DOJ Is In Detroit - Bill Boo Boo Barr Is Busy, Busy, Busy - Bob Bashara Is Extracted From Humanity - Someone Is Getting Leaky

Bill Boo Boo Barr is busy, busy, busy in Detroit.

I was trying to figure out what was going on with all those helicopters flying over my house, serenading me by sirens and motorcycles at night.

#maytheheavensfall

Then, this happened...



Then, this happened...



I waved, you know.

US Attorney General Barr checks in on Detroit crime — from a helicopter

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, center, visits Detroit to assess a federal crime initiative that involves 42 federal agents coming to town to help fight escalating gun violence.
The feds have arrived.

"Sir Boo Boo! You cannot stop
the heavens from falling, for
the Celestial Goddess of the
Woodshed has cast her spell
many a moons ago."

U.S. Attorney General William Barr visited Detroit on Tuesday to see for himself how a federal anti-crime operation is going, though he didn't view the massive city  up close and personal — he saw most of it from a helicopter.

The nation's top prosecutor boarded a chopper in a field outside downtown Detroit to assess a new White House initiative dubbed Operation Legend, which, in recent weeks, has brought dozens of federal agents to town to help local police fight an uptick in gun violence. During a 45-minute helicopter ride, Barr saw some of Detroit's progress and blighted neighborhoods from above, though he also saw a little bit of Detroit from inside a sports utility vehicle.

After the helicopter ride, Barr and local officials drove to the JZ Motel on the city's east side and got out and spoke with the owners and workers about how crime has affected their business. Then Barr set out for a tour of the 9th Precinct, a police station surrounded by blight and crime, the same precinct where demonstrators gathered last month to protest the officer-involved shooting death of a man who was a suspect in a quadruple shooting.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, center, met with Detroit Police officers and workers of the JZ Motel in Detroit Tuesday during a visit here to assess a federal crime initiative in the city. The Feds are sending 42 federal agents to Detroit  to help the city fight escalating gun violence.
Barr's visit to Detroit comes amid what has been a bloody summer in Detroit. Homicides are up 25% and shootings are up 51%, with nearly 380 being shot in the last two months alone, including 63 deaths — that's at least one killing a day by gunfire.

"I wouldn't call it an intervention," Barr said of the operation, adding  "I think Detroit does need an increase" in law enforcement to help fight the city's escalating gun violence.

"At the end of the day, it's about saving lives," Barr said during an interview from the back of his SUV-limo before he boarded the helicopter.

So far, 32 federal agents have arrived in Detroit. The remaining 10 are due to arrive in the fall.

The federal effort has drawn skepticism from local and state leaders and activists who question the government's motives. Black Lives Matter protesters have expressed concern that the feds may be used against peaceful protests, turning Detroit into another Portland. Others believe President Donald Trump, who announced the initiative last month, is trying to use Detroit's crime problem to win votes in November by portraying himself as the law-and-order leader.

As  NAACP President Wendell Anthony has argued: "President Trump is in the midst of his reelection campaign. He cannot have public rallies, visit key cities, hold conventions, or even take pictures in a crowd due to COVID-19."

Anthony views Operation Legend as a "political ploy" by Trump to win votes in November and to "scare suburban and city white folks into voting for him out of fear."

 "His poll numbers are tragically low," Anthony has said.

Meanwhile, Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who also rode in the helicopter with Barr, has stressed repeatedly that the crime initiative is about helping Detroit fight escalating violence. He has said he needs and welcomes the help. And the AG came to town, he said, to see how Operation Legend is working.

"He wanted to come see it up close and personal," Craig said. "This is all about crime."

Craig stressed the federal agents are already here.

"Folks are on the ground, but they're still building it up," Craig said of the federal presence.

Detroit is one of several cities that is part of Operation Legend. Federal agents are also being sent to Milwaukee, Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, where escalating violence has been reported.

“Frankly, we have no choice," Trump said about sending in federal agents to these cities. "This rampage of violence shocks the conscience of our nation."

But many local and state leaders are skeptical about Trump's motives.

"I have a lot of concern about what his intentions are," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has said, adding the election is less than three months out. "I’m concerned about his motivations here."

Nessel explained that her skepticism is based on Trump's behavior toward Michigan lawmakers, saying he has disrespected and mocked local and state leaders, including referring to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as "that woman from Michigan."

"He calls our cities war zones. That’s not someone coming in because he’s genuinely concerned about our populous," Nessel said. "He's not trying to help. He's trying to dominate."

Federal officials disagree.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said when he was an assistant prosecutor under President Barack Obama, federal initiatives like Operation Legend took place.

"I was doing the same thing then that we are doing now. It's the same. We are working with state and local partners," said Schneider, who believes federal law enforcement assistance is desperately needed in Detroit.

"We have more resources and tools. Who wouldn't want that? If you live in a dangerous neighborhood, you want to make it safe, and that's what we want to do,"  said Schneider, who also rode alongside Barr on the helicopter tour.

According to Schneider, Operation Legend is already seeing some progress.

"We have some active investigations going on right now," Schneider said. "We're seeing arrests. We've already taken guns off the streets and assault rifles."

Detroit chief James Deier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has argued that Detroit can't afford to turn a blind eye to the escalating gun violence.

"Senseless gun violence is taking over the streets of the Detroit," Deier has argued. "Whether we want to admit it or we want to stick our heads in the sand, at the end of the day, statistics do not lie. ... What is happening on the streets of Detroit has to end."

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Bashara & His Habeas Corpus Heavy Media Coverage

I should definitely say that Bashara has a logical argument to pursue a writ of Habeas Corpus!

I just adore the extraordinary writs.

Bashara turns to federal courts to try to get out of prison

Bashara & his "Habeas Corpus Heavy Media Coverage"

Detroit — Bob Bashara was unable to get his murder conviction overturned in the state court system, so he's now turning to the federal courts.

Bashara's attorney, Ronald Ambrose, on Friday filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

The filing claims Ryan Correctional Facility Warden Lee McRoberts is unlawfully detaining the former Grosse Pointe Park businessman.

A writ of Habeas Corpus petition allows someone to report an illegal detention and ask the court to compel testimony from the jailer to determine if the imprisonment is legal. The filing is Bashara's only available legal recourse since all his state appeals to be released from the Detroit prison have been exhausted.

The federal petition makes the same arguments Bashara presented during his state claims: that his trial was tainted by ineffective attorneys and heavy media coverage of the case; that key evidence was lost or not reported in time to be beneficial to the defense.

Ambrose told The Detroit News on Friday that Bashara, 61, is suffering from "health issues," although he declined to elaborate.

"I'm a little worried about him in that respect, but his spirits seem to be good," Ambrose said. "I'm looking forward to getting some relief in the federal system."

Friday's filing is Bashara's latest attempt to overturn his conviction after he was sentenced to life in prison for paying handyman Joseph Gentz to kill his wife, Jane Bashara, in January 2012.

The case made national headlines after it was revealed that Bashara, former president of the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club, lived a secret life as "Master Bob" in Detroit's bondage, discipline and sadomasochistic (BDSM) community.

Prosecutors said Bashara, who operated a sex dungeon beneath the former Hard Luck Lounge on property he owned near the Detroit-Grosse Pointe Park border, wanted his wife killed so he could collect $800,000 in her 401(k) account.

His plan, prosecutors said, was to purchase a house he dubbed "the cottage," where he would be served by multiple submissive women and live the BDSM lifestyle full-time.

Bashara was charged in June 2012 for trying to have Gentz killed after a furniture store owner wore a wire and recorded Bashara setting up the hit.

Bashara pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder and was serving a 20-year sentence when he was charged with wife's murder.

Following a trial that featured 74 witnesses and 460 exhibits, Bashara was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015.

In September 2017, the Court of Appeals affirmed Bashara's conviction after litigation went through lower courts. The matter was appealed to the state Supreme Court, which in May 2018 declined to hear the case.

"Mr. Bashara has exhausted all state remedies available to him," Bashara's 110-page court filing said.

The filing also claims police and prosecutors dragged their feet in presenting the defense a report about small bits of leaves found on Jane Bashara's body.

"The (delaying) tactics of obtaining the report of the leaves found on

Jane Bashara and in her vehicle denied the defense an opportunity to further

research where these leaves were initially located," the filing said.

"At first blush, the evidence of the leaf on Jane Bashara's sock when she is found may seem quite insignificant. Once we dig deeper into the case, we realize it was quite an important part of the case, so much so that an officer falsely declared it came from the Bashara's garage. In an independent test by Michigan State University, the evidence showed, however, it did not."

Jane Bashara's clothing was misplaced after it was taken into evidence, leading to police in Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park blaming each other for the loss. Friday's filing claimed losing the clothing also tainted his case.

"The police and prosecution failed to secure key evidence (Jane Bashara's clothing), and failed to obtain and disclose a report until late into the trial (a leaf found on Jane Bashara' s sock and within her vehicle) — these would have vindicated Mr. Bashara," the filing said.

University of Detroit-Mercy law professor Larry Dubin said courts rarely grant Writ of Habeas Corpus petitions by convicted prisoners.

"It’s a way to attempt to indicate that the constitutional rights he’s alleging were violated in the state courts were not properly decided, and therefore, he’s bringing it into the federal court arena as violations of the federal Constitution," Dubin said.

"In general, it's a tough sell, where you have the issues litigated through the trial and appellate courts of the state, to get relief granted in the federal courts. But it's the only legal recourse that available for him to take."

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