Wednesday, November 17, 2004

11162004 - Deputy Ivan James Morris - Convicted - Muskegon SD

Also See:

Deputy Ivan James Morris charged with domestic violence






On June 28, 2004, Muskegon County Sheriff Deputy Ivan James Morris assaulted his ex-girlfriend. According to reports the 6' 3", 280 pound sheriff deputy threw a drink at the 5' 2", 125 pound woman's head; grabbed her by the neck; and then pushed her to the ground. Both the victim and an eye witness told the police, that during the attack,  Morris said that he was going to kill her.  Deputy Morris was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.

















During the non-jury trial in November, Deputy Morris claimed that the victim attacked him. Morris testified that he grabbed his ex-girlfriend's arm and "threw her down"...but that he did so to protect himself. "She was going to hit me...To keep a person off me, that what I would do to anyone." 











The Judge obviously did not believe Deputy Morris' claim that he acted in self-defense, as he found Morris guilty of misdemeanor domestic violence. Judge Andrew J. Wierengo III found Sheriff's Deputy Ivan James Morris, guilty of assault and battery/domestic violence.










Muskegon County Sheriff George Jerkas did not dismiss Deputy Morris from the Sheriff Department for: 1] The false testimony he gave during trial regarding a crime he committed; or 2] for the domestic violence assault.








As of 2012, Deputy Ivan James Morris was still employed at the Muskegon County Sheriff Department.













Sheriff's Deputy convicted on domestic violence charge
A Muskegon County jail guard has been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
November 17, 2004
By John S. Hausman
Muskegon Chronicle, MI
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1100708127304840.xml

After a non jury trial Tuesday, Chief 60th District Judge Andrew J. Wierengo III found Sheriff's Deputy Ivan James Morris, 37, of 6389 Evanston guilty as charged of assault and battery/domestic violence, first offense.

Wierengo ordered a domestic violence assessment and scheduled sentencing for Dec. 28. The maximum possible sentence is 93 days in jail.

The case stemmed from a June 28 incident between the off-duty Morris and his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend during Muskegon Summer Celebration in the crowded Mike's Bar, 555 W. Western.

Witness testimony conflicted at Morris' trial, but by all accounts an angry confrontation between the two ended with Morris pushing or throwing the woman to the floor of the bar.

Prosecution witnesses called it an unprovoked assault that started with Morris throwing his drink on the back of the woman's head, then grabbing her by the neck and swinging her onto the floor.

Morris, on the other hand, testified he acted in self-defense. He said his drink spilled accidentally on the woman when his arm was jostled in the crowd while he was carrying it across the room. He said she then threw several drinks she was carrying at him, then started to swing her fist at him. He testified he grabbed her arm and "threw her down" to defend himself, causing her to fall. "She was going to hit me. ... To keep a person off me, that's what I would do to anybody," Morris testified.

No one testified to any visible injuries on the victim.

The judge said that even if he believed most of Morris' account, the deputy still overreacted and of assault. Wierengo noted the difference in size of the two people: Morris told the judge he is approximately 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 280 pounds and the woman is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. "It was a force that seemed to me disproportionate to the situation," Wierengo said.

Afterward, Sheriff George Jurkas suspended Morris from his job as a jail guard for five days without pay. "It's unfortunate," Jurkas said of the situation. "Hopefully he'll put it behind him, and it won't happen again."

The sheriff said the discipline would have been more severe had the victim suffered injuries. Jurkas also noted that Morris, unlike road-patrol deputies, does not carry a firearm in the course of his job, meaning a misdemeanor conviction won't render him unable to do his work.was guilty



Sunday, November 14, 2004

11142004 - Detroit Firefighter Ardra Young - Michigan US District Court - Petition For Writ Of Habeas Corpus - DENIED















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

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

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

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

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

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

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













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

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

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

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

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

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













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

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








































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













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




















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















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