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NEWS
Thursday, May 16, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
U.S.
District
Judge
Arthur Tarnow has ordered
University
of
Michigan
President Mark Schlissel to
appear in court June 11 as a
result of the Doe v. Univer-
sity of Michigan lawsuit. On
Wednesday afternoon, Tar-
now turned down a motion
from University lawyers
which would have over-
turned the order requiring
Schlissel’s appearance.
Tarnow
originally
ordered Schlissel to court
by May 1 during a tele-
conference
with
Joshua
Richards, a Pennsylvania-
based attorney represent-
ing the University, and
the
unnamed
plaintiff’s
attorney Deborah Gordon,
a Bloomfield Hills civil
rights attorney. During the
teleconference,
Gordon
echoed
Tarnow’s
senti-
ments regarding Schlissel’s
attendance in court, while
Richards made repeated
arguments
against
the
order.
The order came out of
a case involving a male
undergraduate student who
sued the University in June
2018. The student, referred
to as “John Doe,” was on
track to graduate and had
been accepted to the Uni-
versity’s graduate engineer-
ing program, in addition to
programs at other colleges.
The student felt his future
was endangered when the
University froze his tran-
script and degree follow-
ing a complaint of sexual
assault against him.
Doe’s
transcript
was
released in June, within a
week of the lawsuit being
filed.
The
allegations
trace
back to November 2017,
when a female student
reached out to Doe, a Uni-
versity residential adviser,
about getting together. Doe
invited her to his room, at
which point they watched a
movie and had sexual rela-
tions. Four months later, in
March 2018, the female stu-
dent accused Doe of sexual-
ly assaulting her during the
interaction in a complaint
filed with the University’s
Office
of
Institutional
Equity.
The female student said
Doe
had
nonconsensual
sex with her in his resi-
dence hall room. However,
Doe said in the lawsuit the
encounter was consensual
and no drugs or alcohol
were involved, the Detroit
News reported. There were
no witnesses to the encoun-
ter in question.
The lawsuit aligns with
a 2017 ruling regarding the
University of Cincinnati, in
which a similar case found-
ed exclusively upon “he
said/she said” grounds and
in which defendant failed
to “provide any form of
confrontation of the accus-
er” made the proceeding
“fundamentally unfair” to
the case’s defendant.
Doe said in the lawsuit he
was unaware of the allega-
tions during his interview
with the OIE, rendering
him unable to respond ade-
quately. Additionally, the
lawsuit claimed the Univer-
sity refused the option for a
hearing or cross-examina-
tion to Doe, even though
this is provided to students
facing other violations.
Judge orders
Schlissel to
district court
On Wednesday night, the
city of Ann Arbor held an open
forum event for residents to
meet the three final candi-
dates for a new chief of police:
Michael Cox of Boston, Bryan
Jarrell of Arizona and Ann
Arbor’s Jason Forsberg. There
were nearly 50 attendees from
City Council members to
police officers and civilians.
In the casual, cocktail
hour-style event, attendees
were able to openly converse
with the candidates. Cox, Jar-
rell and Forsberg each spoke
with The Daily about a range
of issues including their past
experience, their thoughts on
cross-jurisdiction cooperation
with the University of Michi-
gan police and their plans to
move forward with the new
Independent
Community
Police Oversight Commission.
For nearly 25 years, Ser-
geant Bill Clock has served
with the Ann Arbor Police
Department. Clock said he and
his fellow officers would want
a chief who is committed to
the department, open to offi-
cers’ ideas, well-educated and
experienced.
“I think the biggest thing
for me is someone who will
listen to our suggestions and
what we want and then make
the decision and that’s the
decision,” Clock said. “They’re
the boss, and they’re going to
choose.”
The new chief of police will
be replacing Robert Pfannes,
interim chief of police, who
is planning to retire May 24.
Pfannes has spent 21 years
with the Ann Arbor Police
Department as Deputy Chief.
“We just need stable leader-
ship,” Clock said. “I think we’re
open to whatever direction we
go. We haven’t had a true chief
for over a year, so it’s tough
to kind of move forward and
progress without that. What-
ever candidate is chosen, I’m
sure will be best for the job. We
just want stable leadership.”
Ann Arbor’s new ICPOC
has been at the center of the
search for a new chief. The
commission was formed as
civilian monitoring of the
AAPD following the fatal
shooting of Aura Rosser in
2014 by an officer, and the posi-
tion’s public listing noted the
commission as a unique chal-
lenge for the appointee.
Councilmember Ali Ram-
lawi, D-Ward 5, is one of the
City Council’s two lesions on
the
oversight
commission.
Ramlawi told The Daily what
the commission is looking for
in a new chief, noting commit-
ment and open-mindedness.
“I think one that is open to
new ideas; one that has faced
some of the challenges we
face here — somebody who
has some longevity,” Ramlawi
said. “I’d like to see someone
who’s going to be here for a
while, and someone who’s
receptive, asking questions,
interested, really trying to get
to know the challenges in the
community and know how to
apply themselves. We’re look-
ing for a lot of things. No one
is perfect. We’re looking for
the type of person who fits the
needs of our community.”
The oversight commission
has held two official meetings,
one of which was an emergen-
cy meeting Tuesday night with
the city’s HR department. For-
mer HR director Robyn Wilk-
erson resigned May 1 after
accusations of sending inap-
propriate text messages which
were negative toward the
Black Lives Matter movement
and the oversight commission.
The commission convened
to investigate whether Wilk-
erson’s actions tainted the
recruitment process for a new
police chief.
Assistant City Administra-
tor John Fournier was also
present at the meeting. Fourni-
er said it was an “illuminating”
meeting and provided a lot of
insight to the public regarding
how the recruitment process
was carried out.
“When you’re in a position
of public importance and pub-
lic service, it’s really impor-
tant to be transparent, and it’s
really important to be open to
oversight and communication
and things like that,” Fournier
said. “We take that really seri-
ously in Ann Arbor.”
Ramlawi said he was sat-
isfied with how the meeting
transpired.
“I feel more comfortable
knowing that officials from
our city have gone on record
indicating
(contamination
of the recruitment process)
wasn’t the case,” Ramlawi
said. “It gives the community
more confidence and comfort
in the process.”
Clock said he has con-
fidence
in
the
profes-
sionalism of the police
department and does not
believe they need an over-
sight commission, but he
respects the city residents’
desire to establish one
nonetheless.
Candidates discuss police oversight commission, communication
strategy at meet and greet with community members Wednesday
‘U’ appeal denied by district judge,
Schlissel to appear in court June 11
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Ann Arbor police chief candidates (from left) Michael Cox, Bryan Jarrell and Jason Forsberg speak to Ann Arbor community members during
the Meet the Candidates Recpetion at City Hall Wednesday evening.
Read more at michigandaily.com
AAPD narrows search for
new police chief to top three
MELANIE TAYLOR
Summer News Editor
ALEX HARRING
Summer Managing News Editor
Read more at michigandaily.com