Ex-U.S. attorney to investigate handling of sex assault case
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission selected a former U.S. attorney with decades of experience working with and prosecuting Milwaukee police officers to investigate a series of ethical concerns relating to the sexual assault probe of a prominent local real estate developer.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the commission convened over phone conference Thursday to interview two candidates to conduct the investigation. They came away with a unanimous decision to hire Mel Johnson, who spent 37 years as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee before joining Marquette University as an adjunct professor.
While in the U.S. Attorney’s office, Johnson prosecuted Milwaukee Police Department officers in several highprofile cases, including the 2004 Frank Jude beating and the 2010 case of Officer Ladmarald Cates, who raped a woman after responding to her 911 call.
Johnson will be tasked with investigating the decision by police to interview Kalan Haywood Sr. – the founder and president of the Haywood Group — at the site of a domestic violence shelter about a sexual assault allegation made against him, and how records of that open investigation were leaked to the media, according to FPC Vice Chair Nelson Soler.
During the commission’s interview, Johnson indicated that investigating those matters may also compel him to turn a spotlight onto Steven DeVougas, the chairman of the FPC, who accompanied Haywood to the interview and practices real estate law for his business.
Mayor Tom Barrett and the Milwaukee police union, among others, have expressed ethical concerns over DeVougas’ presence at that interview.
“I see this investigation as bigger than just the police department,” Johnson said. “There are various questions raised by this situation and not all of those questions necessarily relate to police. I think the scope of the investigation is a little bit wider.”
Soler responded by saying he would encourage Johnson to uncover any possible unethical behavior he comes across during the probe.
DeVougas did not participate in Thursday’s meeting.
The commission has not determined how much it will pay Johnson, whose work is expected to take less than three months. City staff indicated during the meeting they would enter into contract discussions after selecting a candidate.
Also interviewed for the position was William Eubanks, who spent 30 years as a special agent in the FBI before working as a security official for two global pharmaceutical companies.
The situation involving Haywood, Milwaukee police and DeVougas began in August 2019, after a woman told police Haywood drugged and raped her in November 2014.
She said it took her five years to report the incident because Haywood, who has received millions of dollars in taxpayer-backed loans from the city, is a well-known and connected figure in Milwaukee.
Haywood has denied the allegation and has not been charged.
In August, police interviewed Haywood
about the allegations at the Sojourner Family Peace Center, which houses a domestic violence shelter as well as a police station. Carmen Pitre, the center’s CEO and president, said police can question only victims there, not suspects. She was not aware of Haywood’s interview until a reporter informed her of it.
During that interview, Haywood was accompanied by DeVougas, who said he was there only to take notes. But his presence raised ethical questions given his position as chair of the FPC, which oversees the police department, and his professional tie to Haywood.
The Journal Sentinel obtained video of that interview and reported on it in December 2019. During the interview, the Milwaukee detective commented on DeVougas’ presence and the power he had. He said it was “very weird” for him to be there since “you actually are, like, oversight over me.”
How the video and other files were publicly disclosed, and whether that broke department rules, has also prompted some concerns among city officials.