Daily Briefs

Inmate charged in slaying of deputy in jail


DETROIT (AP) — An inmate has been charged in the slaying of a Wayne County sheriff’s deputy at a jail in downtown Detroit.

Deandre Williams, 28, of Detroit, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, murder of a police officer, felony murder, unarmed robbery and escaping jail through violence, according to the county prosecutor’s office.

The sheriff’s office has said Cpl. Bryant Searcy, 50, was checking cell doors on Sept. 2 when he was attacked as he walked past one he thought was locked.

Searcy, who joined the sheriff’s office in 2002, was found unresponsive by other deputies and died later at a hospital.

Prosecutors said Williams was being held at the jail on a carjacking charge.

He faces a Sept. 23 probable cause conference and a Sept. 30 preliminary examination in Searcy’s slaying.

Authorities have said the attack was being reviewed to determine if sheriff’s office procedures were followed.

 

ABA asks Congress to help activate FEMA’s Disaster Legal Services program


American Bar Association President Patricia Lee Refo sent a letter this week to the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. She urged them to exercise their oversight authority over FEMA and ask the agency to promptly activate and implement the Disaster Legal Services program in each requesting state and territory to help address the many unmet legal needs of low-income Americans suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disaster Legal Service attorneys are volunteers — not FEMA employees — who provide disaster survivors with essential legal counseling and advice, and if necessary, legal representation for non-fee generating cases. For nearly 50 years, the ABA Young Lawyers Division has coordinated with the federal government to provide critical help to survivors of hundreds of natural disasters affecting nearly every state and territory.

 

Past SBM president Joseph Hardig dies, 92
 

Joseph L. Hardig Jr. died May 14 at age 92.

­Hardig served as the 43rd president of the State Bar of Michigan from 1977 to 1978. A 1977 Michigan Bar Journal feature introducing him as president described him as a “perfectionist for preparation with an enormous capacity for detail” and also highlighted his demeanor.

“Politeness and tact come naturally. To those ingredients add perspective, good judgment, sensitivity, refinement and the gentlemanly quality of making other people feel at ease,” the Journal noted.

Before serving as State Bar president, Hardig was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in 1969 and he also chaired several committees.
Hardig, who focused on litigation, corporate law, and family law, was a Fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers (State Chairman 1993–1994) and involved with the American Bar Association (Delegate to House of Delegates, 1977–1989).

He was the father of five children: Lori Nolan (Chris), Joseph L. Hardig III (Sara), Amy Lydy (David), Susan Reasoner (Barrett), and Jennifer Hardig-Kolp (Chris Dillaway); grandfather of 16 grandchildren; and brother of the late Carolyn Harte (the late Houston).

A memorial service will be announced at a later date.



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