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, 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 and the job performance of Griselda Aldrete were 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. According to Johnson’s report, Doe said she pleaded with Corbett not to reveal her name to Haywood, and Corbett agreed. Reporters also spoke with her attorneys. Information about the city’s small claims suits against Haywood and his failure to pay taxes on time comes from online court records and state regulatory documents.
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.
Thoms referred a reporter to the Police Department’s spokesman, who would not approve an interview with him or with Wells. Information about Wells’ meeting with Haywood and DeVougas comes from a video of it, from a police report he wrote summarizing it and from Johnson’s report.
The statement that Wells was “nervous as hell” about interviewing a suspect in the presence of the Fire and Police Commission chair was quoted in Johnson’s report.
Carmen Pitre, executive director of Sojourner, spoke to Luthern on the record. A copy of a memorandum of understanding that forbid police from interviewing suspects there was attached to Johnson’s report. It was signed by both Pitre and Flynn.
Now-retired Captain John Corbett and Officer James Collins, who has since resigned from the Police Department, did not respond to requests for comment. Morales told Johnson DeVougas had told him to fire Collins if he wanted to keep his job; DeVougas has publicly denied that.