Conyers, sympathetic to case of convicted Detroit journalist, fails to take action on case

DETROIT — Following the conviction of a local journalist for felony police obstruction, Congressman John Conyers, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said that his office would be taking a very careful look at the case, which some call retaliatory prosecution of a reporter known for her dogged work documenting police brutality and other justice issues in Michigan’s largest city.

Although Conyers has told Michigan Messenger “it’s something we’re looking into,” the congressman’s office has not responded to requests by the reporter, Diane Bukowski, to discuss her situation, as the congressman promised.

Members of Conyers’ staff were unresponsive to Michigan Messenger’s inquiry on the matter last week. As she awaits sentencing on June 1, the congressman’s office hasn’t indicated whether it will take any action in Bukowski’s case.

“He never contacted me back,” Bukowski said in an email message last week.

Bukowski, 60, writes for the African-American-owned newspaper The Michigan Citizen and was arrested last November on the scene of a crash in northeast Detroit involving a police chase that killed two people. During the week-long jury trial last month, prosecutors and state troopers said that Bukowski had crossed a yellow police tape and stood in a pool of blood as she photographed a dismembered corpse, something that she denies.

One state trooper testified that he erased Bukowski’s photographs from the scene of the crash. Along with destruction of evidence, she alleges that the state troopers lied on the stand, and their perjury was suborned by the Wayne County prosecutor’s office. In an unrelated case, a member of the prosecutor’s office was charged with perjury.

Bukowski and others have labeled the prosecution as retribution for her previous reporting on police and justice issues in Detroit. Despite these lingering questions, a jury — made up primary of white suburbanites — convicted her.

Bukowski faces sentencing on June 1.

Bukowski maintains her innocence, and testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, she reiterated her contention that her prosecution was retribution for her work as a journalist.

“I believe those charges were brought in retaliation for stories the paper has published,” she told lawmakers.

During an interview at the Michigan Policy Summit on May 16, Conyers said he was aware of Bukowski’s case.

“It’s very important to me,” the congressman told Michigan Messenger at the time.

Conyers was present three weeks ago when Bukowski made a statement after her conviction where she accused state troopers who testified against her of perjury and called for a federal investigation into the office of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

However, Conyers’ congressional office and House Judiciary Committee representatives have failed to return calls or comment on the matter. On Thursday it was still unclear who, if anyone, was assigned the task of looking into the controversial Bukowski conviction. Observers have noted that it is rare if not unheard if for a journalist accused of police obstruction police to face felony charges.

Wayne County Judge Michael Hathaway already has ruled against a motion to adjourn sentencing, which will proceed as scheduled next Monday.

Bukowski said one of her major goals now is to organize a large viewing of her sentencing. “I want the courtroom packed,” she told her supporters who met to plan the next steps of her action plan last week.

Because Bukowski’s legal fees are piling up after hiring appeals attorney John Royal — whose service fees begin at $30,000 — she and her supporters are looking to work with organized labor, political action committees, musicians and entertainment venues to organize fundraisers to help pay her legal defense.

Sharon McPhail, the progressive lawyer who has made several unsuccessful bids for Detroit mayor and has served on as Detroit’s general counsel, is working alongside Royal as Bukowski’s co-counsel.

Bukowski said McPhail took the case because she has had a good relationship with the Michigan Citizen since her days working for the city.

Bukowski said she is taking McPhail’s advice: Don’t upset the judge before sentencing.

According to an article in the Detroit Metro Times, Judge Hathaway has been “openly hostile toward Bukowski” and has criticized the reporter for having an “inflated opinion of her own celebrity.”

With contributed reporting from Michigan Messenger’s Eartha Jane Melzer and Todd A. Heywood.