Mock trial to question whether Ford should have pardoned Nixon

Whether late President Gerald Ford was justified in pardoning his predecessor, Richard Nixon, will be the subject of a mock trial next week on Macomb Community College’s Center Campus.

The event will feature several attorneys, three judges and a author/journalist who interviewed Ford and will portray him at the free event open to the public at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Macomb Center for Performing Arts. It is sponsored by the Macomb County Bar Foundation.

Ford pardoned Nixon in September 1974 a month into his presidency and a month after Nixon resigned due to his role in the Watergate burglary and cover-up that resulted in 69 people being indicted, with 48 of them convicted. Nixon died in 1994. Ford died in 2006.

Writer and retired Wayne State University professor Jack Lessenberry said he interviewed Ford in 1995 at his home in California and asked him about the pardon.

“Mr. Ford pulled out a piece of paper that had a quote from the Supreme Court on it, the case of the United States versus Burdick that said the acceptance of a pardon is tantamount to admitting guilt,” Lessenberry said.

Ford pardoned Nixon on that basis and because he wanted himself and the country to move on from the scandal, as it was eating up his time and attention and harming the nation, Lessenberry said. Ford’s first two press conferences focused on Nixon, Lessenberry said. He also knew court proceedings and a trial would drag out and distract the country.

“Basically, he couldn’t get anything done,” he said. “He wanted to concentrate on running the country.”

Lessenberry, 70, said as a young man he initially believed Ford should not have pardoned Nixon but after researching the matter over the years came to agree Ford did the right thing.

Lessenbery will take that stance with him when he testifies in Ford’s defense at the mock trial that also will feature Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren portraying Nixon and other participants playing the parts of witnesses, the prosecutor and defense attorney.

The Foundation has staged five prior similar events annually addressing universal questions such as whether the Electoral College should be abolished, the extent of the First Amendment and whether President Truman should have deployed the atomic bombs. The last event was held in October 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic nixed plans in 2020 and 2021.

Following the testimony and arguments, the audience will vote to produce a “verdict.”

Organizer Steve Steinhardt of the Bar Foundation said the format allows observers to also participate.

“It allows them to be involved and their voices to be heard,” Steinhardt said. “It keeps people interested and engaged. We want as many people as we can to participate and enjoy the civil debate and discourse.”

Grosse Pointe-based attorney Chris Nesi will serve as the prosecutor and WSU Law Professor Robert Sedler will serve as the defense attorney. “Testifying” as expert witnesses will be Judge Chmura of 37th District Court in Warren and Center, Michigan State Bar president Dana Warnez of Warren and Mount Clemens-based attorney Joe Kosmala. Macomb Circuit Judge Rachel Rancilio will preside over the trial and Warren-based attorney William Barnwell will serve as the court officer and time-keeper.

The event will be repeated at 1 p.m. May 6 at the Farmington Hills Community Center — The Hawk — at 12 Mile and Middlebelt roads.