Is Iron County Going to the Dogs?

The following article was presented to Iron
County Doings for publication by Mare and
Tom Peterson, its authors.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS (REQUEST FOR
INVESTIGATION OF AN ATTORNEY/BROUILETTE)

I think that the Iron County (MI)
Prosecutor’s office, staffed by Prosecutor
Melissa Powell Weston (P57048) and Assistant
Prosecutor Lisa Brouilette (P42717) caused
an area resident, Roger Barrette, to be
placed under false arrest, criminally charged,
tried and convicted for acts for which he
could not be held culpable pursuant to Michigan
Statute. Court records for case number 09-5265
can be obtained through the Clerk of the Court,
95B District Court, Iron County Courthouse,
2 South 6th Street, Crystal Falls MI 49920. I
base this complaint on my understanding of
Michigan’s Dog Law of 1919, Act 313 of 1919.

On March 9, 2010, my husband and I were in
the Iron County Courthouse for a hearing on
a civil matter before Iron County’s Unified
Trial Court Judge Joe Schwedler (P26055).
That hearing ended just before the Barrette
trial was to begin. Interested in learning
more about state and county law concerning
animal control, we decided to observe the
trial. What we saw and heard for two days
was a demonstration of malicious prosecution,
replete with what would prove to be
unsubstantiated assertions made by prosecutor
Brouilette as though she and she alone had
seen the defendant commit a crime on October 9,
2009. In fact, it can be said that only
Mr. Barrette and his neighbor’s dog “know” what
happened between them, as there were no other
witnesses identified at trial. We are
embarrassed to be represented by a prosecution
who affords a presumption of innocence to an
Iron County co-worker’s untagged dog running at
large but flagrantly denies a human being the
same presumption of innocence—particularly when
the untagged dog running at large is trespassing
on the human being’s private property.

Equally egregious is the fact that the
prosecution, having misapplied the law to begin
with, went on to misrepresent the law itself,
both to the judge and to the jury—in a two day
trial, no less—at considerable taxpayers expense.
It is clear to us that Mr. Barrette committed no
crime as defined under the law, had the incident
been appreciated correctly. Also, when Judge
Schwedler permitted the prosecutor to bring the
dog into the courtroom, he allowed the dog’s
reputation to have standing more favorable than
that of the defendant whom prosecutor Brouilette
said was lying. After all, how absurd would it
have been for Mr. Barrette’s attorney, John Berry
(P34268), to challenge the dog’s honesty!

Shortly after Mr. Barrette’s trial, I had a chance
encounter with the jury foreman who told me things
about the jury’s deliberation and the reasons for
the verdict. I have reported, in writing, the
nature of his remarks to the Iron County
prosecutor’s office and have been told that I
would have to bring my concerns to the defense
attorney Berry since the prosecution had won and
would not pursue mistrial. Believing that this
is a case of prosecutorial misconduct causing
a miscarriage of justice, I have given the same
writing to Mr. Barrette for his information and
use. My husband and I had no previous relationship
with Roger Barrette prior to this trial. Yet so
unrighteous was the prosecutor’s attack on his
character and so outrageously specious was her
closing argument, we have decided to bring this
matter to the Attorney Grievance Commission with
a request for investigation with the hopes of
ensuring the future integrity of the Iron County
system of justice and possibly mitigating the
damage already suffered by Mr. Barrette and his
family.

We wish it were possible for us to provide the
Commission with transcripts of the proceedings
but we do not have the means to pay for copies
of what we understand are almost 400 pages.
However they can be obtained from the Clerk of
the Court whose address is listed above. The
date of the incident was 10-10-2009. The dates
of the trial are 3-9 and 3-10-2010. The date
of sentencing is 03-29-2010.

s- Mare Peterson and Tom Peterson