Washtenaw County deputy to stand trial for assault
A judge has ruled a corrections deputy in Washtenaw County should go to trial for assaulting a jail inmate, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.
Cpl. Christopher Ellul was among officers charged as a result of several public integrity investigations conducted by Nessel’s Public Integrity Unit (PIU).
In May, Ellul was arraigned on the following in the 14A-1 District Court:
• One count of assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor.
• One count of misconduct in office by a public official, a five-year felony.
Last August, Ellul was working at the Washtenaw County Jail when he assisted in removing an inmate from a cell. Video evidence shows that Ellul grabbed the restrained inmate by the neck twice. According to the county’s use of force policy, neck holds are considered deadly force.
Following a preliminary exam last month, Judge J. Cedric Simpson bound the case over to circuit court Tuesday morning.
“Seeing Mr. Ellul bound over for trial reinforces our commitment to ensuring those who are hired to protect and serve do so with utmost integrity,” Nessel said.
The next court date is September 21 at 1:30 p.m. for a pretrial conference.
Nessel: Don’t deny unemployment for pot use outside work
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — People fired from their jobs for using marijuana outside the workplace still should be eligible for unemployment benefits, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a filing before the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission.
The brief was filed Monday and focuses on three cases currently consolidated before the board and says the commission’s ruling will “directly impact many law-abiding Michigan workers who may be terminated for the use of marijuana.”
Each case deals with whether an employee should be disqualified from collecting unemployment if they are fired solely for using marijuana during their personal time — meaning marijuana was not used on the job or on the employers’ premises, nor did it impair the employee during work hours, Nessel said in a release.
Administrative law judges have reached different results in different cases on whether a person may be disqualified for “illegal drugs” based on their use of marijuana, according to the brief.
But Nessel points to Michigan voters’ approval in 2018 for making recreational marijuana use legal in the state.
“Nobody over 21 can be penalized or denied any right or privilege solely for legally using marijuana, and employers cannot control their employees’ private lives by calling the legal use of marijuana outside of work hours ‘misconduct,’” Nessel said in a release.
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