VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought 'THE SECRET OF JOY IS RESISTANCE' Alice Walker Skip to content Home ABOUT VOD MEMORIALS Newsletter ← Older posts FREE DOUBLE R IN 2025! DETROIT PROTESTS FOR RICKY RIMMER FORCED ACTION, CASE GOING TO APPEALS COURT Posted on 01/20/2025 by Diane Bukowski JUDGE BLOUNT’S SEPT. 25 DENIAL OF RECONSIDERATION ON RIMMER’S MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL, EVIDENTIARY HEARING JUST SURFACED DENIAL FILED AFTER PROTESTS SEPT. 10/SEPT. 24; GETS CASE OUT OF LIMBO, RIMMER CAN NOW PROCEED TO COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE BLOUNT DELIBERATEY IGNORED RULINGS BY STATE APPELLATE COURTS, SCOTUS IN RULING ON RIMMER’S RECONSIDERATION MOTION By Diane Bukowski January 20, 2025 Please DONATE TO VOD at: https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod CASH APP 313-825-6126 DETROIT- -The case of Ricky Rimmer, a Michigan lifer acclaimed by hundreds who served time with him as a peacemaker, teacher, and leader, is moving forward to the Court of Appeals at last. James Harris and Leo Haidys, two criminally corrupt Detroit cops, engineered his wrongful 1975 conviction for the murder of a local car dealer. On Sept. 25, 2024, Third (Wayne) Circuit Court Judge Christopher Blount finally denied Rimmer’s motion for reconsideration of his Feb. 9 ruling denying Rimmer’s motion for a new trial and evidentiary hearing. Dozens of Rimmer’s supporters had just rallied outside the new Criminal Justice Center Sept. 10 and Sept. 20, 2024. (The new ruling was belatedly posted on Rimmer’s Register of Actions.) Blount’s father Michael Blount worked with Harris on the notorious killer cop unit S.T.R.E.S.S. and afterwards on Detroit Mayor Coleman Young’s security team. Judge Blount has not denied knowing Harris as a family friend, and refused comment to VOD on his relationship to Harris. VOD recently witnessed a hearing in Judge Blount’s courtroom, during which he mercilessly berated an older Black woman who had been locked up in the Wayne County Jail for months. She  tearfully begged him for release on bond because the state was planning to take her child away from her if she didn’t return home shortly. Blount sent her crying out “Somebody please help me” back to the jail. Protests at the Wayne County Criminal “Justice” Center where the jail is located were held in September to call for freedom for Ricky Rimmer (video at top of story from Sept. 10), and on Sept. 20 to condemn conditions at the new jail, where there had been two suicides since it opened. (Facebook videos below.) Protesters at RALLY FOR RICKY RIMMER SEPT. 10, 2024 included his sister Cat Rimmer (center). The ruling still violates previous state appellate court rulings that “newly-discovered evidence” presented under B rady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) – Justia US … a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that has been expanded with multiple subsequent orders, cannot be dealt with using the restrictive State of Michigan standards of People v. Cress, 664 N.W.2d 174, 468 Mich. 678 – CourtListene r. It also refuses to hold an evidentiary hearing during which two witnesses will testify to their affidavits which expose James Harris’ criminal conspiracy to convict Rimmer by ordering witnesses who were under arrest to “get their stories together.” DPD Sgt. James Harris ordered witnesses to testify v. Ricky Rimmer. (Affidavit excerpt) “That later that evening, myself, [and two others], and Sgt. James Harris were in a room together and Sgt. Harris told us to get our stories together on Ricky Rimmer because Rimmer was the person he wanted us to say was the one who shot the car salesman. “That myself, [and two others] had conversations in that room at police headquarters, during which we agreed to say that Ricky Rimmer killed the car salesman. “That I did not see Ricky Rimmer shoot and rob the car salesman on August 7, 1975, nor was Ricky Rimmer present during the planning of the robbery.” Complete ruling at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Ricky-Rimmer-Opinion-and-Order-From-Judge-Blount-9-25-24-2.pdf Ricky Rimmer’s attorney is currently preparing his appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which must be filed within six months after the date of Blount’s ruling. “FREE RICKY RIMMER NOW!” PROTESTS AT JAIL SEPT. 10, SEPT 20, 2024 (Below) Demetris Knuckles-El, Travis Herndon decry conditions at jail on 9/20/2024, during an event called by Knuckles-El. (Below) Travis Herndon speaks on Ricky Rimmer’s case outside jail 9/20/2024: “ Did your father ever bring James Harris over for dinner—did you ever meet James Harris—was this a friend of the family—do you have a relationship with him? You are giving off the appearance of bias.” (Below, Demetris Knuckles-El and Larry D. Smith advocate for Rimmer’s release during the Sept. 10, 2024 protest in his support at the jail. Rimmer himself spoke Sept. 20 at the second of two protests held outside Detroit’s Criminal Justice Center (WCCJC) that month. Demetrius Knuckles-El of Michigan Liberation, who called the event, held a mike to his phone as Rimmer’s words boomed out loud and clear from Michigan’s Chippewa Correctional Facility in the state’s Upper Peninsula. Ricky Rimmer with mother Lovie Mae Rimmer, who died in 2023 waiting for his evidentiary hearing. “I’m still fighting the good fight, staying out of trouble and trying to get up out of  here,” he told a gathering of advocates protesting the abominable conditions at the newly-opened prison, dubbed Detroit’s “Guantanamo Bay.” “I’ve been locked up almost 50 years, and I’m still waiting for Judge Christopher Blount to rule on my motion for reconsideration of his denial of an evidentiary hearing,” Rimmer said then. “The reason why this judge is so important, his father Michael Blount was an officer on STRESS with James Harris. When Coleman Young got rid of STRESS, he put Harris and Blount on his security squad for years.” “The judge copied the prosecutor’s brief to deny me—but everything the prosecutor put in that brief was wrong. Both police in my case were crooked, they testified falsely and coerced others to testify falsely. James Harris served 20 years in federal prison for protecting drug shipments into Detroit, and Leo Haidys was charged for his role in beating Black youth at a church event calling them n——s, and threatening them with a gun.” RELATED STORIES: PROTEST FRI. SEPT. 20 VS. INHUMANE TREATMENT OF PE OPLE INCARCERATED AT THE NEW WAYNE CO. JAIL | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought JUSTICE FOR RICKY RIMMER, VICTIMS OF DPD COP, WCPO CRIMES: TUES. SEPT. 10, NEW CRIMINAL JUSTICE CENTER. | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought RIMMER CASE: JUDGE’S DAD, DPD SGT. MICHAEL BLOUNT, & SGT. JAMES HARRIS BOTH ON S.T.R.E.S.S., MAYOR’S SQUAD | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought JUDGE BLOUNT DENIES RICKY RIMMER’ S MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL, HEARING ON RACIST COPS, NEW WITNESSES | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought “MOMMALOVE!” CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF LOVIE MAE RIMMER FEB. 26-27, MOTHER OF RICKY RIMMER-BEY | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought MICH. LIFER RICKY RIMMER CITES RACIST, VIOLENT HISTORY OF DPD COPS HAIDYS, HARRIS IN MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought MICHIGAN LIFER RICKY RIMMER-BEY: CONVICTED DRUG DEALER COP JAMES HARRIS FRAMED ME FOR MURDER | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought HUNDREDS OF MEN, SERVING LIFE SENTENCES ON THE CREDIBILITY OF CORRUPT DETROIT POLICE DETECTIVES! | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought INNOCENTS SAT IN MDOC FOR 4,372 YRS. TOTAL! SAME DIRTY COPS, PROSECUTORS, JUDGES JAILED 1000’S MORE | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought ********************************************************************************* URGENT. Funds  needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00, multiple other costs. VOD is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON  NATION and POLICE STATE. VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. Please DONATE TO VOD at: https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod CASH APP 313-825-6126 MDianeBukowski *********************************************************************************** Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment CHARGES DISMISSED VS. DEMETRIS ‘MEECH’ KNUCKLES EL, COUSIN JAN. 16, 2025; TONS OF SUPPORTERS SHOWED Posted on 01/14/2025 by Diane Bukowski All charges dismissed v Demetrius Knuckles El and cousin Amber Jan. 16, 2025 SUPPORT DEMETRIS KNUCKLES-EL Thurs. Jan. 16, 10 AM Base Building Organizer, Michigan Liberation demetris@miliberation.org Podcast ‘The Great Minds Project” https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/the-great-minds-project-5-0/id1706844335 https://www.facebook.com/demetris.knucklesel RELATED STORIES: PROTEST FRI. SEPT. 20 VS. INHUMANE TREATMENT OF PEOPLE INCARCERATED AT THE NEW WAYNE CO. JAIL | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS RIGHT TO RESIST POLICE MISCONDUCT | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought JUSTICE FOR RICKY RIMMER, VICTIMS OF DPD COP, WCPO CRIMES: TUES. SEPT. 10, NEW CRIMINAL JUSTICE CENTER. | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought Please DONATE TO VOD at: https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment FIGHT THE POWER! JOIN THELONIOUS ‘SHAWN’ SEARCY IN COURT FRI. JAN. 10 VS. ‘INNOCENCE DENIER’ KYM WORTHY Posted on 01/09/2025 by Diane Bukowski WAYNE CO. CC JUDGE THOMAS HATHAWAY DISMISSED SEARCY’S 1999 MURDER CASE WITH PREJUDICE OCTOBER 3, 2022 WCCC Judge Thomas Hathaway “This Court concludes that the damage caused by the suppression and withholding of the exculpatory evidence cannot be cured. Therefore, it holds that dismissal of the charges [with prejudice] is  appropriate given the severe and deliberate violations of the defendant’s due process rights that denied him a fair and impartial trial. Accordingly, this Court GRANTS defendant’s Motion to Dismiss  — WCCC Judge Thomas Hathaway SEARCY PLACED ON NATIONAL REGISTER OF EXONERATIONS https://voiceofdetroit.net/2022/11/28/thelonious-searcy-on-national-registry-of-exonerations-after-19-yr-battle-for-freedom/ Judge Mary M. Sommer N.MEX. JUDGE MARY M. SOMMER DISMISSED CASE V. ALEC BALDWIN ‘WITH PREJUDICE’ IN JULY, 2024 USING SIMILAR LANGUAGE “The state’s discovery violation has injected a needless, incurable delay into the jury trial. Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice. Your motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted.” 1st District Judge Mary M. Sommer New Mexico Prosecutor recently dropped appeal of Judge Sommer’s order Davontae Sanford /Kym Worthy. But Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy, known across U.S.  as “Innocence Denier” appeals state court rulings TO DEATH, e.g. Davontae Sanford, Maryanne Godboldo, Lamarr Monson, Darrell Ewing, et. al. Searcy’s second pre-trial hearing Jan. 31, 2025, jury trial date March 31, 2025 By Diane Bukowski January 9, 2025 DONATE TO VOD at: https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-vod Cash App 313-825-6126 (L to r) Shawn Searcy, daughters Paige and Shyra, and wife Tyria Searcy with grandchildren after release in 2022 DETROIT, MI — Thelonious  ‘Shawn’ Searcy is asking supporters to come to his pre-trial hearing Fri. Jan. 10, at 9 AM in front of Judge Nicholas Hathaway at Detroit’s Criminal ‘Justice’ Center. Voice of Detroit has extensively covered Shawn’s battle for exoneration, which he won Oct. 3, 2022, and calls on its readers to support Shawn as well. This is not only about Shawn. It concerns thousands who have been railroaded in Wayne Co. Circuit Court since the 1970’s, many still rotting in MDOC prisons. On Oct. 3, 2022, 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hathaway dismissed all charges against Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy for the murder of Jamal Segars, with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled. The stinging order repeatedly rebuked the prosecution for “allowing blatant lies to stand.” He said Wayne Co, prosecutors and police deliberately withheld evidence that should have been given to the defense under Brady v. Maryland :: 373 U.S. 83 (1963) ,  a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That evidence would have saved Searcy from  spending 17 years in prison for the Sept. 6, 2004 murder