A Detroit officer to stand trial after photojournalists were shot with pellets during a 2020 protest
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit police corporal accused of shooting three photojournalists with rubber pellets while they covered protests against police brutality has been ordered to stand trial.
Daniel Debono is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 28 in Wayne County Circuit Court on felonious assault charges, the county prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
Shortly after midnight on May 31, 2020, in downtown Detroit, MLive.com photojournalist Nicole Hester and two independent photojournalists, Seth Herald and Matthew Hatcher, encountered Debono and two other officers.
Each of the photojournalists was wearing press credentials, identified themselves as news media and raised their hands as they asked to cross the street, Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at the time.
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Debono, dressed in riot gear, struck all three with rubber pellets that inflicted bruises and other injuries.
The photojournalists were covering the protest in downtown Detroit, which was sparked by the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Most of the protesters at the time had already dispersed from the area where the photojournalists were shot.
Then-Detroit Police Chief James Craig suspended Debono.
A 36th District Court judge dismissed the case at the officer’s preliminary examination in 2021, ruling that a state statute gave Debono immunity from prosecution. That was appealed by the prosecutor’s office and a Wayne County Circuit Court judge reversed the lower court’s decision which was appealed by the defense.
Last March, Michigan’s Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court ruling and remanded the case back to U.S. District Court in Detroit. The appeals court determined the statute provides a legal defense at trial instead of immunity, the prosecutor’s office said.
The Associated Press left a voicemail and email Tuesday evening seeking comment from Debono’s defense attorney listed in court records.
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