AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is under criticism for failing to investigate the cases of retired Detroit detective Barbara Simon.
Protesters plan to hold a rally outside the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday to demand a thorough review of all cases handled by a former Detroit detective who terrorized young black men for nearly two decades.
The protest came just over a month after Metro Times published a series about Detective Barbara Simon, who locked young suspects and witnesses in small rooms at police headquarters for hours without a warrant, extracting false confessions and testimony that was later retracted.
Four men have so far been exonerated and a fifth was released before his murder trial because DNA evidence exonerated him.
Acquitted defendants and lawyers say many more innocent people are likely still behind bars because of Simon’s reckless and illegal tactics.
“I lost more than 20 years of my life because of a detective who played judge and jury,” said Lamar Monson, who was acquitted of murder charges in 2017, in a press release announcing the protest. “It is time for accountability, not just for me, but for all whose lives were stolen by these corrupt practices.”
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., protesters will gather outside the new Criminal Justice Center at 5301 Russell Street in Detroit. They are calling on Worthy to hire an outside legal counsel to investigate the cases handled by Simon.
They have requested outside counsel because they fear Worthy’s office is not investigating cases thoroughly. Her office has a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) that is responsible for getting innocent people out of prison, but the unit has not worked on cases related to Simon, despite her troubling past.
So far, Worthy’s office has declined to investigate the cases, saying it does not have enough information. Detroit police are demanding a full investigation into Simon’s cases, and police have offered their assistance to prosecutors.
Worthy’s inaction frustrates the families of those still in prison.
Yolanda Garrison says her cousin Nathan Peterson was wrongfully convicted of murder in 2021 and has been in prison ever since. Peterson says he made a false confession due to Simon’s unethical and illegal tactics.
“We trusted the system to deliver justice, but instead there was corruption and lies,” Garrison said. “The Wayne County District Attorney’s Office must do the right thing and reopen these cases.”
Numerous activist groups are participating in the protest, including the Michigan Innocence Project, Defenders of Truth and Justice, Righteous Sons, Safe Place for Veterans, Moving Detroit Forward, TimeDone, and Royal Reign Ministries. Protesters are urging the public to join the protest.
Simon, now retired, was a lead homicide detective in Detroit in the 1990s and early 2000s. During that time, the U.S. Department of Justice found that homicide detectives had trampled on the constitutional rights of suspects and witnesses for decades to obtain confessions. According to the Justice Department, the department had a history of wrongfully arresting, illegally detaining and abusively interrogating suspects and witnesses. Despite the high risk, investigators were not properly trained and bad cops were rarely disciplined, the Justice Department concluded.
Mark Craighead, who served more than seven years in prison for a murder he did not commit, said he is still struggling with his experiences behind bars.
“The trauma does not end with release,” Craighead said. “We demand justice for all those still trapped in the system that allowed Simon to run free.”
Craighead was acquitted of murder charges in 2022 after it was proven that he had made a false confession during hours of threats, false promises and interrogation by Simon.
In granting Craighead a retrial, Shannon Walker of Wayne County District Court said Simon had “a history of confessions and lies under oath” and that Craighead’s cases demonstrated “a common pattern of misconduct.”
“Not only has this court already determined that the statements obtained from Simon are not credible, but the Michigan Supreme Court has done so as well,” Walker said.
“This impeachment evidence shows that Simon lied repeatedly as part of her misconduct. This would allow a jury to assess whether her testimony can be trusted in light of information that is true in nature,” Walker added.
Despite the judge’s harsh reprimand of Simon, others who claim to have been victims of the detective have received no help from the prosecution.
