No Civil Rights Charges in Macomb County In-Custody Death

MACOMB COUNTY, MI — Officials in won’t be prosecuted for a civil rights violation in the in-custody death and drug overdose of a Macomb County Jail inmate two years ago, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Monday.

In a statement, McQuade said the evidence doesn’t support civil rights charges in the June 2014 death of David Stojcevski, 32, of Roseville, who died in custody 16 days into a 30-day jail sentence for failure to pay $772 in fines associated with a failure to appear chag on a traffic ticket.

Stojcevski, who reportedly lost 50 pounds while in custody in June 2014, was under constant video surveillance and was seen naked and lying on the floor of the cell in videos that were released to a local television station. He was rushed to a Mount Clemens hospital when authorities discovered him respiratory distress, and he died 90 minutes later.

In the letter to Stojcevski’s family, McQaude wrote:

“The federal criminal civil rights statutes that we enforce carry a very high burden of proof that cannot be met in this case. Specifically, the available evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the deputies and medical personnel who were responsible for the care of your son acted with the requisite criminal intent.
“We understand that this news is disappointing to you, but we want to assure you that, before reaching this conclusion, we conducted a careful review of all the evidence. We hope that you have found solace and support from others in your family and community. Please accept our most sincere condolences on your tragic loss. Our thoughts are with you and your family.”

At a news conference Monday, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said the federal investigation into Stojcevski’s death was “very thorough.” It included the review of about 240 hours of in-cell video surveillance footage released to the FBI by Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham.

“We wanted to make sure that in the end that there was this clearing of any officers of any wrongdoing,” Hackel said at the news conference. “That people would trust that and they would believe that.”

A federal lawsuit filed by Stojcevski’s brother, Vladimir Stojcevski, remains unresolved. Named in the lawsuit are Wickersham, jail employees and Correct Care Solutions, which is under contract with Macomb County to provide medical care to jail inmates. Last fall, a federal judge dismissed about 30 defendants, including 16 sheriff’s deputies, and also rejected a 14th Amendment argument raised by Vladimir Stojcevski, who was jailed at the same time as his brother.

Wickersham declined to talk about the allegations in the lawsuit — that Stojcevski died of acute drug withdrawal and lost 50 pounds while in custody — and said “the facts will come out.”

Until then, he said, “I will not debate them in the media,” Wickersham said during the news conference.
Last fall, Hackel and Wickersham said Robert Ihrie, Vladimir Stojcevski’s attorney, was trying to strong-arm the county out of $25 million to $30 million to settle the lawsuit. It seeks $75,000 n damages.

See Also

• Sheriff: Attorney Trying to ‘Strong Arm’ County in In-Custody Death of Inmate
• FBI Reviewing Macomb County Jail Inmate’s In-Custody Death
• Judge Ordered to Stop Jailing People Who Can’t Afford Fines
• New Michigan Rules Aimes at Ending Pay-or-Stay Sentences

In an interview with The Detroit News, Ihrie said federal prosecutors’ decision not to pursue charges doesn’t affect the civil lawsuit.

“The fact remains the defendant in this case had my client under their total control as an inmate for 17 days,” Ihrie said in a phone interview after the press conference. “And every day for 24 hours a day they were 10 feet away from him, monitoring allegedly.

“It is a tragic death and it never, never should have happened.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan last fall asked the Justice Department to investigate civil rights complaints related to what it believes ar systemic problems at the jail that led to Strojcevski’s death — treatment of mentally ill or chemically dependent inmates and the pay-or-stay practice of jailing simply because they’re too poor to pay court costs.

Of the requested investigation, ACLU of Michigan Spokesman Darrell Dawse told the Detroit Free Press “there hasn’t has been done on that yet,” but the state Supreme Court in May announced a series of amendments to court rules designed to eliminte pay-or-stay sentences.

The most significant of the rules that were scheduled to take effect Sept. 1 prohibited judges from sentencing a person to jail for nonpayment without first determining whether the person can afford to pay.

Hackel said Stojcevski’s death has spotlighted mental health and substance abuse problems, the “all too tragic a reality we’re dealing with in society,” the Free Press reported.

Photo via Macomb County