The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a Black man from Southfield has the right to a new trial, and subsequently vacated his 10-year prison sentence for drug charges after a white judge made racist remarks about the defendant’s appearance at a pretrial hearing.
At a January 2020 court date, U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III said the 34-year-old Southfield man Leron Liggins “looks like a criminal” and that he was “tired of this case” after Liggins changed his attorney for a second time and caused a delay in the proceedings.
“What do you want me to do? This guy looks like a criminal to me,” Murphy said, according to the Court of Appeals’ opinion to overturn the case. “This is what criminals do. This isn’t what innocent people, who want a fair trial do.”
Liggins filed a motion to have Murphy recused from the case the day before his trial, but Murphy denied the motion and apologized for his remarks. Murphy said that he “lost his head,” but that he could still be fair to Liggins.
“I give Mr. Liggins the same rights and opportunities here to demonstrate his innocence or lack of guilt as any other litigant, and I believe that my conduct at the final pretrial conference … and in today’s hearing do not evidence any bias,” Murphy said.
But the Court of Appeals did not agree with Murphy. The three-judge appellate panel concluded that Murphy indeed should have recused himself, despite prosecutors arguing that Murphy’s comments were about Lee’s actions and not his race.
“Even if one were to assume a lack of racial bias on the part of the district judge, the remark nevertheless raises the specter of such bias,” the opinion said. “Beyond this remark, the district judge’s other remarks could be understood to demonstrate clear prejudgment of Liggins’ guilt.”
Liggins was originally indicted by a Michigan grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin in February 2018, but it took nearly two years for the case to go to trial. He was also indicted in 2019 with an additional charge of aiding and abetting possession with the intent to distribute heroin.
Liggins’ attorney Wade Fink told CNN: “The 6th Circuit sent a pretty strong message today that no matter who you are, what you look like, or what you’re accused of, you are entitled to be treated with dignity, respect, and, above all, actual fairness. When judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, police, or others fail to uphold their oaths in protecting the presumptively innocent, then community faith in our system is lost and our republic struggles to function.”
No date has been set for Liggins’ new trial, but it will be assigned to a different judge. It’s unclear whether Murphy will face any additional sanctions for his miscarriage of justice in Liggins’ case, but it reminds us that the presumption of innocence that we’re supposed to have in a court of law is often dependent on the color of one’s skin.
