Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
After reporting innumerable instances of prosecutorial misconduct around the country, I finally have one from Michigan to report. And to make it even more juicy, it involves sex. And it took place in Holland, one of the most religiously conservative towns in the country (this place just recently allowed people to mow their lawns on Sunday). The Grand Rapids Press reports:
A deputy city attorney, who is being investigated for reducing a woman's drunken driving offense in exchange for sex inside a jury room, has been fired, City Attorney Andrew Mulder said.Carl Gabrielse, 30, was terminated Friday from the Holland law firm, Cunningham Dalman, a day after it was notified of a probe by Holland police and Ottawa County sheriff's detectives into the alleged misconduct.
Gabrielse, who could not be reached for comment, has not been arrested or charged with a crime.
A source close to the investigation told The Press that Gabrielse met with the woman defendant at a pre-trial conference and that she had sex with him as part of a plea deal.
Gabrielse, the source said, had told the woman he would reduce her charge to impaired driving from drunken driving.
The next day she reported the incident to police and then met with Gabrielse again while wearing a wire that recorded evidence of the incident, the source said.
Oops. That's not gonna look good on a resume.
Politics
Comments
I'm confused. If the guy is a deputy city attorney, doesn't he work for the city rather than for a law firm? How did he get terminated from a law firm over this?
Posted by: Tom | November 12, 2009 9:29 AM
Please tell me I'm not the only one that finds it funny that "one of the most religiously conservative towns in the country" shares its name with such a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Posted by: Adrian W. | November 12, 2009 9:40 AM
The woman in this case sounds like she had this idea from the beginning. Not that it's not a good thing to catch potentially corrupt prosecutors like this, but I would hope the city re-instates the original charges against the woman before her trial.
As for the schadenfruede aspect, well, I'll be chuckling over that bit for a while.
Posted by: FastLane | November 12, 2009 10:04 AM
Tom @ 1: read the link and your question will be explained.
He was a stereotypical professional from this area, B.S. from Calvin College and member of Providence Christian Reformed Church.
If you were a social scientist or cultural anthropologist I'd argue this area is one of the most intriguing in the U.S. I used to do quite a lot of business there and the company I was a supplier to was a wonderful place for their employees and in my case, do business. Ed lives closer to this area and probably knows a lot more than I do, but they reminded me of Mormons without the polygamy though they were always up for a drink or two at cocktail hour.
Posted by: Michael Heath | November 12, 2009 10:09 AM
Heh. "Probe"
Posted by: Alex | November 12, 2009 10:09 AM
**Why** hasn't he been arrested yet?
Even if it was consentual, it would still be illegal.
Posted by: rpsms | November 12, 2009 10:22 AM
FastLane:The woman in this case sounds like she had this idea from the beginning.
I think it provides lessons learned for both sides. If you're a defendant and the prosecutor wants to meet with you one-on-one, say no. If you're a prosecutor and the defendant wants to meet with you one-on-one, say no. Either way, the person calling the meeting is probably up to no good.
Posted by: eric | November 12, 2009 10:24 AM
What a sorry excuse for a prosecutor. Not only does he engage in misconduct, not only does he get caught, but he didn't even send an innocent person to jail! Ya gotta fire this dude.
Posted by: Scott Hanley | November 12, 2009 11:34 AM
FastLane, since we're just speculating here, why not suppose the woman is sincere? Maybe the prosecutor pressured the woman, just like she claims, and she went to the police afterward and they arranged to catch the guy on tape.
Makes much more sense to me. There's no need to blame the incident on the victim here.
Posted by: BruceH | November 12, 2009 11:37 AM
A friend of mine is a criminal defense atty in Kalamazoo, he showed this to me Tue night and his comment? "Man, she got doubly screwed, getting drunk driving down to impaired isn't really all that hard, she should have held out for a better deal." Good old Holland, always a source for Christian foibles!
Posted by: Rob Monkey | November 12, 2009 12:47 PM
Fastlane,
Even if the woman planned the whole thing, Gabrielse shouldn't have accepted the offer. I don't really see what relevance the woman's motive has in this. Either way, it was wrong for Gabrielse to do, and the woman should face her original charges of drunk driving.
Posted by: catgirl | November 12, 2009 12:48 PM
I'm confused. If the guy is a deputy city attorney, doesn't he work for the city rather than for a law firm? How did he get terminated from a law firm over this?
I assume he's employed in private practice (with the firm), but like other small cities that don't have their own full-blown law departments, Holland farms out some prosecutorial/other municipal duties to private attorneys (the same way private attorneys are often appointed as defense counsel for indigent defendants in areas where there's no public defender's office).
Posted by: Solly Hofman | November 12, 2009 1:35 PM
No wonder he got in trouble -- he let someone off.
If he'd only had an innocent person executed, it would have been time for a promotion.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | November 12, 2009 3:09 PM
If he'd only had an innocent person executed, it would have been time for a promotion.
Well, Michigan, to its credit, has no capital punishment. (Yes, I realize your comment was tongue in cheek.) First English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish it, I believe.
Posted by: Solly Hofman | November 12, 2009 5:39 PM
Funny, I was thinking the same thing, that the country of Holland shared its name with a wretched hive of scum and villainy... ironic, eh?
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 12, 2009 6:46 PM
Was there a "dashcam" in the jury room?
Posted by: democommie | November 12, 2009 9:30 PM
Yes, beat out Wisconsin by a year.
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 13, 2009 8:56 AM