Rogue Detroit Prosecutor Must Stand Before Judge

Regular Liberty & Law readers can appreciate how difficult it is to hold government officials—especially prosecutors and judges—accountable when they violate constitutional rights. So when a state appellate court unanimously rules that a Wayne County prosecutor is not immune from our client’s retaliation lawsuit, we celebrate!

In 2021, and again in 2022, Robert Reeves stood before a Detroit judge, falsely charged with felonies for receiving and concealing stolen property. The charges weren’t based on real evidence. Rather, they were manufactured by county prosecutor Dennis Doherty to punish him.

You see, Robert was not like other criminal defendants. At the time, he was already an IJ client—a named member of our proposed class action lawsuit against Wayne County’s vehicle forfeiture scheme. The county had seized his 1991 Camaro, two cell phones, and cash, all without charging him with a crime. And the county refused to provide him with an opportunity to get his property back. 

So we filed a class action lawsuit not just to help Robert, but to challenge the county’s entire civil forfeiture regime.

A public-facing IJ lawsuit is usually where the government abuse ends (even though it might take a few years). But the day after Robert sued, Doherty revived a dormant investigation of rental equipment thefts in the hopes of pinning something on Robert. When no evidence turned up, he filed felony charges anyway—not once, but twice. Both times the judge dismissed the charges at the outset: The prosecution failed to bring their alleged video evidence at the first hearing, and the footage they presented at the second hearing showed someone else illegally removing a GPS device from rented equipment.

But even with the charges dismissed, the damage was done. Because of the bogus charges, Robert spent a weekend in jail. He lost his job and other work after failing background checks. And he lived in fear that Doherty might come after him a third time. 

The message was clear: drop the federal lawsuit and stop challenging the county’s forfeiture of vehicles.

Robert was not moved. Together, we filed a second lawsuit in state court, alleging that the retaliatory prosecutions violated his constitutional rights. In response, Doherty argued that his role as a prosecutor shields him from accountability.

The state appeals court didn’t buy it. Though prosecutors enjoy almost complete immunity for actions tied to their job as a prosecutor, courts will—on rare occasion—deny immunity to prosecutors when they are effectively doing the job of an administrator or investigator. And here, Doherty took off his prosecutor hat and put on an investigator hat, kickstarting an investigation and digging for dirt on Robert (rather than evaluating any evidence the police had already collected).

This might sound familiar; that’s because this isn’t the only time IJ has held accountable a government official who stepped outside of their role. In 2023, the 4th Circuit unanimously ruled that a West Virginia judge could be sued after leading a search party through our client Matt Gibson’s home. And we’re waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether to take up our case against a Texas prosecutor who moonlighted as a judicial clerk on his own cases. 

Robert’s retaliation case will move forward. There are still several barriers to accountability we may be forced to overcome, including the all-too-familiar qualified immunity provided to most other government officials. But for now, it is Doherty who must stand before a judge.

Christian Lansinger is an IJ attorney.