Something Wickens This Way Comes: Did Our Justice System Act as Accomplice in Trooper Butterfield's Murder?

[XLFD]

The news about the MSP Trooper, Paul Butterfield, who was shot on the night of September 9th was rather slow in coming out, and there was plenty of confusion early on.  Early reports had the person shot being a Mason County deputy, and although we had knowledge of the vehicle involved, the shooter(s) inside the vehicles identities were not divulged. 

 

The trooper's name was released around 10:00 PM the night he was shot shortly after 6:00 PM, by this time the two suspects had also been corralled at the Dublin General Store and one was in the hospital.  Their names were withheld from the media, only being disclosed by the male suspect's father to some out of town TV network midafternoon the next day.  This information wasn't officially released until Wednesday morning, a day and a half after the shooting. 

 

In fairly short time, our out of town investigative reporters uncovered some interesting information on the criminal career of the accused shooter, Eric Knysz:  

 

BALDWIN, Mich. (WOOD) - On the surface, it appears Eric Knysz should have been in jail when he allegedly shot and killed Michigan State Police Trooper Paul Butterfield Monday. But a common sentencing practice freed him early -- and it wasn't the first time.

State police records show that in March, Knysz was sentenced to a year in the Lake County Jail for carrying a switchblade. But Lake County court records show the judge suspended most of Knysz's jail time, which meant he didn't have to serve it -- a practice that is not uncommon.

Knysz has been in front of Judge Mark Wickens four times for five crimes since 2008. In each case, the judge gave Knysz credit for time served, meaning he was never sentenced to more jail time than what he had served between the time of his arrest and the sentencing hearing.

At 14 years old, he was charged with burglary. In that case, he and two other teens kicked open the door of a house and Knysz used a firearm to shoot open the door of a barn on the property. He was automatically treated as an adult in juvenile court. He was sentenced to a year in jail and served 29 days.

Last year, he was charged with impair driving and was sentenced to 93 days in jail. All 93 were suspended.

In March, he was sentenced to a year behind bars for carrying a switchblade and 90 days on a traffic offense. He served just three days.

Eight days after that sentencing, Knysz assaulted his uncle in a fight that started as an argument over ice cream sandwiches, court records show. For that, he was sentenced to 93 days in jail. He served two.

All told, he has been sentenced to 1,006 days in jail since 2008 and served only 34. The rest of the jail time was suspended.

 

Judge Wickens declined to comment and Lake County Prosecutor Craig Cooper wouldn't discuss specifics of the prior cases.

Prosecutor Craig R. Cooper

"At this time I'm working with prosecutors within Mason County, Manistee County. We've come to the determination that I'm just going to give out my condolences at this time so we don't prejudice any further proceedings," Cooper said.

The prosecutor also said he never would have predicted Knysz would be accused in the murder of a police officer based on his past.

"It was a senseless crime, and I'm going to leave it at that," he said.

Knysz, who was shot in the knee at the time of his arrest, is still awaiting arraignment in connection to Butterfield's death. He faces several charges including murder of a police officer, weapons charges, auto theft and being a habitual offender

http://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/eric-knysz-served-34-of-1006-da...

The article above does not mention the father of Eric Knysz is a retired Calumet City, Illinois police officer who has settled in Irons in Lake County, and apparently owned the murder weapon that Eric allegedly used.  It can be quite embarrassing for a policeman to have a black sheep in the family like Eric, and from the WOOD interview, he does seem to downplay his son's former transgressions or mention that there may have been some favorable treatment. 

 

Lake County is known for being very tough on crime, and it would be interesting to see how a black man from Baldwin with a similar rap sheet would have matriculated through the court system.  But Lake County, like Mason County, has a soft spot for criminals with a pedigree.  Witness what happened with a Baldwin Treasurer who appeared to have embezzled some money and set fire to evidence that may have incriminated him.  He came into the friendly confines of his fellow public official, Mark Wickens, as noted in these two short articles from Lake County's paper of record.

 

BALDWIN – Former village of Baldwin Treasurer Dale Dailey faces embezzlement charges.

Dailey, 51, of Baldwin, was arraigned Thursday in the 51st circuit courtroom of Chief Judge Mark Wickens. Dailey was charged with one count of embezzlement more than $1,000 but less than $20,000. If convicted, Dailey faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine or a fine of times the amount of the money stolen, whichever is greater.

According to court records, Dailey was arrested on Feb. 16 by the Michigan State Police and was taken into custody and lodged the Lake County Jail. On Feb. 17, Dailey posted a 10 percent surety cash bond and was released.

Dailey also is a suspect in a 2006 arson investigation of a fire that occurred at the Baldwin village offices. Lake County Sheriff Robert Hilts said investigators believe she and another woman set fire to financial records in the village office on Sept. 12, 2006, in order to cover the alleged embezzlement.

Hilts said that the decision to charge Dailey in the arson case is in the hands of the Lake County Prosecutor’s office.

Dailey’s attorney, Kevin J. Kozma, declined comment for this story.

http://joemartinez20.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/former-baldwin-treasu...

BALDWIN – Embezzlement charges against a former Village of Baldwin treasurer have been dismissed.

Dale Dailey, 51, was arrested Feb. 16 and was charged with one count of embezzlement by a government agent or trustee between $1,000 and $20,000. The felony charge carried a punishment of up to five years in prison and fine of $10,000 or three times amount stolen, whatever was greater.

The former village official was, however, sentenced and fined after pleading no contest to a lesser charge.

Bailey pleaded no contest to one count of making a false statement of public finance and transfer of same on May 21, according to Lake County Trial Court records. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but it is viewed as a conviction when it comes to sentencing.

Dailey was sentenced to pay $350 in fines and court costs and a suspended sentence of 90 days in jail by 78th District Court Judge Mark Wickens. The court can enforce the jail sentence for up to one year if Dailey gets in any trouble during the probationary period, according to the Lake County prosecutor’s office.

Dailey declined to comment for this story.

http://joemartinez20.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/embezzlement-charges-...

But Attorney Craig Cooper and Judge Mark Wickens also hold a personal interest for me.  Cooper was part of the legal team that represented the City of Ludington in a FOIA appeal I (and a fellow seeker of knowledge) took to Mason County's Circuit Court with his dad Richard I. Cooper being the judge of the case.  More than four months passed, before the judge apprised the plaintiffs that this relationship may be an appearance of impropriety.  Do you really think so, Judge Cooper and Attorney Cooper?  Never did the judge, the circuit court administrators/clerks, the county clerks, or the City of Ludington's defense team ever disclose that fact until all discovery and motions were filed.

 

 

Then Mark Wickens entered the picture (pictured above, much younger), and took over where Judge Cooper left off.  Ludington City Manager John Shay had committed perjury in a sworn affidavit-- it didn't interest him.  Clear acts of public extortion by Shay were absolved as not significant.  A variety of violations of the standards of conduct for public officers by Shay were ignored as irrelevant.  FOIA requests made by plaintiffs that were never received (and have never been received) were deemed to be valid charges and the plaintiffs wound up with a $700 bill for records never seen, and costs never agreed upon.  Never was there a negative word said about the standards of conduct of the attorneys for the City who violated quite a few beyond the failure to disclose their relationship with the prior judge.  Read more:  Appellant's Brief: Facts

 

I can personally make the claim that Judge Mark S. Wickens is a failure at dispensing fairness and justice.  I hope our system is not too broke to still police itself and do a more thorough review of the judge's past caseloads and see for themselves what wickedness lies within.  Eric Knysz's best accomplice that night may just have been the man in the black robes that has ran interference for him for five other crimes.

[Willy]

Terrific article X. The public would never know about the shenanigans that are part of the law enforcement authority in Mason County if it wasn't for your perseverance in finding the truth. All the details that make up this case would never be brought to light by the LDN so the public as usual would remain ignorant of all the under the table dealings that are going on. It seems to all makes sense now except why did the kid pull the trigger? High on drugs maybe or perhaps the weapon was fired accidentally? His rap sheet doesn't seem to show a violent murderous side but who really knows what goes on inside the head of a disturbed person.

[XLFD]

I did some substitute teaching out at Freesoil Schools up until about 2008 and can report that my impression of Eric Krysz was that he was a bit of the rebel, more so than your usual Freesoil youth.  I could see him trending towards sociopathy. 

He did have a PPO taken out on him by his uncle recently, who was fearful of him.  But it is yet to be declared what happened that triggered this reaction, and unfortunately, Trooper Butterfield won't get the opportunity to give his side of the story, except maybe through a dashcam video.

[Willy]

X, I was rereading the article and just noticed the names of the stars on the movie poster. Funny.

[XLFD]

Did you happen to notice the added content to the tag line on the right side too?

[Willy]

No, but I just now read it. So true.

[XLFD]

If you seen Sarah Krysz's Facebook page, there was a lot of horrific postings made against this woman and her unborn child that, of course, won't be seen by Sarah for quite a while.  There's venting, and then there's hate speech, and it's incredible how Americans can place such guilt on both people when there's only one bullet that was fired and a lot of history in favor of she, and against him. 

Those who are truly supportive of good police officers, like it appears Trooper Butterfield was, should be also respectful of those officers following proper procedures in giving these two and a half people their rights under law.  Unfortunately, there is a significant amount of people in our justice system that lose their objectivity at times, particularly when one of theirs is the victim of a crime.  These are the same folks that believe Joseph McAdam's tackling and multiple taserings by area LEOs were justified back in 2009. 

[XLFD]

As regards the Baldwin Treasurer Dailey incident, I can't understand why they charged the Treasurer with Arson (when he set fire to public records incriminating him of embezzlement) rather than MCL 750.491 which deals with destruction of public records, along with a host of other misdemeanors and felonies that may have been more applicable, which prosecutors often do to normal criminals. 

But even if they did, Wickens would have likely not done anymore.  The Treasurer likely made out with thousands of dollars, destroyed public records and had to pay $350 in court costs and no jail time.  I hope Baldwin taxpayers were happy with that.