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Washtenaw County Capers Sheriff Battles Deputies And The Press

Washtenaw County Capers Sheriff Battles Deputies And The Press image Washtenaw County Capers Sheriff Battles Deputies And The Press image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
September
Year
1976
OCR Text

Voters in Washtenaw County's August 3 primary handed down at least one clear verdict amidst a complex tangle of pre-election charges surrounding the Sheriff's race there. They indicated they do not believe everything they read in the Ann Arbor News.
According to incumbant Sheriff Fred Postill, winner in the five-man Democratic primary field, the News carried out a "political smear campaign" against him revolving around a wedding reception scuffle in July.
Postill and Washtenaw Jail Administrator Frank Donley allegedly engaged in that scuffle with Washtenaw Sheriff's Deputy Basil Baysinger and Baysinger's wife. In a series of five stories, the News blasted Postill for his actions, failing to mention that Postill and Baysinger were on opposite sides of the primary election and that the scuffle may have been politically motivated.
Postill responded by filing a $180-million libel suit against Booth newspapers, publishers of the News, and right wing News columnist William Tremi. Tremi reported the spectacular charges leveled against Postill by Baysinger and Carl Parsell, executive director of the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM), both of whom are also named as defendants in the suit.
Although PostilI won the Democratic nomination to seek another term in office, accounts by the News, Washtenaw County's largest newspaper, may harm his chances in the November election against a Republican opponent who garnered more votes in the primary than did Postill.
"The fact that false and inflammatory statements about the incident were sent to the press within hours of the incident . . . and the fact that persons involved in the incident have been participants in these types of dirty tricks in the past, all indicate that the incident may have been planned to discredit the Sheriff in an election year," said Michael Stillwagon, Postill's Ann Arbor attorney.
The News, an unabashedly Republican paper, ran stories by Treml in the following sequence on its front page for one week after the incident:
MONDAY-a six-column account of the "brawl," studded heavily with lurid charges of physical violence. The account was unsubstantiated by witnesses, and witnesses who could have substantiated Postill's side of the story "were not looked for or included in the news accounts," according to Postill.
TUESDAY-Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley is asked to investigate and Washtenaw County Prosecutor William F. Delhey, a Republican, says he will await Kelley's decision. Then Delhey begins his own investigation, in conjunction with the Michigan State Police.
"I have come into conflict with the Michigan State Police on a number of issues, including the activities of the WANT (Washtenaw Area Narcotics Team) Squad and the Red Squad," Postill told the Sun. "The Prosecutor, his investigator and the State Police aren't interested in getting the real facts."
WEDNESDAY- The purported conclusions of the Washtenaw Prosecutor's unauthorized investigation are leaked, even though testimony from several first-hand witnesses is still lacking. The "conclusions" are unfavorable to Postill.
Postill's comment: "Bill Treml has had a close relationship with the prosecutor for years."
THURSDAY-POAM head Parsell telegrams State Police Director George Halverson, charging that Postill has publicly threatened Baysinger and asking that Baysinger be protected. Parsell does not substantiate his charge.
"That's absolutely false," Postill responded. "I never made threats of any kind against Baysinger to anyone, and I haven 't seen Baysinger himself since the incident."
FRIDAY-Raymond J. Zakrzewski, steward of the Washtenaw Sheriff's Deputies' bargaining unit, claims that a score of deputies would testify to assaults on prisoners by Postill and ' Donley, but adds that these deputies fear to testify because of possible disciplinary action by Postill.
"I totally deny that there was any such misconduct by myself or Donley against inmates in the jail. I myself have fired people for stealing from prisoners and other such actions," answers Postill.
On Saturday William Treml was taken off the Postill story after Postill's libel lawyer, Neal Bush, filed suit against the Ann Arbor News.
As charges began to fly in the wake of the newspaper accounts- including a civil suit brought by Baysinger against Postill and Donley charging assault, libel and slander-a probe of the incident by Undersheriff James F. Spickard resulted in the formal recommendation to Delhey that Baysinger be charged with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder against Postill.
Delhey, Washtenaw's Republican Prosecutor, refused both that and a second request from the Undersheriff that Baysinger be charged on a lesser count.
The most difficult charges to assess, however, are those filed by Zakrzewski in a union grievance procedure, accusing the sheriff of assaulting unspecified jail inmates and civilians. These charges did not result in any legal action by the Prosecutor, but the News ran a series of five stories during the week before the primary election stating that deputies were expected to testify against the Sheriff.
Only one deputy leveled charges. On the other hand, 27 Washtenaw County jail employees sent a letter to the News that week, saying in part:
"During our individual periods of employment, we have never observed [Postill or Donley ] physically or mentally abuse any inmate of this facility in any way. This is substantiated by the overall attitude of Sheriff Postill that there never be any unnecessary force used in any situation and is exemplified in the ... Sheriff's Department's Policy and Procedure Manual ...
"This statement is motivated by a feeling of indignation that an administration which is so humanistic and fair could be abused, and in an attempt to rectify the wrong that has been done to both Sheriff Postill and Frank Donley."
Zakrzewski, who is appointed by officials of Teamsters Local 214 in Detroit rather than

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The fact that persons involved in the fight have been participants in these types of dirty tricks in the past indicate that the incident may have been planned to discredit Sheriff Postill in an election year. - Postill's Attorney

Postill

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elected by fellow employees, says the grievance he filed was ordered by Joseph Valenti, president of the local.
Postill isn't surprised that the Teamsters would take an active interest in the primary. "I have been an outspoken advocate against a Teamsters' takeover of the State Police," he says, "and I have been highly vocal about whether we should give away management rights to the Teamsters Union here in the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department.
"The problem with Teamsters representation of police is that suddenly almost all police information becomes accessible to the Teamsters union- and you can see where that leaves law enforcement when it comes up against the Teamsters themselves."
A preliminary investigation in the civil suit brought by Baysinger was scheduled to run in the 14th District Court in Chelsea, Mich., this week. The libel case has not yet been scheduled.