from Nessel regarding Kolodziej’s resignation says his relationship with Wilson lasted from April through August of this year.
Nessel also has referred the matter to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, which is the investigative and prosecutorial arm of the state’s Supreme Court for accusations of attorney misconduct. She also has requested the Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council appoint another prosecutor’s office to assist police investigators.
Huron County case
Kolodziej also had recently been lead prosecutor in the ongoing case of Adam Mullin, a Michigan State Police trooper accused of having an affair with a fellow trooper and assaulting her while both were on duty in Huron County.
Mullin is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic violence, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office and assault, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury.
With Kolodziej’s resignation, Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark has been appointed to the Mullin case, attorney general spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney confirmed. Hagaman-Clark prosecuted William Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and boss of Larry Nassar.
A jury in June found Strampel guilty of misconduct in office and two counts of willful neglect of duty stemming from his conduct as dean from 2002 to 2018, as well as his failure to properly oversee Nassar.
Nessel said her office is examining all cases Kolodziej had been involved in to ensure “each and every defendant on any of those cases was provided due process under the law and that nothing that Mr. Kolodziej did in any way tainted the outcome of those cases.”
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith told The Macomb Daily on Wednesday that his staff likewise is conducting an investigation.
Nessel placed Kolodziej on administrative leave. The next day, Kolodziej admitted to having an improper relationship with a victim in the Elliott case and resigned, Nessel has said.
Nessel said during a news conference Tuesday that employees in her office’s criminal division are to undergo immediate training.
“It never occurred to me that we would have to train prosecutors and tell someone who’s a licensed attorney and working as a prosecuting attorney, ‘Don’t engage in intimate relationships with your victims,’” Nessel said.
MLive was unable to reach Kolodziej for comment.
Before becoming a lawyer, Kolodziej worked as an actor and has a profile on the Internet Movie Database website.
According to his imdb.com biography, Kolodziej was born and raised in Clinton Township. He later worked as a head brewmaster at a Los Angeles brewpub before moving back to Michigan to pursue a law degree at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, graduating with his juris doctorate in 2012. He also has been a certified personal trainer, according to a feature on legalnews.com.
Kolodziej had internships at both the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. In 2013, he was working as a special assistant prosecutor for the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office. He then worked in the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office for about three and a half years before then-Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette hired him in September 2018. He handled sexual assault cases.
Ethics Opinion Concerning The Release Of Investigation Reports
State Of Michigan Department Of Attorney General MEMORANDUM
RE: Former Michigan Assistant AG Brian Kolodziej
November 22, 2019
AG agrees to set aside plea in sexual assault case, because of prosecutor misconduct
Michigan Radio
NOV 25, 2019
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/ag-agrees-set-aside-plea-sexual-assault-case-because-prosecutor-misconduct
There's been a major shakeup in the case of a former Central Michigan University student who was convicted of sexual assault this summer.
On August 2nd, Ian Elliott pleaded "no contest" to assaulting fellow student Rachel Wilson, and was sentenced to one year in prison.
But the prosecutor in the case, Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej, resigned the next month for having an "inappropriate relationship" with Wilson, the victim.
On Monday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced she'll agree to set aside Elliott's plea, because of the prosecutor's misconduct. Nessel is not, however, dropping the original charges filed against Elliott.
Rachel Wilson says she’s already devoted three years of her life to this case, and while she doesn't want to have to go through a whole new trial, she feels an obligation to other victims who later accused Elliott.
"And at this point, this is not about me anymore. It is not just me and my fight," Wilson said.
Wilson's attorney, Kelly McClintock, says the AG's office has assured them they are still pursuing the case against Elliott, who is currently serving one year in prison.
But that sentence could be reduced now, with the possibility of him serving the remainder in county jail, says the Attorney General’s spokeswoman, Kelly Rossman-McKinney. That’ll depend on what motion the defense files, she says, while adding that the AG has no intention of "letting someone who has already pleaded no contest" to sexual assault get off scot-free.
Elliott’s attorney, Joe Barberi, said he’d discuss the options with his client at the St. Louis Correctional Facility on Monday afternoon.
“I need to get a resolution of this case so that Mr. Elliot...knows how this is going to come out rather than going back to the uncertainty of starting all over.”
Nessel also announced she’s dropping charges in another of Kolodziej’s cases, in which two Oakland County men were charged with sexually abusing a child under the age of 13. Michigan Radio attempted to contact Mr. Kolodziej, but he hung up on us and his attorney has not yet returned an interview request.
AG says she'd vacate Elliott plea; Barberi said he wants deal before filing motion
Morning Sun
November 25, 2019
https://www.themorningsun.com/news/ag-says-shed-vacate-elliott-plea-barberi-said-he-wants-deal-before-filing-motion/article_79e13c2c-0fbe-11ea-bf48-4f97e29fa42a.html
Michigan's attorney general announced Monday afternoon that, following an investigation into the conduct of the man who prosecuted Ian Elliott, that she would concur with a motion to set aside the plea.
Elliott's attorney Joe Barberi credits Dana Nessel for making her statement, but said that it's part of a process that he wants to see resolve the case entirely.
The two plan to talk next week, after he's had time to review her office's investigation. Barberi said that they are overnighting him their investigation and that he expects to have it Tuesday.
The most important thing is sparing his client further emotional toll, Barberi said. One of the most difficult things that someone in prison faces is coming out only to face the potential of going back in. He wants a deal in place to spare Elliott that.
"I don't think it's emotionally fair to Mr. Elliott," Barberi said. He also said that based on Kolodziej's handling of the case, including conducting what Barberi has described as Kolodziej's one-man police investigation, that Elliott couldn't get a fair trial under any circumstance. Barberi said the way Kolodziej conducted himself amounted to a form of witness tampering.
Nessel's announcement was based on an internal investigation into the conduct of Brian Kolodziej, who prosecuted Elliott on behalf of the state in the Rachel Wilson rape case. Kolodziej resigned from his post with the attorney general in September, which pre-empted him getting fired, after it was revealed that he'd had an intimate relationship with Wilson. The relationship lasted for much of the time Kolodziej prosecuted the case and ended in late August.
“While we are not in a position to share our findings, we have taken swift, decisive action and we will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they move forward,” Nessel said in a press release. “In the end, today does not reflect the truthfulness of the victims in these cases but rather the consequence of a prosecutor who failed in his sacred duty to properly administer justice in our legal system."
Michigan State Police continue to pursue a criminal investigation against Kolodziej. Barberi said he was told that the 6th District of the Michigan State Police is handling the investigation and that the office of Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker will handle any prosecution.
Elliott pleaded no contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in July in a case that wound its way through the Isabella County courthouse twice, one on charges brought by the county prosecutor and second by the state attorney general. He is currently approximately four months into a one-year sentence that he is serving in the St. Louis Correctional Facility.
He was accused of raping Wilson after the two met at The Cabin Aug. 31, 2016. Elliott, from Cheboygen, was CMU's Student Government Association president at the time and Wilson was also a CMU student.
The two went to Elliott's house after the bar, and Wilson began to vomit. After she recovered, she said he raped her.
The case brought by the county prosecutor was dropped last May as it headed to trial. Wilson took her story to CM Life, CMU's student newspaper, which ran a story detailing the victim's account in early October.
Less than a month later, then-Attorney General Bill Schuette announced he was refiling charges and Kolodziej was tasked to handle the case.
While case involving Wilson is again in play, a second case brought by the attorney general on behalf of complainant Landy Blackmore was dismissed as part of the July plea deal.
Following Kolodziej's resignation as assistant attorney general, allegations of misconduct during his time as a sex crimes prosecutor with the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office surfaced.
A message seeking comment was left for Wilson.
Nessel dismisses Oakland County sex assault case after assistant AG probe
The Detroit News
Nov. 25, 2019
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/11/25/nessel-internal-investigations-assistant-ag-brian-kolodziej/4300092002/
Attorney General Dana Nessel will dismiss charges in an Oakland County sexual assault case and cooperate in an effort to set aside a plea in an Isabella County case following an internal investigation of former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej.
The decisions came following the September resignation of Kolodziej amid allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship while lead prosecutor with one of the victims in the Isabella County case.
Following Kolodziej’s resignation, the Michigan State Police began investigating Kolodziej to determine potential charges of misconduct in office and criminal sexual conduct.
Nessel’s office also undertook an independent internal investigation that included interviews with 26 people, her office said. She is not yet releasing the report because of the ongoing law enforcement investigation and has forwarded her department's findings to the state police.
“In the end, today does not reflect the truthfulness of the victims in these cases but rather the consequence of a prosecutor who failed in his sacred duty to properly administer justice in our legal system,” Nessel said in a statement.
A message seeking comment from Kolodziej's attorney was not immediately returned.
The internal investigation led the attorney general Monday to agree to concur with a defense motion to set aside the no contest plea of Ian Elliott, who pleaded this summer to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County and is serving a year in prison.
Nessel's concurrence with the decision is not the same as a dismissal of charges, and his case will continue to proceed forward.
Elliott's lawyer Joe Barberi said he was pleased with Nessel's decision and called it "the right thing." He hopes to reach an agreement with Nessel's office regarding the future of the case.
"In my opinion, I can never ever get a fair trial based on what he’s done to witnesses," Barberi said. "I'm hoping to reach an agreement about how we can resolve this without having to go back … and have another trial.”
Nessel also filed Monday a motion to dismiss charges against Larry Orr and his stepson Sean MacMaster, who were charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13 years old. The charges were dismissed without prejudice.
The internal investigation found allegations regarding Kolodziej’s conduct in the Orr and MacMaster case that were “tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards,” Nessel said.
“I hope that my actions here today are not viewed as a failure of our criminal justice system but — instead — a reflection of my commitment to the fundamental principles upon which it is based,” Nessel said in a statement.
Orr and MacMaster, a Jacksonville, Florida, police officer, were charged earlier this year and have a hearing date Dec. 4, when the judge is expected to consider the motion to dismiss, MacMaster's lawyer Alona Sharon said.
"We feel it is the appropriate decision and we're just grateful that that's the decision that Attorney General Nessel came to," Sharon said.
Nessel's decision shows she "is clearly upholding her duty under the law to seek justice," said Shannon Smith, Orr's attorney.
"Like the rest of the public, we are anxious to see the investigative report once it is issued," Smith said.
Michigan AG moves to dismiss sexual assault cases after investigating prosecutor
Detroit Free Press
Nov. 25, 2019
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/25/nessel-larry-orr-oxford/4300124002/
Sexual assault charges against an Oxford man and his stepson were tentatively dismissed Monday in the continuing fallout from a former assistant attorney general's mishandling of cases.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said she filed a motion in Oakland County's district court in Rochester Hill to dismiss the charges against Larry Orr and his stepson Sean MacMaster, who now lives in Florida. They were charged in Oakland County with two counts each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under the age of 13.
The dismissal motions were the culmination of a two-month investigation done by the Attorney General's Office after it was revealed that former assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej had an inappropriate and intimate relationship with the victim of a sexual assault case that he was prosecuting in Isabella County.
The AG's office investigated all of the cases handled by Kolodziej, a 41-year-old Clinton Township resident who resigned after the relationship came to light. The cases against Orr and MacMaster were the two that rose to the level of further investigation and have been turned over to the Michigan State Police to see whether criminal charges can be brought against Kolodziej.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office had investigated the cases against Orr and MacMaster in 2015 and submitted its findings to the prosecutor's office, which ended up not charging the two men because it couldn't establish that the crime had occurred, said Undersheriff Mike McCabe. The Attorney General's Office, with Kolodziej as the lead prosecutor, took up the case earlier this year.
In a Sept. 13 letter to Nessel, McCabe wrote, "The defendants were thoroughly investigated on the same allegations in 2015 by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, the Oakland County Proseuctor's Office, Child Protective Services and the FBI. After careful review, it was determined by all four agencies that the case lacked evidence and probably cause to justify actions by CPS or an arrest warrant for either Mr. Orr or Mr. McMaster."
Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said Nessel wouldn't provide more specifics about the motion for dismissal because the internal investigation has been forwarded to the Michigan State Police and the Attorney Grievance Commission, and the office doesn't want to jeopardize any criminal charges that might be recommended by them.
In addition to dropping the charges, Nessel also offered to set aside the plea deal of Ian Elliott, a Central Michigan University student who had pleaded no contest to a charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was serving a sentence of 366 days at the St. Louis Correctional Facility in mid-Michigan.
The sexual assault case involved Elliott and two women during the summer of 2016. Kolodziej was allegedly involved in an intimate relationship with one of the women in the case.
He resigned following the discovery of the relationship. Immediately after Kolodziej’s resignation, the attorney general called for an internal investigation to review all of his criminal cases within the department.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to address the issues caused by Mr. Kolodziej’s employment as an assistant attorney general,” Nessel said. “We will submit all of our internal interviews to the Michigan State Police as well as the Attorney Grievance Commission so they may independently determine appropriate actions."
Nessel said the actions shouldn't be interpreted as the office not believing the victims in the case. The dismissals were made "without prejudice," which means that the charges can be reinstated if further investigation warrants such action.
“In the end, today does not reflect the truthfulness of the victims in these cases but rather the consequence of a prosecutor who failed in his sacred duty to properly administer justice in our legal system.
“As a strong advocate of transparency, I had every intention to release the conclusions of our internal investigation,” said Nessel. “But after receiving an opinion from our Ethics Officer related to a release of the report and after several discussions with the law enforcement agencies pursuing a criminal investigation into Mr. Kolodziej’s actions at our request, I ultimately but regretfully came to the conclusion that we simply cannot release this information at this time.”
Nessel said the investigation took nearly two months to complete and included interviews with 26 individuals.
Kolodziej was hired in September 2018 under former Attorney General Bill Schuette, The 41-year-old Clinton Township native was an actor before becoming a lawyer, appearing in minor television and movie roles, including “Creep Van,” “Flight of the Living Dead,” “The Girl Next Door” and “Malibu Spring Break.”
According to a 2013 profile of Kolodziej in the Legal News, he was a special assistant attorney general in Genesee County as well as an assistant prosecutor in Macomb County before he joined the state Attorney General's Office last year.
Nessel completes investigation of former sex-crimes prosecutor from Macomb County
Macomb Daily
Nov 25, 2019
https://www.macombdaily.com/news/copscourts/nessel-completes-investigation-of-former-sex-crimes-prosecutor-from-macomb-county/article_c9707d8c-0fca-11ea-9e71-33ecdf170c0c.html
An investigation into a former assistant attorney general’s behavior in sex-crime cases has resulted in a request to dismiss charges against two defendants in Oakland County and an agreement to set aside a plea in an Isabella County case.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the actions in a news release Monday following a nearly two-month investigation into former assistant attorney general Brian Kolodziej, a former assistant prosecutor in Macomb County and a Clinton Township resident.
The investigation followed the discovery of Kolodziej’s inappropriate relationship with a victim in a criminal sexual assault case in Isabella County while he served as the lead prosecutor on the file. Kolodziej resigned, and Nessel called for an internal investigation to review all of his criminal cases within the department.
“I am compelled to dismiss the charges in this case following the information we received regarding Mr. Kolodziej’s prosecutorial conduct, which are tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards,” Nessel said.
Nessel filed a motion Monday to dismiss charges without prejudice against Larry Orr and his stepson Sean MacMaster in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills. MacMaster and Orr were each charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13.
In another case, Nessel informed the defense counsel for Ian Elliott -- who pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County -- that his client can withdrew his plea and force the case to go to trial due to Kolodziej’s involvement in that case.
Nessel said she cannot release the results of the investigation, which included interviews of 26 people.
“As a strong advocate of transparency, I had every intention to release the conclusions of our internal investigation,” Nessel said. “But after receiving an opinion from our Ethics Officer related to a release of the report and after several discussions with the law enforcement agencies pursuing a criminal investigation into Mr. Kolodziej’s actions – at our request, I ultimately but regretfully came to the conclusion that we simply cannot release this information at this time.”
Nessel said the results will be forwarded the Michigan State Police for potential criminal charges as well as the Attorney Grievance Commission for possible ramifications on Kolodziej's law license.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to address the issues caused by Mr. Kolodziej’s employment as an assistant attorney general,” Nessel said. “While we are not in a position to share our findings, we have taken swift, decisive action and we will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they move forward.”
Macomb Prosecutor Eric Smith indicated that his office would review Kolodziej’s cases while he served in the sex crimes unit, formally called the Child Protection Unit.
A prosecutor’s office spokesman could not be reached for comment Monday.
Kolodziej, 41, who grew in Clinton Township, worked in Macomb County from March 2015 to September 2018, when he was hired by former Attorney General Bill Schuette. In Macomb, he prosecuted sex crimes and other types of cases. Before arriving in Macomb, he worked as a special assistant attorney general assigned to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office as part of a crackdown on crime along the Interstate 75 corridor.
Before he was a lawyer, Kolodziej lived in California and was a TV and movie actor.
In the Oakland case, Orr of Oxford and MacMaster of Jacksonville, Fla., in September were accused of assault on the alleged child victim between 2011 and 2016.
Dismissal without prejudice means the charge could be brought again but would not come from the Attorney General's Office, said Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office initially decided against filing charges in the case, Rossman-McKinney said. The case then went to the Attorney General's office sex crimes unit and Kolodziej.
Meanwhile, Elliott on Aug. 2 was sentenced to a minimum one year and one day to 15 years in prison. His prior no-contest plea resolved two cases against Elliott by the state. One case was based on the accusations of Rachel Wilson, with whom Kolodziej was later romantically linked, for which Elliott was charged with two of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one of assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct. The second case included one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct based on accusations by another individual.
Woman who had relationship with prosecutor in her rape case wants you to know it's complicated
Michigan Radio
Nov 26, 2019
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/woman-who-had-relationship-prosecutor-her-rape-case-wants-you-know-its-complicated
One night in mid-August, Rachel Wilson decided she needed to make a secret phone recording.
Because things had gotten really bad.
“I want to help you!” Wilson can be heard yelling on the tape. “But then you send me a text like that, that’s like, ‘Come shoot me!’ And I know that you have a gun! Do you know what that does to someone when they see that on their phone?"
"No, I said it was out in my bag, and the gun is in the car, I made it explicitly clear,” a man is heard saying. Wilson says it’s Brian Kolodziej, who was an assistant attorney general for the state at the time, and had just won a conviction in the prosecution of Wilson’s rapist.
“Yeah but you’ve done it to me before, where you’ve said you had it in your hand, loaded,” Wilson says on the tape.
“Yeah, but we’re talking about tonight, we’re not talking about before. Other people are allowed to be depressed, Rachel,” the man says. “I’m the one who wants to die,” he later adds.
A years-long battle for a conviction, now at risk
Wilson has spent the last three years of her life trying to get justice, she says, after she was sexually assaulted by a fellow Central Michigan University student in 2016. Finally, this summer, that former student was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading “no contest” to sexual misconduct.
But now, it’s all unraveling. Because Kolodziej, 41, had an “inappropriate relationship” with Wilson, age 24, which led to Kolodziej’s resignation and an internal investigation. (Kolodziej declined to comment for this story, through his attorney.) As a result, the attorney general is now agreeing to set aside the former CMU student’s plea, potentially allowing him to get out of prison.
Wilson’s seen the headlines about her case, and her relationship with Kolodziej. She knows what it looks like, she says. “I’d be the ‘girl who put that poor boy in prison falsely and was screwing the prosecutor the whole time,’ Wilson once told Kolodziej in a text message, when they were discussing what might happen if their relationship became public.
But Wilson says that's not at all what happened. And she wants you to know, it’s more complicated than you might think.
A charismatic, empathetic prosecutor
Brian Kolodziej wasn’t just any state prosecutor. In his world, he was a big deal: a sexual assault prosecutor in a special, federal grant-funded role designed to tackle cold cases, he took over the job for Angela Povilaitis, the attorney who prosecuted Larry Nassar.
Frankly, he was a long-shot candidate. He didn’t have a ton of experience: previously, Kolodziej had been an assistant prosecutor in Macomb and Genesee counties, and before that, he’d been an actor. But he nailed the interview with the AG’s office and convinced the team he could gain trust from reluctant victims and local prosecutors.
(Unbeknownst to the AG’s office, which was then run by Bill Schuette, Kolodziej’s previous supervisor in Macomb County wanted him removed from the sex crimes unit for “really shady” and “flirtatious” behavior with victims.)
One of Kolodziej’s first cases for the AG’s office was Rachel Wilson’s, in the fall of 2018. “The first day I met him, I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, no one has listened to what I have to say,’ Wilson says. “‘No one has fought for what is right, and this person in front of me wants to do this.’”
A second chance at a 2016 rape case
Wilson never expected the state to be interested in her case.
In 2016, Wilson went out to a bar with some friends at Central Michigan University, where she started chatting with the former student body president, Ian Elliott. Later that night, Elliott raped her, Wilson says. She reported it and underwent a rape kit examination, and after a preliminary exam, a judge said there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial. But, in a controversial move, the then-interim county prosecutor dropped the case.
The student newspaper wrote a story about Wilson’s case, and that article found its way to Brian Kolodziej’s desk at the Michigan Attorney General’s office. To Wilson, this was a second chance to put Elliott behind bars. She told Kolodziej everything he said he needed to know, anything that Elliott’s defense might try to use against her in court: family drama, mental health history, previous romantic relationships.
Kolodziej was easy to talk to, friendly and open, Wilson says. And he was extremely dedicated to the case: His team identified other women who had problematic relationships with Ian Elliott, and who were willing to testify in Wilson’s case.
By the spring, Wilson says, she and Kolodziej were talking all the time on the phone about the case, and then, how his day was going, his friends...and eventually, the feelings they had developed for each other.
“I really did feel those feelings for him,” Wilson says. “Um, but then very quickly after, his behavior just was like odd and almost like possessive." Kolodziej needed to be on the phone with her all the time, she says. He told her how lonely he was now that she was living out of state, and grew suspicious when she’d have a coffee meeting with a male coworker.
Wilson says within a couple weeks of admitting they had feelings for each other, she told Kolodziej she needed some space.That's when his texts became more alarming, she says. He’d talk about how she didn’t appreciate him, what he’d done for her, and that he was suicidal.
“I can't even express to you how scary it is, to not only be getting like suicide threats from this person that's sending me the message that like, anything I do could be the nail in his coffin,” Wilson says. “Anything I say that upsets him could just be the one thing that pushes him over. But just as scary was receiving those texts, where it's like, I saw it in a flash of a moment: everything that I had fought for, everything, every fight that I had to overcome over three years, all of it was in his hands. And he was unstable.”
A text, a gun, and a turning point
By this point, other people in the case had raised concerns about Kolodziej. Ian Elliott’s defense attorney, Joseph Barberi, complained that Kolodziej was withholding information, and interviewing witnesses himself, rather than having them go through police. One of Kolodziej’s team members, Special Agent Karen Fairley, complained that Kolodziej was trying to “take over the case” and “do her job for her,” according to Landrea Blackmore, one of the witnesses who said she was also assaulted by Elliott.
But eventually, by the summer, Ian Elliott agreed to a deal: he would plead “no contest” to third-degree sexual misconduct. He was sentenced to one year in prison, and both Wilson and Blackmore were able to give victim impact statements in court. It was a surreal victory, Wilson says.
But outside the courtroom, things were getting worse. One night, after a fight on the phone, Wilson says she was alone in her apartment, running a bath, when she turned around and saw a man below her on the stairs. She screamed, and then realized, it was Kolodziej. He’d let himself into her apartment with his key, without telling her he was coming over. Wilson says he “charged” up the stairs towards her, and slammed the bathroom door against the wall with such force that the doorknob left a dent in the wall.
Kolodziej yelled at her, she says, before taking her key off his keychain and throwing it on the floor. After he left, he sent her a series of text messages, which she took screen shots of and provided to Michigan Radio.
“I’m leaving my door unlocked. I’m taking an ambien. My keys are on desk. Please get gun out of center console and shoot me in my sleep. No joke...the jury will see I wanted this. I don’t want to be treated like shit anymore. I’ve given you my all. I’m sorry it’s never enough. I try to give everything my all. Goodnight. Please follow all above instructions.”
“Why are you talking like this?” Wilson texted in response. “You know I could never do this to u.”
Scared, Wilson considered calling the police, she says, but worried her name would be on the report. So she went to Kolodziej’s place, she says, hoping to remove the gun from his car so he couldn’t hurt himself. They argued again, and at one point Kolodziej went into the kitchen and removed a knife, throwing it down in front of her. “Keep stabbing me with your knives,” he said, according to Wilson.
(We need to say here that in reporting this story, there was one conversation with Wilson that raised concerns about her immediate safety, as well as Kolodziej’s. So we asked Wilson to alert her attorney and the attorney general’s office about these threats.)
An uncertain future
Eventually, Wilson says, she became concerned enough that she did contact a counselor, who reported it to the police, who in turn contacted the Attorney General’s office in September. Kolodziej resigned, and the AG’s office opened an internal investigation to review all of his cases, including Wilson’s.
On Monday, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced it was dropping child sexual abuse charges against two men in one of Kolodziej’s cases, and would agree to let Ian Elliott’s plea be set aside in Wilson’s case. But the AG’s office stressed it is not dropping the original sexual assault charges against Elliott.
Elliott’s defense attorney, Joseph Barberi, says the case still needs some kind of final resolution. “So that Mr. Elliott, who is 24-year-old college student, [and] when all of this stuff happened, he was 21, that he knows how this is going to come out, rather than going back to the uncertainty of starting all over.”
One possibility, AG spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney says, is for Elliott to serve a reduced sentence, and possibly be transferred to a county jail (his sentence started August 2nd).
Rachel Wilson says while she’s devastated this is how everything has turned out, she just doesn’t know if she can handle going through yet another trial, all over again. But if she needs to, she will, she says. “I also need to move on with my life,” she says. “I deserve that much.”
If you or a loved one have experienced domestic or sexual abuse, get help by calling the National Domestic Hotline or the National Sexual Assault Hotline. Both programs are free and confidential.
AG Nessel: Prosecutor Spoiled Cases With Misconduct
CBS News - Detroit
November 26, 2019
https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2019/11/26/ag-nessel-prosecutor-spoiled-cases-with-misconduct/
DETROIT (AP) — Attorney General Dana Nessel dropped charges Monday against two men in suburban Detroit and said a former Central Michigan University student should be allowed to withdraw from a plea bargain after an investigation found misconduct by a prosecutor who handled sexual assault cases.
“Today does not reflect the truthfulness of the victims in these cases but rather the consequence of a prosecutor who failed in his sacred duty to properly administer justice in our legal system,” Nessel said in a written statement.
Brian Kolodziej resigned in September as an assistant attorney general after state police learned he had an intimate relationship with a woman who had accused Ian Elliott of assault. Elliott, a former student government president at CMU, has served about four months of a one-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Nessel said she’ll concur in a request by Elliott to withdraw his plea in Isabella County, although it won’t automatically end the case. Defense attorney Joe Barberi said he hopes he can reach a new agreement with the attorney general’s office.
“This is good news, but much work still needs to be done,” said Barberi, who had repeatedly clashed with Kolodziej and accused him of being unethical and overly zealous while prosecuting Elliott.
Separately, Nessel said she’s dropping charges in another Kolodziej case. Two men in Oakland County were charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under 13.
Nessel said she wanted to release details of the investigation, but her ethics officer advised against it “at this time.” The information is being shared with state police and the Attorney Grievance Commission.
“A prosecutor has the solemn responsibility to vindicate the rights of the victim while ensuring that those accused of a crime are given a fair trial,” Nessel said. “These two things are inextricably intertwined and sacrificing the latter to advance the interests of the former in the end defeats both.”
A message seeking comment was left with Kolodziej’s lawyer. Kolodziej, a former TV and film actor, joined the attorney general’s office in 2018, before Nessel became attorney general.
Elliott, now 25, insists he had consensual sex with a woman after meeting her at a Mount Pleasant bar in 2016. Barberi said Elliott pleaded no contest due to mounting legal bills and adverse pretrial rulings about evidence.
Barberi said the attorney general’s office decided to pursue Elliott after local prosecutors dropped charges.
Judge dismisses Oakland County sex assault case in wake of assistant AG probe
The Detroit News
Dec. 4, 2019
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2019/12/04/oakland-county-sex-case-assistant-attorney-general-probe/2607796001/
Rochester Hills — A district judge formally dismissed sex assault charges Wednesday against a Florida police officer and his stepfather following an internal investigation of former state assistant attorney general Brian Kolodziej.
Sean MacMaster, a Jacksonville, Florida, police officer and his stepfather, Larry Orr, of Oxford, were both jailed for more than five months this year on allegations they both assaulted a 13-year-old relative. The offenses are felonies that can carry 25 years to life in prison.
“I’m thankful for my family, friends and co-workers who supported me through this,” MacMaster, 46, said outside 52-3 District Court. “Being a police officer, having been incarcerated for five-and-a-half months was very difficult for me, my wife and family.”
MacMaster also thanked State Attorney General Dana Nessel for conducting an investigation into the charges, leading to Wednesday’s dismissal.
Orr, 71, declined comment. Both were accompanied to court by more than a dozen family and friends, many hugging them outside the courtroom.
Assistant attorney general Robyn Liddell, who appeared before Rochester Hills District Judge Nancy T. Carniak on Wednesday, declined comment after the brief hearing.
Nessel announced last month that an internal investigation found allegations regarding Kolodziej’s conduct in case against the two men was “tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards.”
Kolodziej resigned in September amid allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship while lead prosecutor with one of the victims in a criminal sexual conduct case in Isabella County.
Afterward, the Michigan State Police began investigating Kolodziej to determine potential charges of misconduct in office and criminal sexual conduct.
The Attorney General's Office filed the charges against Orr and MacMaster after the allegations were investigated by Oakland County authorities but could not be substantiated. The child's mother — who has been involved in a custody battle with the father — then sought to have outside police agencies investigate.
Nessel's decision shows she "is clearly upholding her duty under the law to seek justice," Shannon Smith, Orr's attorney, said last month.
"Like the rest of the public, we are anxious to see the investigative report once it is issued," Smith said. “Hopefully the actions of those that brought the charges will be investigated … (the child) was coached, pressured and encouraged (in making the false statements).”
Nessel: Ex-chief of staff, other employees knew of former assistant AG's misconduct
The Detroit News
Jan. 8, 2020
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/01/08/michigan-attorney-general-nessel-former-chief-staff-employees-knew-misconduct-kolodziej/2831878001/
Lansing — Several employees — including a former chief of staff — knew or should have known about policy violations by a former assistant attorney general alleged to have been in a relationship with a sexual assault victim in a case he was prosecuting, according to an internal investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The probe into former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej so far has led to the firing of a special agent alleged to have given “untruthful testimony” in a criminal case and the demotion of a division chief who failed to comply with office procedure, according to information released in response to a Detroit News public records request.
It also resulted in the dismissal of a sexual misconduct case in Oakland County and the reversal of a plea in an Isabella County sexual misconduct case, according to Nessel's department.
Another finding was that former Chief of Staff Laura Moody didn’t comply with proper office procedure, failed to appropriately supervise and failed to appropriately report to the attorney general, according to an investigative summary.
Because Michigan State Police continue to investigate Kolodziej's behavior, Nessel declined to release the full report from her department's internal investigation. She provided “a general description” about actions taken within the department in response to the Freedom of Information Act request.
Department employees are held "to the highest standards of conduct" and should they fall short of them, "I have — and will — take swift and decisive action," Nessel said in a statement.
"While I was deeply troubled and disappointed by former AAG Kolodziej’s behavior and the results of our internal investigation, it has been a catalyst for sweeping and long overdue reform," she said. "I cannot change what Mr. Kolodziej has done, but I can make sure that we make the necessary changes to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
Kolodziej resigned in September amid allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship while lead prosecutor with one of the victims in the Isabella County case. Kolodziej’s alleged actions are being investigated by Michigan State Police, who did not immediately provide comment on the status of its investigation.
Kolodziej’s lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.
After Kolodziej's behavior came to light last year, the criminal division staff went through "significant restructuring" that included additional mechanisms and policies to increase oversight of staff and cases, according to Nessel's department.
"All criminal staff attorneys and investigators were immediately required to attend mandatory ethics training," the investigative summary said. "Further, the investigatory staff is in the process of being moved into a separate division with a newly established chain-of-command and additional oversight."
In November, Nessel agreed to cooperate in a motion to set aside a plea in the Isabella County case involving Ian Elliott, who pleaded no contest last summer to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County and was serving a year in prison.
The first-term attorney general also moved to dismiss charges against Larry Orr and his stepson Sean MacMaster, who were charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Oakland County. At the time, Nessel said Kolodziej’s actions in the case were “tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards.”
The internal investigation led to the firing of former Special Agent Lauren Schipani because of “untruthful testimony” she gave in the MacMaster case, according to Nessel’s office.
Schipani declined comment when contacted Tuesday.
She has filed a grievance, arguing that her termination was "arbitrary and capricious" and without "just cause," according to a copy obtained by The News. The attorney general's department is expected this month to enter arbitration with Schipani.
MacMaster's defense attorney Alona Sharon said she was informed by the attorney general’s department that Schipani, during a hearing in the MacMaster case, exaggerated her previous experience investigating sexual assault cases. The information came after Kolodziej had resigned, but while her client still waited in jail.
“Once everything came to light, (Nessel) and her core team worked as fast as they could to investigate and make things right,” Sharon said. “Unfortunately, that still led to two men being incarcerated for an exceedingly long time.”
Besides Schipani’s firing, John Pallas volunteered to be demoted to first assistant attorney general after the report found he failed to comply with standard office procedure and protocol.
Pallas, the former criminal justice bureau chief and criminal appellate division chief, did not return an email seeking comment.
Moody — who resigned July 22 and now works for the office of Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, a former Michigan chief deputy attorney general — also did not return a call and email left at her new place of work. She had served under four attorneys general and was Republican former Attorney General Bill Schuette’s chief legal counsel.
Because she resigned about two months prior to the investigation, Moody's "conduct was not reviewed for possible disciplinary action," the department's public records response said.
"...several other employees knew about some aspects of Mr. Kolodziej’s deviation from standard office policy,protocol or procedures," Nessel's department said. "However, because those employees notified supervisory staff — including, in some instances, the former chief of staff — formal disciplinary action was not taken against them."
Moody’s husband, Michael Moody, is division chief for the special litigation division in the Department of Attorney General and handles most utility cases. He is “invaluable” to the department, Nessel’s spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said.
Probe: Former assistant AG's misconduct known to staffers
Missteps cited in case of official accused of improper relationship
Detroit News
January 9, 2020
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
Lansing – Several employees – including a former chief of staff – knew or should have known about policy violations by a former assistant attorney general alleged to have been in a relationship with a sexual assault victim in a case he was prosecuting, according to an internal investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The probe into former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej has led to the firing of a special agent alleged to have given "untruthful testimony" in a criminal case and the demotion of a division chief who failed to comply with office procedure, according to information released in response to a Detroit News public records request.
It also resulted in the dismissal of a sexual misconduct case in Oakland County and the reversal of a plea in an Isabella County sexual misconduct case, according to Nessel's department.
Another finding was that former Chief of Staff Laura Moody didn't comply with proper office procedure, failed to appropriately supervise and failed to appropriately report to the attorney general, according to an investigative summary.
Because Michigan State Police continue to investigate Kolodziej's behavior, Nessel declined to release the full report from her department's internal investigation. She provided "a general description" about actions taken within the department in response to the Freedom of Information Act request.
Department employees are held "to the highest standards of conduct" and should they fall short of them, "I have – and will – take swift and decisive action," Nessel said in a statement.
"While I was deeply troubled and disappointed by former AAG Kolodziej's behavior and the results of our internal investigation, it has been a catalyst for sweeping and long overdue reform," she said. "I cannot change what Mr. Kolodziej has done, but I can make sure that we make the necessary changes to prevent it from happening again in the future."
Kolodziej resigned in September amid allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship while lead prosecutor with one of the victims in the Isabella County case. Kolodziej's alleged actions are being investigated by Michigan State Police, who did not immediately provide comment on the status of its investigation.
Kolodziej's lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.
After Kolodziej's behavior came to light last year, the criminal division staff went through "significant restructuring" that included additional mechanisms and policies to increase oversight of staff and cases, according to Nessel's department.
"All criminal staff attorneys and investigators were immediately required to attend mandatory ethics training," the investigative summary said. "Further, the investigatory staff is in the process of being moved into a separate division with a newly established chain-of-command and additional oversight."
In November, Nessel agreed to cooperate in a motion to set aside a plea in the Isabella County case involving Ian Elliott, who pleaded no contest last summer to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Isabella County and was serving a year in prison.
The first-term attorney general also moved to dismiss charges against Larry Orr and his stepson Sean MacMaster, who were charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Oakland County. At the time, Nessel said Kolodziej's actions in the case were "tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards."
The internal investigation led to the firing of former Special Agent Lauren Schipani because of "untruthful testimony" she gave in the MacMaster case, according to Nessel's office.
Schipani declined comment when contacted Tuesday.
She has filed a grievance, arguing that her termination was "arbitrary and capricious" and without "just cause," according to a copy obtained by The News. The attorney general's department is expected this month to enter arbitration with Schipani.
MacMaster's attorney, Alona Sharon, said she was informed by the attorney general's department that Schipani, during a hearing in the MacMaster case, exaggerated her experience investigating sexual assault cases. The information came after Kolodziej had resigned, but while her client still waited in jail.
"Once everything came to light, (Nessel) and her core team worked as fast as they could to investigate and make things right," Sharon said. "Unfortunately, that still led to two men being incarcerated for an exceedingly long time."
Besides Schipani's firing, John Pallas volunteered to be demoted to first assistant attorney general after the report found he failed to comply with standard office procedure and protocol.
Pallas, the former criminal justice bureau chief and criminal appellate division chief, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Moody – who resigned July 22 and now works for the office of Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider – also did not return a call and email left at her new place of work. She had served under four attorneys general and was Republican former Attorney General Bill Schuette's chief legal counsel.
Because she resigned about two months prior to the investigation, Moody's "conduct was not reviewed for possible disciplinary action," the department's public records response said.
"... several other employees knew about some aspects of Mr. Kolodziej's deviation from standard office policy, protocol or procedures," Nessel's department said. "However, because those employees notified supervisory staff – including, in some instances, the former chief of staff – formal disciplinary action was not taken against them."
Moody's husband, Michael Moody, is division chief for the special litigation division in the Department of Attorney General and handles most utility cases.
Elliott to enter into a new plea agreement Friday
Mornging Sun
Jan 14, 2020
https://www.themorningsun.com/news/elliott-to-enter-into-a-new-plea-agreement-friday/article_40621a76-3704-11ea-a5a6-7b71023d1b08.html
Ian Elliott, accused of raping two women by a state prosecutor who was sleeping with one of the complainants while handling the case, will enter into a new plea with the state Friday.
He is currently serving a one-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in July. He was sentenced to one year in prison based on that agreement in August.
The new plea deal with reduce the charge to the misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, Joe Barberi, his defense attorney, said Tuesday evening. The two sides reached their agreement Jan. 6 and Elliott will face sentencing in February, Barberi said. He declined further comment.
Less than a month later, the man who handled the case on behalf of the office of the Michigan Attorney General, Brian Kolodziej, resigned his post after it was revealed that he was intimately involved with Rachel Wilson, one of his complaining witnesses.
At the time, Attorney General Dana Nessel said that had he not resigned she would have fired him.
Joe Barberi, Elliott's defense attorney, had met with Nessel on at least two occasions about the case last year, but nothing came of it. Last Friday, Barberi filed paperwork to withdraw Elliott from the plea deal, Melissa Frick, a reporter with CM Life, reported Tuesday afternoon.
The motion is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday in the courtroom of Isabella County's Chief Judge Eric Janes.
Tuesday afternoon, Nessel's spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said in an email that her office has agreed to set the conviction aside in lieu of a new plea deal. She said they'd announce more on Friday.
Barberi said last year that in meeting with Nessel that he didn't want to enter into any kind of agreement that required that Elliott face the possibility of going through the court system again. He said that Kolodziej's conduct had poisoned not just a prospective jury pool, but also witnesses in the case.
He had filed a motion to dismiss the charges and sanction Kolodziej last May over the way the assistant attorney general handled a court filing. Kolodziej attempted to substitute one document for another rather than file it as an addendum to the case.
The document changed how Kolodziej characterized Elliott's behavior, from a sexual predator who drugged his victims to someone who used drugs. Kolodziej's case didn't accuse Elliott of drugging his victims first, but the characterization was reported in some media outlets.
Barberi said that some of the witnesses, who first talked to him, refused to take his phone calls after Kolodziej talked to them.
Janes ruled that Kolodziej had violated procedures in filing paperwork, but declined to take action against him. He also rejected a motion to dismiss charges.
Elliott was originally charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual assault after meeting Wilson at The Cabin on Aug. 31, 2016. Wilson said she went home with Elliott, vomited and passed out. She said Elliott raped her after she woke up.
Her case was originally handled by the Isabella County Prosecutor's Office. In between a preliminary exam and the trial, then-acting Prosecuting Attorney Robert Holmes dropped the charges.
The case appeared dead until Wilson shared her story with a reporter from CMU's student newspaper CM Life, which published her story as a victim's account.
Kolodziej was assigned to the case after then-Attorney General Bill Schuette picked it back up.
At a new preliminary exam last January, Kolodziej produced Landy Blackmore, who said that Elliott had raped her at a fraternity party a couple years before he was accused of raping Wilson.
Elliott was charged with one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct in a second case based on her testimony.
As part of his plea deal, the second case involving Blackmore was dismissed as were two of the charges brought in the Wilson case.
Kolodziej remains under criminal investigation by the Michigan State Police, which is being overseen by the Kent County Prosecutors Office at the request of Nessel's office.
Nessel's office also conducted an internal investigation. Their office is withholding the specifics pending the conclusion of the criminal investigation. Nessel's spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said that as a result of that investigation that their office has conducted significant restructuring and that one employee was terminated and one was demoted.
Former CMU student president gets lesser charge in wake of prosecutor's alleged misconduct
The Detroit News
Jan. 17, 2020
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/01/17/former-prosecutors-alleged-actions-lead-new-plea-mount-pleasant/4504259002/
A former Central Michigan University student accused of sexual misconduct withdrew his original plea Friday and pleaded no contest to a lesser charge in the wake of alleged inappropriate behavior by the prosecutor assigned to his case.
Ian Elliot, CMU’s former student government association president, pleaded no contest Friday to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct as part of a deal struck between Attorney General Dana Nessel and Elliot’s attorney Joseph Barberi.
Last summer, Elliot pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal sexual conduct, but he withdrew his plea Friday, a few months after Nessel’s office said the lead prosecutor on the case had an inappropriate relationship with a victim in the case.
“After extensive discussions with both victims, it was decided that the best resolution of this matter was to allow Mr. Elliott to plead to criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree, ensuring that he would continue to serve a year in jail and have various other conditions imposed during a lengthy term of probation after his release,” Nessel said in a statement.
The new plea agreement is a "good step to right the wrong" imposed on his client, Barberi said.
Former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej resigned in lieu of being fired in September and his alleged actions are under investigation by the Michigan State Police.
After Kolodziej’s resignation, Nessel demoted one employee, fired another and made changes in training, reporting and structure within the department.
After reviewing Kolodziej’s cases, Nessel dismissed charges against two people in Oakland County and agreed to cooperate with Elliot’s motion to withdraw his previous plea.
Elliott’s new misdemeanor plea to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct carries a penalty of up to two years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7.
Under his previous plea agreement, Elliot was sentenced to 1-15 years in prison.
As part of the agreement, Elliott's new sentence will include a maximum of 12 months in jail, instead of prison, with credit for the five-and-a-months he already has served and good time, which will bring his total imprisonment to about 10 months, Barberi said.
The agreement also places Elliott on a nonpublic sex offender registry for 15 years, rather than lifetime registry on the public system, Barberi said.
After prosecutor's misconduct in sexual assault case, former CMU student has new plea agreement
Michigan Radio
Jan 17, 2020
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/after-prosecutors-misconduct-sexual-assault-case-former-cmu-student-has-new-plea-deal
Update: January 17, 2020
Former Central Michigan University student Ian Elliott pleaded no contest to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct on Friday.
That's a lesser charge than what Elliott initially pleaded to last summer.
But the Michigan Attorney General's Office agreed to let Elliott withdraw his previous plea.
That's because the former prosecutor in the case, the former assistant attorney general, had an inappropriate relationship with one of Elliott's victims.
Elliott is currently in Isabella County jail. He'll be re-sentenced next month.
Original post, January 15, 2020
Ian Elliott, a former student body president at Central Michigan University convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow student, likely won’t serve out the rest of his one-year sentence in prison. Instead, he’s filing a motion requesting to withdraw his plea entirely (as reported by the Morning Sun,) vacate his sentence, and take a new, more lenient plea deal offered by the Michigan attorney general’s office.
The deal: Elliott will plead “no contest” to criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree (rather than his current conviction of CSC third degree.) Elliott’s defense team and the AG’s office have also worked out a new sentencing agreement, pending a judge’s approval: rather than serving the approximately seven months left in his prison sentence, Elliott will be moved to the Isabella County jail until a sentencing hearing in February. At that point, the agreement has him receiving probation and a year in county jail, minus the time already served and credit for good behavior, leaving him with roughly just five months left in the jail.
“We really had only one option to keep Elliott incarcerated – and we took that option,” says Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Attorney General’s office.
Those choices were limited, she says, because former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej mishandled the case. Kolodziej resigned in September after admitting to having a romantic relationship with one of Elliott’s victims, Rachel Wilson.
Wilson, who has said Kolodziej made violent threats of self-harm during their relationship, declined to comment on the new plea deal.
Landrea Blackmore, the second victim in the Elliott case, agreed to have her charges against him dropped as part of Elliott’s initial plea deal this summer.
“We consulted with both Rachel Wilson (through her attorney, as she directed) as well as Landrea Blackmore before resolving this case,” says Rossman-McKinney. “The plea – which we recommended – was preferred to an outright dismissal, which we fully expected the defense attorney to pursue. Given [former Assistant Attorney General] Brian Kolodziej’s behaviors related to the prosecution, CSC4 [fourth degree criminal sexual conduct] was the only option we believed would resolve the case by way of a plea.”
Blackmore said Wednesday she’d been bracing herself for the charges against Elliott to be dismissed altogether. “At this point, honestly, I think I’m just glad that we’ve got something. I don’t think we ever got true justice in this case, and I don’t think we ever will. I am done spending time and energy and emotions on Ian Elliott, because he doesn’t deserve it.”
How a rape case unraveled after four long years
Wilson first accused Elliott of assaulting her in 2016, when they were both students at Central Michigan University. The county prosecutor at the time charged Elliott, and a preliminary exam hearing determined there was enough evidence to move to trial.
But, in a controversial move, an interim county prosecutor dropped the case. The student newspaper, Central Michigan Life, wrote a powerful profile about Wilson and her frustrations with the justice system in 2018, and the Michigan attorney general’s office (then run by former AG Bill Schuette) took up the case.
The prosecutor in charge: Brian Kolodziej, a passionate, charming attorney who had been an actor in a previous career. For months, it appeared Kolodziej was building a strong case against Elliott, even bringing new charges against him on behalf of a second woman, Landrea Blackmore, in 2019.
Then, in June of 2019, Ian Elliott agreed to plead “no contest” to third degree criminal sexual conduct. On August 2nd, he was sentenced to one year in prison.
In September, Wilson says she talked to a counselor about her concerns about Kolodziej, including her own safety in their relationship. Unbeknownst to her, that counselor reported those concerns to the police, she says, who in turn alerted the Michigan attorney general on September 5th.
“The next morning Mr. Kolodziej admitted to engaging in the relationship and subsequently resigned from his employment with the Department of Attorney General in lieu of immediate termination," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement released September 10."The MSP has opened a criminal investigation and I have informed them that my team will fully cooperate with all elements of their investigation. I have also requested the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council’s prompt appointment of another prosecutorial agency to assist in the event MSP requires prosecutorial or investigative services."
Wilson has previously said she had no idea any of this had happened, until Kolodziej called her, frantic, on the day the AG's office was notified. “What did you give them?” he asked her, over and over again.
A public scandal, and an internal investigation
Once the news became public, additional concerns were raised about how Kolodziej and the AG's office had handled this and a separate sexual abuse case.
A previous supervisor of Kolodziej’s, from back when he worked at the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, told Michigan Radio that Kolodziej had raised several red flags during his time there, including being “flirtatious” with victims in his cases and violating forensic interview protocol. The former supervisor, Nicole Becker Blank, says she ultimately asked for Kolodziej to be removed from the sex crimes unit, though Macomb County Prosector Eric Smith denies that’s why he changed Kolodziej’s role.
And it emerged that one of Kolodziej’s investigators in the Ian Elliott case, Special Agent Karen Fairley, allegedly complained about Kolodziej’s handling of the case, saying he was trying to “take over the case” and “do her job for her.” Joe Barberi, Elliott’s defense attorney, says he repeatedly complained about Kolodziej’s conduct while the case was underway.
Then, in November, the AG’s office also dropped all criminal charges in that separate sex abuse case of Kolodziej’s, saying that the special agent in that case hadn’t been entirely truthful on the witness stand.
While the AG’s full report hasn’t yet been released, reports in The Detroit News say internal investigators found that several employees, including former Chief of Staff Laura Moody, knew about issues with Kolodziej’s handling of cases.
Ian Elliott’s defense attorney, Joe Barberi, released a statement on Wednesday, thanking Nessel for her “transparency, including the sharing of 240 pages of the Attorney General’s Internal Investigation into the improper behavior of former Assistant Attorney Brian Kolodziej.”
Barberi says both he and the AG’s office believe Kolodziej’s misconduct went well beyond his inappropriate relationship with Wilson. “In reaching this resolution of charges, all parties agreed that the tampering of witnesses and the withholding of exculpatory evidence by former Assistant Attorney Brian Kolodziej, denied Ian Elliott due process, and made the obtaining of any future fair trial for Mr. Elliott problematic.”
On Friday, Elliott will be transported from the prison to the courthouse for a hearing to formally withdraw his initial plea, and re-enter a plea to the reduced sentence. His new sentencing hearing is scheduled for February.
Ex-assistant attorney general accused of relationship with victim denied unemployment
The Detroit News
Jan. 31, 2020
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/01/31/assistant-attorney-general-accused-relationship-victim-denied-unemployment/2858814001/
Lansing — An administrative law judge denied an appeal for unemployment benefits last week from a former assistant attorney general accused of having an inappropriate relationship with the victim in a criminal sexual conduct case he was prosecuting.
Brian Kolodziej resigned in early September when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office confronted him about the relationship.
Kolodziej's resignation occurred before Nessel’s office could fire him but came with the understanding that any future reference from Nessel’s office would indicate he was terminated, said Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for Nessel’s office.
On Dec. 30, the Unemployment Insurance Agency denied Kolodziej benefits based on rules disqualifying a person from the benefit program if he or she was “suspended or discharged for misconduct connected with the individual’s work.”
Administrative Law Judge Darryl Johnson upheld the state’s denial in a Jan. 22 ruling.
Kolodziej had damaged the department’s public image, Johnson wrote, and damaged criminal cases when he “embarked upon a months-long series of acts that even he realized might not be appropriate, and he kept it from his boss.”
Kolodziej argued that his relationship was consensual and “does not violate the rules of professional conduct,” according to Johnson’s ruling. He also contended, according the ruling, that the Department of Attorney General was responsible for its damaged image because it went public with information about his relationship.
Kolodziej's lawyer, Avis Choulagh, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Kolodziej told the department’s Chief Operating Officer Christina Grossi in September that he had sought legal advice before beginning his four-month relationship with a victim in a Mount Pleasant sexual misconduct case, according the ruling.
The relationship started in April, while the case was pending and before the suspect, Ian Elliot, pleaded no contest to a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge. Prior to the August plea deal, the victim still could have been called to testify in the case, Johnson said.
The lawyer Kolodziej consulted, who was not named in the ruling, had indicated the Rules of Professional Conduct included a “’gray area’ that should be researched further.” Kolodziej did not consult anyone in the Attorney General's office, Rossman-McKinney said.
“(Kolodziej) was asked why, if they believed this was a gray area to be researched, he opted to go ahead with a sexual affair with the witness,” Johnson wrote. “He would not answer the question, pleading the Fifth. He was unable to say when he or the other attorney began researching the ethics surrounding his affair, or how long they researched the question.”
Nonetheless, Kolodziej and the victim in the case went to Colorado in April “to avoid being seen by people who might know them,” Grossi told the judge.
After Kolodziej’s resignation, Nessel held a press conference to announce a Michigan State Police investigation into Kolodziej’s actions and an internal investigation to probe the department’s response to the matter.
Elliott withdrew his guilty plea and reached a lesser plea with the department on Jan. 17. A separate Macomb County case that Kolodziej handled was dismissed without prejudice.
The September press conference announcing the investigations, which Kolodziej said prompted more than 50 “media stories,” was held because the situation “put the employer in a negative light with the legal community, the public and MDHHS, and they wanted to show that they were not going to sweep his conduct under the rug,” Johnson wrote.
Kolodziej asserted the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination several times throughout the hearing, citing ongoing Michigan State Police and Attorney Grievance Commission investigations. At other times, he “took the unusual tack of suggesting that the employer made the choice of reaching a different plea agreement” in the Elliott case, Johnson wrote.
“That tack did not help his case whatsoever,” Johnson said. “It is reminiscent of ‘victim blaming’ which has happened far too often in CSC cases. He blames the employer for taking those steps, and he seems unable to recognize that none of those steps would have been considered, much less necessary, if he had not pursued the relationship with Wilson.”
Prosecutor ousted over inappropriate relationship denied unemployment
Detroit Free Press
Feb. 1, 2020
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/02/01/brian-kolodziej-unemployment-michigan-prosecutor/4633958002/
LANSING, Mich. — A state prosecutor who lost his job after having a relationship with a woman in an assault case isn't entitled to unemployment benefits, a judge said.
Brian Kolodziej "embarked upon a months-long series of acts that even he realized might not be appropriate, and he kept it from his boss. ... Misconduct has been established," said Darryl Johnson, an administrative law judge with the state of Michigan.
Kolodziej was an assistant attorney general until he was forced out in September. He acknowledged having an intimate relationship with a woman while he was handling her sexual assault case in Isabella County but said it was consensual.
Attorney General Dana Nessel called it "incredibly disturbing." It caused her to agree to set aside the conviction of Ian Elliott, a former Central Michigan University student government leader, and allow him to plead no contest to a lesser charge.
Nessel also dropped charges against two men in an unrelated case handled by Kolodziej in suburban Detroit.
Elliott sentenced; Barberi releases portions of AG investigation as he mulls civil action
Morning Sun
February 7, 2020
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
Supervisors of Brian Kolodziej, the former assistant attorney general who prosecuted Ian Elliott, were told that he committed misconduct as early as January of last year but did nothing about it, according to excerpts of an internal investigation conducted by the office of the Michigan Attorney General.
The excerpts were released Friday morning by Elliott's defense attorney Joe Barberi as his client's criminal case concluded in an Isabella County Courtroom. The next phase could be civil action based on what the report lays out.
Elliott pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct last month as part of a deal between Barberi and the office of the Michigan Attorney General that vacated last summer's plea deal in which he pleaded no contest to a single count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
That plea deal resolved two cases that Kolodziej brought against him last year, one involving two counts of CSC-3 and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual assault and one involving a single count of CSC-3. Under that plea deal, he was to spend a year in prison and register for life on the publicly-available database of sex offenders.
Under the new plea deal, Elliott was sentenced to a year in the Isabella County Jail, with credit for time served and accrued credit for good behavior. Barberi said during a post-hearing interview that he expects his client to walk out of the Isabella County Jail on June 1.
The biggest change is that he is no longer registered on the public sex offenders registry, and will spend 15 years on a registry not available to the public.
The new deal was crafted by Attorney General Dana Nessel and Barberi in early January after it was revealed in September 2019 that Kolodziej had a sexual relationship with Rachel Wilson, the complaining witness whose testimony led to the multiple-charge case to be brought against Elliott.
Nessel informed Barberi about the relationship shortly after she learned about it and opened an internal investigation that concluded. The Kent County Prosecutor's Office is now criminally investigating the case, which includes Kolodziej and potentially some of his supervisors at the AG's office.
One of them was Laura Moody, who assisted Kolodziej during part of the two-day preliminary examination last February.
Moody, who according to Barberi's excerpts may now work for the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of the United States, was informed of Kolodziej's conduct on multiple instances, including one before the preliminary examination.
"Knowledge of Kolodziej's close personal relationship to Rachel Wilson, according to Rebekah Snyder (Victim Advocate for the Attorney General's Office), was communicated on January 16, 2019, to other members of the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Unit based in Lansing and Detroit," Barberi's excerpts said. Moody was one of those present.
Karen Fairley, an investigator with the Michigan Attorney General who worked on the case until disappearing late last spring, was told by Moody, "This is Brian's show," when she attempted to ask questions of Landy Blackmore, the Texas woman whose testimony prompted Kolodziej to bring a second case against Elliott, according to Barberi's excerpts.
A call to Gina Balaya, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan, about Moody's employment with her office was not returned.
Barberi called Fairley a hero who argued with Kolodziej over his handling of the case. The defense attorney had attempted to contact her repeatedly as the criminal case proceeded last year. Eventually, he complained to Janes that Kolodziej was blocking his access to her, to which Kolodziej told the judge that if Fairley didn't want to talk to Barberi that was her choice. Janes ordered Kolodziej to facilitate the two talking. Barberi said he has yet to speak with her.
Moody wasn't the only person in Kolodziej's chain of command who, according to the excerpts of the internal investigation, knew about Kolodziej's behavior. Former Criminal Justice Bureau Chief and Criminal Appellate Division Chief John Pallas was demoted to first assistant as a result of the investigation, and Barberi's excerpts also name Donna Pendergast, an assistant attorney general.
Barberi accused Kolodziej of changing witness testimony and trying to alter the court record either by trying to swap out erroneous files with truthful ones or getting Fairley to put her name on documents that Fairley didn't author.
When Kolodziej's malfeasance came to light, Barberi said he originally tried to get the case dismissed outright because the actions of the assistant attorney general had hopelessly poisoned his client's ability to get a fair trial. He called the plea deal he eventually worked out with Nessel's office almost as good.
He credited Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark, the attorney assigned the case after Kolodziej was forced to resign under threat of firing, with handling the case with a sense of transparency and fairness.
Nessel's office issued a statement shortly after the sentencing.
"Today's sentencing closes a long and distressing case for many involved, especially the two victims, who have been put through a very difficult experience," Nessel said in the statement. "While several factors contributed to this sentencing, the agreement made with the defendant's counsel ensures Mr. Elliott will continue to serve time behind bars with additional conditions imposed throughout his probation."
Janes said that originally he didn't intend to say anything, but wanted to respond to comments Barberi made about his client picking up the pieces and moving on.
"The victim here is not the defendant," he said. "The victim is the (Wilson and Blackmore)."
He accepted the new plea agreement and then reflected on the long arduous path the case had taken through the local court.
"This has been a process going on for over three years," he said.
AG, sexual assault victim blindsided by release of investigation
MLIve
Feb 12, 2020
https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/02/ag-sexual-assault-victim-blindsided-by-release-of-investigation-details-in-ian-elliott-cmu-case.html
ISABELLA COUNTY, MI -- The Michigan Attorney General’s Office and a female sexual assault victim say they were blindsided when a defense attorney released details this month of an internal AG investigation into a fired assistant attorney general.
Joseph Barberi, the defense attorney for ex-Central Michigan University student body president Ian Elliott, released a 16-page document summarizing an internal Attorney General’s Office investigation into one of its former prosecutors after Elliot’s re-sentencing on a sexual assault charge on Friday, Feb. 7.
Barberi said he believes the information includes key findings of the investigation.
The investigation has not yet been made public by the AG’s Office.
Barberi said the 16 pages were compiled from 200-300 pages of documents given to him by the AG’s Office.
The summary highlights portions of the AG’s internal investigative report into former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej, who was fired after it was discovered he had a relationship with a female victim. It also alleges Kolodziej forged police reports and influenced victim testimony.
The summary also states that former AG Chief of Staff Laura Moody and other members of the AG’s office were aware of Kolodziej’s unethical behavior, but did not not raise those concerns with Attorney General Dana Nessel. Moody is now with the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, The Detroit News reports.
Kolodziej’s attorney did not return calls for comment.
Barberi also included part of the investigative report prepared by a special agent with the Attorney General’s Office who conducted interviews during the Elliott case, presenting it as the more accurate police report. Elliott, a former Central Michigan University Student Government Association president, was accused of sexually assaulting two women, Rachel Wilson and Landrea Blackmore.
The attorney general allowed Elliott to withdraw his plea of no contest to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and entered a no-contest plea to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after Kolodziej was accused of having a sexual relationship with Wilson.
He was resentenced on Feb. 7 by Isabella County Chief Circuit Judge Eric R. Janes, the result of an agreement between the defendant’s lawyer and the Michigan Department of Attorney General following the mishandling of the case. Elliott will serve five years of probation. The first year will be spent in the Isabella County Jail and the second year on a continuous alcohol monitoring tether.
The document released by Barberi includes parts of the investigative report that includes multiple interviews with Blackmore, who Elliott allegedly assaulted on Nov 16, 2014.
Blackmore does not understand why Barberi released the information.
“I feel like it’s definitely (Barberi) just trying to discredit us more and it’s frustrating because I thought we were over that at this point,” she said.
Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for the AG’s Office, said she was “blindsided” by the document’s release. She said the internal investigation report was shared in confidence with Barberi.
“Sharing it with the rest of the world was not appropriate to do and we’re really disappointed,” she said.
Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Becker, who is handling a criminal investigation into Kolodziej, said Barberi called him and told him he planned to do a news conference about the AG’s internal investigation. Becker said he asked Barberi not to release any details while other investigations were ongoing.
Barberi, a former Isabella County Prosecutor, says he was never given any constraints on releasing the report.
“I was encouraged not to release the report until the criminal investigation is done and I’ve honored that,” he said. "The report is not being released at this time, but that doesn’t mean I had to have a muzzle put on me as far as what I could say or what I couldn’t say, so I don’t have any apologies to give in that regard.”
Barberi said he believes victims lied in the case and other state officials reportedly knew about the inappropriate relationship.
“So here we are, having my client enter another plea and going back to jail again," Barberi said. "All of those things happened because people changed their testimony, people said things under oath and then a year later changed their testimony.”
Barberi said he does not believe anything he released in the report will interfere with the current investigation.
“It is what it is,” he said. “I don’t apologize for releasing some sections of that report. I, in fact, gave Attorney General (Dana) Nessel credit for being transparent.”
The Attorney General’s Office could not provide further context on what Barberi released until the entire report is released, according to Rossman-McKinney. The full report will not be made to the public until further litigation is complete.
Moving forward, Blackmore said she just wants to put the entire case behind her.
“This isn’t justice," she said. "This isn’t what it should have been. Even the original sentencing wasn’t.”
What happened with the Elliott case is why people don’t come forward, Blackmore said.
“We’re not going to get true justice and the system is really screwed up and I think, at the end of the day, you just have to take care of you and sometimes that means not going forward and that’s OK,” she said.
Dismissed Michigan sexual conduct case ruffles Florida custody battle
The Detroit News
Feb. 16, 2020
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/02/16/dismissed-michigan-sexual-conduct-case-ruffles-florida-custody-battle/4740650002/
A custody battle in Florida is heating up after allegations made against an assistant attorney general in Michigan resulted in the dismissal of an Oakland County criminal case against one of the parents.
An Alachua County circuit judge presiding over the Florida custody battle likely won’t consider evidence compiled in the dismissed sexual assault case against Sean MacMaster unless Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel testifies in his courtroom how and why the case against MacMaster had any merit prior to dismissal.
“They had a bad prosecutor,” said Judge James Nilon in a Jan. 22 hearing. “And yet you’re asking me to look at the investigation and that prosecution as if it had integrity …and it’s fraught with red flags that it did not have integrity.”
Nessel dismissed the case without prejudice last year, meaning the charges could later be reinstated. Her office declined to comment further on Nilon's remarks.
Nilon, chief judge for the Alachua County Circuit Court, said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the case when reached this week by The Detroit News.
MacMaster, a former Detroit police officer, and his 71-year-old stepfather were charged last year in Oakland County with the sexual assault of a relative, who is a young minor.
But the charges against MacMaster and his father were dismissed months later after Nessel announced the assistant attorney general assigned to the case, Brian Kolodziej, had been involved with a victim in a separate criminal sexual conduct case in Mount Pleasant.
A defense lawyer involved in the Mount Pleasant case has alleged internal investigations have shown Kolodziej also interviewed witnesses without a police officer present and submitted erroneous investigative reports to the defense counsel and the court.
Nessel also fired an investigator assigned to the Oakland County case, Lauren Schipani, for reportedly misrepresenting her previous experience with child sexual assault cases while testifying in MacMaster's bond hearing.
Michigan State Police Trooper David Busacca is the subject of an internal investigation related to alleged misconduct in the MacMaster case, the department said Friday.
At the time of the Oakland County dismissal, Nessel issued a statement that the dismissal “does not reflect the truthfulness of the victims in these cases but rather the consequence of a prosecutor who failed in his sacred duty to properly administer justice in our legal system.”
Frustration over Michigan dismissal
Johanna MacMaster, Sean MacMaster’s ex-wife who moved to Oxford in 2013, would like to see the criminal case taken up again to protect the victim in the case said lawyer Marcy Hahn, who was retained by Johanna MacMaster to explore ways to stop the Florida reunification after Nessel dropped the charges.
"We understand that the attorney general in Michigan had to take the action she took based on the prosecutorial misconduct," Hahn said. "But that doesn’t mean the underlying crime didn’t happen, and the charges were not dismissed on their merits.
"We would like to see a special prosecutor appointed to allow the jury to decide the merits," she said.
The lack of finality in the criminal case makes it difficult for both sides to move forward in the Florida courtroom, said Brian Rodgers, Johanna MacMaster's family law attorney in Florida.
"We didn’t want them to do our job for us," Rodgers said of Michigan law enforcement. "They have a separate role. But it's frustrating for us because our view was that the evidence was pretty strong.”
If Kolodziej changed or manipulated interview reports in a separate Mount Pleasant case, as has been alleged, there is little guarantee he didn't do the same in the Oakland County criminal case, MacMaster's defense lawyer, Alona Sharon, said.
"A lot of evidence is suspect, and we never really had the chance to get to the bottom of it" before the case was dismissed, Sharon said.
Sean MacMaster's family law attorney in Florida did not return calls for comment.
Charges in Oakland County
Johanna MacMaster first accused Sean MacMaster of sexually assaulting a relative in 2016, but the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Child Protective Services and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office declined to bring charges, according to Oakland County records and transcripts from the Florida courtroom.
"There was nothing there," Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said Friday. "It was obvious to us that the ex-wife was out to get the ex-husband by whatever means necessary.”
When Johanna MacMaster later approached the Michigan State Police and then Center Line Police Department about the case, it was referred to the Department of Attorney General, where Kolodziej took the lead.
Sean MacMaster has said the accusations are untrue and were a ploy to win the legal fight over parenting time in Florida, where the couple divorced in 2012.
McCabe said he was shocked when the charges were authorized last year.
"Nobody from the state police or the Attorney General’s Office ever contacted us to talk about this case. Nobody," McCabe said. "That is so unheard of in the law enforcement profession. I was blown away."
Rodgers argued that Johanna and Sean MacMaster had had an amicable divorce prior to the 2016 sexual abuse allegations. And a more thorough investigation by Michigan State Police brought further evidence to support the allegation.
"The idea that these sexual abuse allegations, which after a thorough investigation appear credible, were driven by a desire to secure an advantage in a family law case simply makes no sense," Rodgers said.
The couple began to fight over shared parenting time, according to court records, in 2016, when Johanna alleged a 4-year-old relative had reported being sexually assaulted by Sean MacMaster.
Nilon ruled in February 2017 that the relative's claims were not reliable and ordered the MacMaster's daughter be evaluated to prepare for shared parenting time with Sean MacMaster, according to court records. In January 2019, Sean and Johanna MacMaster entered a mediation agreement that gave them shared parenting time.
Two months later, Johanna MacMaster learned the Michigan State Police had reopened the investigation into Sean MacMaster, and the Florida court suspended time-sharing while the case pended.
When the allegations against Kolodziej became public, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office reached out to the Attorney General's Office to share its concerns about the case against MacMaster and eventually met with Nessel, McCabe said.
In his Sept. 13 letter to Nessel, McCabe told the attorney general that his department had been subpoenaed by the defense for MacMaster's preliminary exam because they had exculpatory evidence from the 2016 investigation, according to a copy obtained through a public records request.
"When we laid out what we had, that’s when she apologized to us in that room four times," McCabe said.
Nessel initially denied a request to charge the MacMaster case, but allowed staff to pursue a search warrant, her spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said.
“The evidence gathered as a result included significant amounts of forensic evidence, which ultimately compelled AG Nessel to authorize charges," Rossman-McKinney said.
“While AG Nessel apologized to the Oakland County undersheriff for how the case was handled by AAG Kolodziej, she never apologized for charging Mr. MacMaster and Mr. Orr.”
Trouble in Florida
After the charges were dismissed in December, Sean MacMaster's parenting time should have been automatically restored. But Johanna MacMaster objected based on evidence uncovered during the most recent Michigan investigation and prosecution.
Hahn and lawyer Yasmine Poles were able to get jurisdiction of the family law case moved back to Michigan after the dismissal of the criminal case in Oakland County, but only temporarily. Eventually, Nilon decided to keep the case in Florida.
In a Jan. 22 hearing, Nilon expressed “suspicion and disbelief” regarding the Michigan criminal case and accused Nessel of failing to be “straightforward” about the reasoning behind the dismissal.
"Why did they drop an absolutely provable, ironclad case?" Nilon said, according to transcripts. "... The attorney general is going to have to come down here and answer that question if you want me to rely on those quote 'public statements' " regarding the truthfulness of the victims in the case.
"They're going to have to explain it to me," Nilon said. "And if they're an elected official, they should have to explain it to their voters that they would drop an ironclad case on a person charged ... with, you know, serious child sexual allegations."
After Nilon made the statements regarding the Michigan case, Johanna Mason filed a motion to disqualify the judge out of “fear that she will not receive a fair hearing,” according to court records.
Nilon on Friday denied the motion. The parties' next hearing in Florida on the request for a suspension of parenting time is March 11.
No comments:
Post a Comment