Man at center of HIV disclosure controversy in Lansing can’t get police agencies to take criminal complaint

LANSING — The man at the center of the HIV disclosure controversy has been told by three separate law enforcement agencies that they can’t take his criminal complaint he wants to file against the city attorney.

According to the man and his wife, the two have been attempting to file a police report against Lansing City Attorney Brigham Smith since Friday. They have gone to the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department, the Attorney General’s Criminal Division and the Michigan State Police’s Lansing post. Two of the law enforcement agencies have confirmed they spoke with the man, and declined to take a criminal report.

The man, whom Michigan Messenger is not naming because of the sensitivities of the state law prohibiting the release of private HIV disclosure information, was arrested May 22 in a controversial undercover sex sting in a Lansing nature center. His HIV-positive status was released by the city attorney as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by Michigan Messenger. Critics have said that such private medical information should never have been released by the city.

Releasing a person’s HIV status, either negative or positive, is a misdemeanor in the state of Michigan punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine of $5,000. It also holds stiff civil penalties.

The Michigan State Police could not confirm or deny they spoke with the man in question, but did confirm they would not have taken a criminal complaint.

Greg Harless, chief deputy for the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed that his department refused to take the complaint.

“We don’t investigate other police agencies,” he said. Harless referred the man to the Attorney General’s Criminal Division.

Officials from the Attorney General’s Criminal Division declined to comment about the situation, but did confirm the man had called them. He says the Criminal Division referred him to the Michigan State Police.

According to the website for the Criminal Division, they investigate and prosecute:

» crimes where the state is a victim;
» political corruption and police corruption;
» cases of statewide significance where the prosecutor has rejected the case or asked for assistance
» cases where the prosecutor has been disqualified
» Organized crime, racketeering and money laundering

James McCurtis, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Community Health, said last week the attorney general’s office should investigate the case because of the close working relationship between Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings and Smith.

Dunnings told Michigan Messenger that he could not comment on the case because it might come before him for prosecution.

The man went Tuesday afternoon to the Michigan State Police’s Lansing post on Canal Road. There, he said, officers declined to take his complaint, and refused to provide him with business cards, names or badge numbers.

Trooper Chris Patton said he could find no one who knew what the man was talking about.

Asked if the state police would decline to take such a complaint, he said they would.

“There’s a procedure,” Patton said. “It has to be investigated by the police agency’s internal affairs division.”

Asked if the procedure was based in a state law, Patton said he did not know.

Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project, has said he can find no legal justification for the release of the man’s HIV status based on Michigan law.

And while he said he did not know what law enforcement agency should handle the investigation, and noted he was unaware of such a criminal case ever being pursued in Michigan, he did say in an email to Michigan Messenger:

“It would seem rather strange to have the Lansing Police Department investigate the City Attorney for an issue involving the City’s police department.”

Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero has said he is investigating the complaint against Smith and is considering the request to ask the Michigan attorney general to investigate. Two of his opponents, Carol Wood and Charles Ford, have said they would investigate.