Prosecutor: Not Enough Evidence To Charge Retired Cop With Perjury In Davontae Sanford Case
DETROIT (WWJ) - Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says there is not enough evidence to charge a former Detroit cop with perjury in connection with a highly publicized case.
It's another twist in the saga of a Detroit teen imprisoned for years for four murders to which a hit man Vincent Smothers later confessed.
Worthy last month released Davontae Sanford from prison, claiming Sanford's alleged confession was comprised by the lies told by then-Deputy Detroit Police Chief James Tolbert.
Tolbert claimed Sanford drew a detailed description of the home on Runyon Street where the murders occurred, along with the locations of the bodies. Tolbert later said he himself drew part of the sketch.
Despite the claim, Worthy on Tuesday announced there would be no charges against Tolbert — partially due to the face that Sanford, now 23, has pleaded the fifth.
"The obvious question is why this office could move to dismiss a case where four people were killed based on James Tolbert's interview with Michigan State Police, but not charge him with perjury? As I have stated, the building blocks of our case were severely undermined by this interview and we requested that the case be dismissed," Worthy said.
"In order to proceed with perjury charges, we must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Tolbert's testimony on July 13, 2010, was false. There were only three witnesses to the drawing of the sketch in question. Two of them, Davontae Sanford and James Tolbert are unavailable to us. The third person is Sgt. Michael Russell, and his testimony does not support a perjury charge."
Invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege, or pleading the fifth, means Sanford is opting not to answer any questions or testify to any information that may incriminate himself.
"The bottom line is that there is an important legal distinction between acting on evidence that undermines a conviction, and proving beyond a reasonable doubt that someone has committed perjury," Worthy said.
Sanford was 14 years old when he was arrested for the quadruple murder. He admitted to the crime and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but his family argued the Sanford is developmentally disabled and was coerced by authorities to confess under interrogation without a parent or attorney present.
The teens' written statement had many inaccuracies and no recording of the interrogation was made, according to prosecutors.
After a years-long battle, a Wayne County judge on June 7 vacated Sanford's 2008 conviction and 37-to 90-year sentence.
It does not appear this latest decision will affect Sanford, who is now back with his family.
Tolbert served in the U.S. Marines prior to his 27 year with Detroit Police Department, after that working as Chief of Police in Flint. He's since retired.
