The Dirty Little Secret Behind Prosecutor Beth Hand's Migration to Mason County

[XLFD]

"I am a zealous advocate, yet fair and open minded. Integrity and ethics are first and foremost in all aspects of my life, personal and professional."  Beth Hand via Beth Hand for Prosecutor (2024).

"It is conceded that Prosecutor [Beth] Hand had knowledge and deliberately withheld evidence and information that was required to be produced.   Our courts have held that the withholding of exculpatory evidence by the prosecutor after discovery has been requested constitutes a Brady violation."  -- Opinion and order of Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Victoria A. Valentine, June 21, 2021

"My husband and I have owned property in Mason County since 2005 and had always intended to relocate to this area upon his retirement. In 2021 we did just that. I, however, was not ready to call it quits and took the position as Chief Assistant for Mason County. In speaking with members of our community, it has become abundantly clear that the citizens of this county want a strong voice for victims."  Beth Hand via Beth Hand for Prosecutor (2024)

In the November 11, 2024 issue of the Detroit News, our newly elected county prosecutor Beth Hand was an integral part of their front-page main headline story about how two parents were denied justice for their dead son because of prosecutorial misconduct by a certain assistant county prosecutor serving Oakland County at that time.

One has to go over to page 8 to read the continuation of the story where Beth Hand's name is mentioned, but rather than ruin your eyes trying to read that link or have to deal with a paywall over at the Detroit News online article, the Ludington Torch will transcribe the relevant portions of that article and look at other relevant data provided by the group seeking justice.

In April 2019, Oakland County prosecutors sought charges against two defendants for causing the death of Denis Preka, one of those was Nicholas Remington.  He was jailed in lieu of $1 million in bail before the charges were dropped in 2022 because Deputy District Attorney Beth Hand withheld exculpatory evidence in the case.  Hand was called last Tuesday as she was getting elected to be Mason County's Prosecuting Attorney in order to respond to the latest developments and this story, and she declined to comment.

As the attorney general's office looks into this, the parents would also like them to look into holding the current prosecutor and her assistant accountable for Hand's withholding of the evidence in order to return a political favor.  Those prosecutors who had to do the clean-up operations after Beth Hand intentionally screwed up back in 2019-2021, are now under fire in a change.org page to remove them from their positions.  In a 2022 letter to the parents from those prosecutors informing them that they were dropping the case, no reference to Hand's prosecutorial misconduct was made, supporting the parents' theory that their goal may have been to drop charges against Remington all along, due to political reasons.

Beth Hand doesn't need to be removed from her office after this firestorm, as she skedaddled early in 2021 when it was obvious she had committed Brady violations, which happens when prosecutors knowingly do not disclose exculpatory evidence or discovery.  Later on, Judge Valentine (below) would make it official.  

"Ms. Hand's failure to bring discovery and blatant misrepresentation before the court at the preliminary examination amounts to nothing less than intolerable due process violations."  -- Judge Valentine, opinion and order, June 21, 2021

Mason County Prosecutor Beth Hand (aka Beth Wiegand when she's unlawfully concealing her name, address, and station) denied Denis Preka's family and friends any justice when she effectively ruined the case against Remington by her corrupt and willful actions. She was caught red-Handed doing the same Brady violations in our presence this summer.  It is a shame that this information only comes out after she has been easily elected to a position that requires judicious temperament and values.

[XLFD]

CBS News Detroit did a follow-up to the Detroit News article, it contains a statement from the current Oakland prosecutor throwing a former assistant prosecutor under the bus, but doesn't name her.  Hint:  It's current Mason County Prosecutor Beth Hand:

Full statement from Oakland County Prosecutor's Office: 

Before I took office and before Marc Keast was assigned to this case, the prior assistant prosecutor withheld evidence. When we discovered that, we were required to disclose it to the defense attorney and the Court.  

The Judge found that the prior assistant prosecutor committed a serious Brady violation, and suppressed evidence that was needed to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt.  We were ethically required to dismiss the case.  

Our office operates with the utmost integrity at all times, and the suggestion that campaign donations play any role in those decisions is outrageous.  

-Karen McDonald, 11-11-2024

[Jay Thomas]

McDonald is a liar and has never provided a shred of proof that Beth Hand withheld evidence. Beth Hand saw a screenshot of an alleged Snapchat that was allegedly from the defendants account. It was nothing more than third party hearsay that was by no stretch of the imagination or interpretation of the law "exculpatory." She immediately told the parents to turn it over to the Novi Police to investigate. Police reports regarding the Snap didn't exist until after she left office. Marc Keast went and got it from the Novi Police, and they are date/stamped the day he met with the investigating officer. That was a full month after Beth Hand left office. What the investigation revealed and what McDonald failed to tell the court was a) the Snapchat was sent from the home address of Remington's best friend, Connor Gibaratz, who was with him the night of the murder, and b) the Snapchat transcripts show Gibaratz admitting to using Remington's account with another user. The evidence wasn't exculpatory, it was, in fact, proof of obstruction of justice and conspiracy by Remington and Gibaratz.

Beth Hand has said all along, "If I had received the report, I would have charged Gibaratz and Remington with additional felonies." What did McDonald and Keast do? They buried it, led the court to believe Beth Hand withheld the evidence, and sat by and did nothing when the court used the lie as the basis to quash ALL the Snapchat evidence. Including the Snaps sent the night of the murder and subsequent Snap messages where Remington admits to the murder.

[XLFD]

In today's Detroit News they have a statement by Beth Hand, apparently saying that "I have never withheld evidence in my entire life, and I never would do that.  I take my integrity very seriously; I have no idea why I would be accused of that."  This made my head spin, as I saw her at a jury trial where a mistrial was declared after she tried to use evidence never disclosed to the defense prior to the trial.  She did that again and was admonished for similar violations in the case against Tom Riley.

I have little doubt that McDonald and Keast have their own issues, but frankly, Beth Hand is the most corrupt prosecutor I have ever witnessed and our former Mason County Prosecutor Lauren Kreinbrink IMHO stepped down early just to not have to deal with this menace to justice. 

Full disclosure, I was arraigned by Ms. Hand shortly after pointing out her own crimes in the Riley case for two misdemeanors.  The first was driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license-- the problem is that I've never had my license suspended or revoked according to me and the SOS.  The second was for misdemeanor trespassing at Cartier Park in the middle of the day on March 15th.  That park is a public facility open at all times with no restricted area, my taxes pay for it, and I did nothing other than walk through it.  She's dirt personified in my book, but as a journalist I am up for hearing anything in her defense in the state's case against the two accused in Oakland County.

[Willy]

According to McDonald's statement, the judge found that a serious Brady violation had been committed. So was the judge also lying? The Court record's should prove what actually happened. If Hand is innocent of the charge then all she would need to do to exonerate herself is reveal the Court records. I hope she is not guilty of the charge because the last thing Mason County needs is another corrupt public official.

[Jay Thomas]

Willy, the judge isn't lying, she was ruling on good faith based on the lies told her by APA Keast and his boss, Karen McDonald. The court records do exonerate Hand; specifically, the date/time stamp of the police report Keast alleged Hand possessed, but didn't turn over to defense. The report, which Keast went and got from the Novi Police himself, is dated over a month after Hand left office.

[Willy]

If the records exonerate her then why is that not reported in the news and why hasn't she taken legal action against those that accused her of wrong doing? If that were me I would not rest until my name was cleared. Sorry, it just doesn't make sense for her to move without clearing up this situation.. 

[XLFD]

With limited information, I think your view is very perceptive, Willy.  I discussed this case with the mother of the victim, Denis Preka, and chatted with the father on social media. They believe the current prosecutor and assistant have been compromised and that Beth Hand may have been used as a 'fall guy' when she departed in the middle of the prosecution, especially when the records that she supposedly failed to provide (and there is no record showing the OCPO had the Novi police report) were a bit more inculpatory than exculpatory.  

The court record that precipitated the opinion of Judge Valentine is extra suspicious, because AP Keast seems to throw Hand under the bus and put the blame effectively on his office (albeit not him) without (if we believe Hand) ever informing Hand that she made such an error.  

In the latest Detroit News follow-up, Hand declares she never received the report, but the Novi chief said he forwarded his investigation on Snapchat to the prosecutor, whom would have been Hand at that time and for over a year more.  Hand directly lied to the DN when she said she had never withheld evidence, she did it just recently.  So, if Hand did have an unauthorized copy of the report that she had the NPD investigate, which indicated ancillary crimes had been committed by the accused, why didn't she act on them?  But why is Keast agreeing that they were exculpatory and then later dropping the full case?  

I have an idea based on percentages about what is likely to have happened, and why it seems that the OCPO is crooked throughout whatever turns out to be the truth, but this will be influenced by what is learned as this story snowballs into a bigger story, as the family and friends deserve answers from these people.  Simply put, Willy is right in seeing that things aren't adding up whatever calculator is used.