DeVougas to remain FPC head
Chairman won’t resign despite ethics finding, loss of mayor’s support
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Alfonso Morales both have lost confidence in Steven DeVougas’ ability to lead the Fire and Police Commission in light of an independent report that found he lied about his legal representation of real estate developer Kalan Haywood Sr., they said in recent interviews.
The report also found Milwaukee police rushed to question Haywood about a rape allegation against him over the objections of the prosecutor and the victim, and while the lead investigator was on vacation.
Haywood has denied the sexual assault allegation and has not been arrested or charged. The case remains open and under review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
Barrett also said he was upset by the police department’s actions in the case, and national experts told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the choice to interview Haywood when they did may have compromised the investigation.
Morales, however, said both the timing of the out-of-custody interview and the fact that it was done at Sojourner Family Peace Center, a complex that serves domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, were appropriate.
Through his attorney, Jacob Manian, DeVougas told the Journal Sentinel he did not plan to resign either his position on the commission or his chairmanship.
“A proud Milwaukee native, Mr. DeVougas has served honorably on the Commission and is focused on continuing to serve the interests of the citizens of this great city,” Manian said in an email.
Barrett, who appointed DeVougas to the commission, does not have the power to remove him — that would have to be done by the Common Council. But the two did discuss his possible resignation, the mayor said.
“I told him that I thought whether he feels what he did was right or wrong, the appearances are bad,” Barrett said. “And he’s served the Fire and Police Commission well and the city well and I believe he cares about the
Fire and Police Commission and the city, and that it’s in their best interest if he recognizes that the appearances make it difficult for him to continue as a member of the Fire and Police Commission.”
Morales pointed out that police officers can be fired for lying. He said the chair of the board that oversees the department should be held to an equally high standard.
“I’m extremely concerned (by) their findings, seeing that this is the most powerful ... civilian oversight over a law enforcement agency in our nation and seeing that you have allegations of untruthfulness,” he said.
In his email, Manian pointed out that while the independent investigator found DeVougas may have violated city ethic rules, several other agencies “have examined Mr. DeVougas’ conduct and determined he did not commit an ethical violation.”
It goes on to say: “While he respects the investigator’s work, he respectfully disagrees with several of the opinions expressed in the report.”
Asked if DeVougas should resign, the commission’s vice chair, Nelson Soler, said: “It’s up to him and the mayor.”
Soler added he was “concerned with things that came out in the report.” An investigation into who provided a video of Haywood’s interrogationto the Journal Sentinel would continue, he said, even though the independent investigator, Mel Johnson, said he “had not come close” to determining who did it.
A number of city departments and individuals had access to the video, Johnson said, and there is no way to figure out who all of them were, let alone who provided it to the Journal Sentinel.
Expert: ‘A poorly timed interview could tip off the suspect’
DeVougas was the only person involved who refused to be interviewed as part of the independent investigation, which was requested by the commission after a video of Haywood’s interrogation was leaked to the Journal Sentinel.
It was conducted by Johnson, a retired assistant U.S. Attorney, and a former FBI agent.
The two found DeVougas likely violated the city’s ethics code by saying he accompanied Haywood to the police interview in his capacity as a corporate lawyer, not a criminal one.
Presenting the report at the Fire and Police Commission’s July 2 meeting, Johnson told them: “That’s just false.”
Johnson’s review also determined Haywood’s police interview came after several high-ranking officials, including Morales, asked the captain of the sensitive crimes division about the case. They said they wanted to know its status because then-assistant-chief Raymond Banks, a childhood friend of Haywood’s, had recommended that Haywood join the board of the Milwaukee Police Foundation, a new nonprofit Morales created to raise money for the department.
At the meeting, Commissioner Raymond Robakowski focused on the interview’s timing.
“The next thing you know we’ve got the chief pushing buttons to get an interview done a little bit quicker because he’s concerned about a foundation to raise money,” Robakowski said. “Not concerned about the victim of the alleged sexual assault but a foundation.”
Johnson, who presented his report at that meeting, replied: “I don’t know if anybody ever raised the victim’s interests with Chief Morales, but there’s no evidence that that motivated him.”
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Morales pushed back.
“I believe in our victims and I believe in solving crimes,” he said. “We can’t put things off tomorrow, next week, the week after. We’re not going to jeopardize an investigation. But my team, the Milwaukee Police Department leaders, know that when we conduct investigations, we conduct them with a sense of urgency.”
Several national experts on sexual assault told the Journal Sentinel having someone other than the lead investigator question a suspect over the objections of the prosecutor was a troubling choice that may have compromised the investigation.
“That is extremely unusual,” said Joanne Archambault, chief executive of End Violence Against Women International and a retired San Diego police sergeant.
“And especially when the district attorney, the investigator and the victim all ask for it not to happen,” she said.
“This had nothing to do with the case.”
Ronal Serpas, who has led the police departments in New Orleans and Nashville, agreed.
“When the prosecutor and the lead investigator are still planning the investigation and there’s still information they want to get, I would defer to them,” said Serpas, a member of the Committee on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank.
He added: “A poorly timed interview could tip off the suspect before you know what you might find.”
Chief does not think interview was ‘jeopardized’
The allegations against Haywood came to light in July 2019, when a woman told police Haywood had drugged and raped her five years earlier and recorded it.
The lead investigator on the case, Zachary Thoms, was on vacation a month later when Capt. John Corbett, supervisor of the department’s sensitive crimes division, ordered Detective Steven Wells to question Haywood.
“Generally speaking, Thoms thinks there was favorable treatment provided to Haywood
regarding the timing of the interview, as it happened before Thoms was able to complete the investigation,” a summary of his statement to Johnson says.
It goes on to say: “Thoms thinks Haywood is a dangerous person. … Due to the interview, Haywood now has a chance to discredit the victim in MPD’s case. Thoms also has concerns for the victim’s safety.”
The assistant district attorney assigned to the case at the time, Abbey Marzick, told Johnson when Corbett called to tell her Haywood would be interviewed that day, she strongly objected because she believed it could negatively affect the case.
“To Marzick’s knowledge, Haywood was unaware that an allegation had been made against him and was being investigated by MPD,” a summary of her interview with Johnson says. “Interviewing him that early would clearly reveal the complaint and investigation to him, giving him an opportunity to hide evidence.”
Thoms later told Johnson he had not been pressured to close the investigation and was waiting on search warrant evidence to come back.
In a recent interview, Morales told the Journal Sentinel he stands behind Corbett’s decision to have Haywood interviewed when he did.
“I don’t think they jeopardized it at all,” he said.
“Even if I don’t have enough to make an arrest, I’m going to interview that person and get a statement from them,” Morales said. “Here’s what’s important: Say that person doesn’t admit to it or denies it. When the trace evidence comes back, now I have a separate opportunity. Now I caught that person in a lie.”
Location of interview violated agreement
Interviewing Haywood at Sojourner violated a memorandum of understanding that had been reached under the previous chief, Edward Flynn. But neither Morales nor anyone else at the police department knew the agreement existed, Johnson found.
At the commission meeting, Robakowski questioned how that was possible.
“It puzzles me because he’s the chief,” he said. “He should probably know all that stuff. I would believe if you’re going to run a department, you or at least somebody on your staff should know about it.”
Morales told the Journal Sentinel he planned to review other such memos that had been signed before he took over as chief two-and-a-half years ago.
Corbett, who has since retired, told Johnson no other suspects had been interviewed at Sojourner during his tenure as captain, either before or since. Thoms said he recalled it happening a few times.
Haywood was questioned there because he happened to be working in a building across the street when Wells called him, according to Johnson’s report.
Morales told the Journal Sentinel he had no problem with the decision.
“It did not violate any internal Milwaukee Police Department rules, and what you’re doing in an out-ofcustody interview, the whole purpose of doing an out-of-custody interview and finding the right venue is comfort, comfort for both parties,” he said. “So, that interview, for me: Do I have any concerns with how that was conducted? Absolutely not.”
But Carmen Pitre, Sojourner’s executive director, told Johnson she found it troubling that neither DeVougas nor Wells, the detective doing the interview, stopped it when Wells remarked that it wasn’t normal practice.
Pitre also told Johnson she worried victims would lose their trust in Sojourner or be more afraid to come there in light of this incident.
Kristen Houser, a nationally recognized expert on sexual assault, agreed.
“When people behave in ways that can give the optics, whether legitimate or not, that appear to be giving favoritism, leniency or special treatment, it’s really damaging to the trust of the victim who made the complaint in whatever case that is,” she said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel.
The way this case has been handled also could give other victims a reason not to trust police, according to Houser.
“We know without a doubt that victims’ lack of trust in the system is a significant contributor to not reporting immediately,” she said. “And in this case the victim has stated that. She feared his prominence and social, business and political connections would interfere and result in additional harm to her and she did not think justice could be served because of his connections.”
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Pitre sought to reassure victims.
“Sojourner has been a pillar of peace and safety in our community for decades,” she said. “Despite recent events, survivors should be assured that we will treat them with dignity and respect and we remain committed to their safety, support and healing.”