HOW WE REPORTED THIS STORY
In reporting this story, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Ashley Luthern and Gina Barton conducted dozens of interviews and reviewed numerous records, including police reports and videos and court files.
The Milwaukee Police Department declined to release its case file on the sexual assault investigation to the Journal Sentinel, citing an exemption to the state’s public records law for open cases. From an anonymous source, Luthern and Barton received nine pages of a 44-page incident report dated July 23, 2019. The report summarizes statements made to Investigator Zachary Thoms by a woman identified publicly only as Jane Doe, who accused Kalan Haywood Sr. of sexual assault. The source also provided reporters with a DVD containing a video recording of Haywood being questioned by Detective Steve Wells on Aug. 13, 2019.
The reporters reviewed the full report of Mel Johnson, a retired assistant U.S. attorney hired by the Fire and Police Commission after the Journal Sentinel’s initial coverage of the allegations against Haywood. Johnson was tasked with investigating the source of the leak and determining whether it was appropriate that Haywood was interviewed at Sojourner Family Peace Center, which houses a shelter and the Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Division. Johnson also looked into the actions of Steven DeVougas, an attorney who was serving as chair of the commission when he accompanied Haywood to the interview. Johnson’s report largely consists of summaries of his interviews with those involved in the case. It also includes a letter from DeVougas’ attorney citing his reasons for refusing to meet with Johnson, police emails and emails between Johnson and Jack Enea, attorney for the Milwaukee Police Foundation.
Luthern, Barton and other Journal Sentinel reporters attended numerous meetings of the Fire and Police Commission and the Common Council where the Haywood investigation was discussed. The reporters attended some of the meetings in person and others via livestream due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also reviewed archival footage of past meetings.
Haywood and DeVougas answered reporters’ questions during an on-the-record interview that lasted nearly three hours in December 2019. Haywood repeatedly denied sexually assaulting anyone. DeVougas contended he had done nothing wrong in accompanying Haywood, who employed him as a real estate lawyer, to the police interview.
Doe declined to speak with reporters. Descriptions of her experiences and feelings, including her description of a reported sexual assault, come from police reports, a civil suit she filed and a summary of her interview with Johnson. Reporters also spoke with her attorneys.
Details and quotes in scenes were obtained through interviews with those present or from police reports, court records, transcripts, archived news reports, video recordings or audio recordings.
Information about Morales’ challenges to his demotion come from a 23-page police department document responding to the Fire and Police Commission’s directives for him and from a legal claim he filed against the city.
District Attorney John Chisholm and Deputy District Attorney Matt Torbenson answered some questions on the record for this story. But neither would say whether police had served search warrants in the case. They also would not say when they planned to decide whether or not to charge Haywood.