DETROIT (WWJ) – The case against a Detroit police officer accused of firing rubber bullets at journalists covering the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests is headed to trial.
In July 2020, a little more than a month after the alleged incident, Officer Daniel Debono was charged with three counts of felonious assault. During his preliminary examination, the 36th District Court judge dismissed the case, maintaining that a state statute gave the officer immunity from prosecution.
Officials said at the time of the ruling the statute granted immunity to any officer “where an unlawful assembly is declared.” The ruling was appealed.
On Tuesday the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced the case was bound over for trail after Judge Roberta Archer heard arguments.
Three journalists — identified as MLive’s Nicole Hester, independent photojournalists Seth Herald and Matthew Hatcher — were covering the protests late on the night of May 30, 2020. Around 10 p.m. that night the Detroit Police Department had declared the protest was an unlawful assembly.
Around midnight the three were walking in Downtown Detroit when they encountered Debono and two other officers in the area of Woodward Avenue and State Street, according to previous reports.
They identified themselves as members of the press and had their hands up, asking to cross the street, according to prosecutors. Within seconds of attempting to cross the street Debono opened fire with non-lethal rubber bullets, according to prosecutors, who called the incident “unprovoked.”
Herald suffered an injury to his wrist, while Hatcher had bruising on his face, a mark on his nose, and bruising on his ribs. Hester sustained injuries to her face, neck, arms, and legs, according to previous reports.
The prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling to the Wayne County Third Circuit Court and the lower court decision was reversed. The court held that the statute provided an affirmative defense at trial, not at the preliminary examination. The defense appealed the ruling and on March 16, 2023, Michigan Court of Appeals in a published opinion affirmed the Third Circuit Court ruling and remanded the case back to the district court. The appellate court found that the statute provides a legal defense at trial instead of immunity.
After Tuesday’s ruling that the case will go to trial, arraignment was set for Nov. 28.