EAST LANSING, MI (WILX) - — Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon said she has filed a petition with the Attorney General's office regarding a warrant request to review an allegation of excessive force back in December 2019 involving East Lansing Police Officer Andrew Stephenson.
Siemon released a statement, making the announcement Friday morning.
In her statement, Siemon said, "Events of the past months, both locally and nationally, have shined the light on the kinds of contacts that police officers have with community members and the consequences, sometimes fatal, of use of force."
Siemon went on to explain the use of force complaints involving two individuals, with two separate cases, and the East Lansing Police Department. In one of the cases, a warrant request was submitted and issued charging Anthony Loggins with resisting and obstructing a police officer from a traffic stop back on Dec. 29, 2019.
"When we reviewed the warrant request for Mr. Loggins, it was done based on the police report, which did not include information that Mr. Loggins had filed a use of force complaint. Our office requested the body camera video on May 29, 2020, and upon review of all the circumstances, determined that the charges would be dismissed and a dismissal was requested on June 3, 2020," Prosecutor Siemon said.
Siemon said the case helps highlight the need to have a "heightened level of review" in cases involving resisting and obstructing warrant requests, regardless of whether or not a use of force complaint against the officer exists.
Siemon said the Ingham County Prosecutors Office will be developing and implementing "a heightened review of resisting and obstructing warrant requests and looking into the circumstances in more detail before authorizing charges."
Siemon said factors to be considered in the heightened review process include the nature of the original contact, whether the situation was one where services or community engagement might more appropriately deal with any issues, what the behaviors of the subject were and what responses the police officer made.
The prosecutor said if there is body camera footage or other video evidence, or there is a known use of force complaint at the time a warrant review is submitted, that evidence will be reviewed before issuing charges.
"It is our hope and expectation that our county law enforcement reduces the number of low-level police contacts and seek to address issues with a referral to social service agencies, instead of escalating the police contact when such a referral would best serve the public interest," Siemon said.
Siemon said in addition to developing best practices involving local reviews of use of force, the Ingham County Prosecutors Office will refer cases involving an "officer-involved shooting" or death, of an individual in police custody directly to the attorney general's office for review.
For cases that involved non-shooting/non-fatal use of force by police officer, the Ingham County Prosecutors Office said it will exercise discretion and consider referring cases for a special prosecutor to review those use of force cases involving potential charges against a police officer.
"Having a case reviewed by an elected prosecutor from another jurisdiction, one who does not work with the agency whose officer may have committed a criminal offense, can provide an extra layer of credibility and public confidence.," Siemon said in her statement.
Therefore, Siemon said a warrant request has been issued for the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office to review the December 2019 actions involving officer Stephenson and Loggins.
Siemon asked the attorney general's office to have the warrant request reviewed by a special prosecutor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the Dec. 28 incident, police records said ELPD Officer Austin Nelson made a traffic stop in the area of Lake Lansing and Pryde Road after a vehicle turned out of the nearby Meijer without using a turn signal.
Police said the individual had an expired driver's license and the officer decided to arrest the individual for driving with the expired license. Police records indicate two other ELPD officers, Officers Stephenson and Evan Siemen, arrived on scene to assist with the arrest.
Police records said the individual was asked to step out of the vehicle, notifying him that he would be placed under arrest for the offense of Driving While Suspended. Police documents say the individual sat back into his vehicle and said, "Come and get me," and began honking the horn.
Police documents said the individual was then removed from his vehicle and after resisting, was taken to the ground to be placed in handcuffs. Police documents say the individual was then placed in the patrol car.
Police documents say the individual complained about the handcuffs being too tight a couple of times and when he was asked by Officer Stephenson if they needed to be adjusted he told them he "was fine, (and) they did not need to be adjusted."
According to police records, the individual said that he felt police didn't have the right to arrest him for a suspended license, but only to cite him. Police records said the individual also said the officers slammed him to the ground and then slammed his head into the ground three times after he was taken down.
Police records said the individual also said one of the officers' knees was on his upper back. Police records say body-cam footage was able to confirm that, but said there was nothing outside of ELPD's training guidelines in doing so.
Police records from ELPD indicate that after reviewing all evidence and interviewing all officers involved, the department believed there was a valid reason for the traffic stop and the officers "conducted themselves professionally with training guidelines and used reasonable force for the situation."
