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	The Ypsilanti Courier A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Talks continue between county, family in Lee case

Deputies named in lawsuit still on paid leave

By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer

PUBLISHED: January 31, 2008

A settlement between Washtenaw County and the family of Clifton Lee, Jr., who died in June 2006 after an altercation with sheriff's deputies, is being negotiated according to sources close to the Lee family and County attorney James Reich.

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The settlement would be in regards to a lawsuit alleging wrongful death and police brutality filed by two of Lee's daughters against Washtenaw County and sheriff's deputies Aaron Hendricks, Christopher Campbell, Thomas Guynes, Michael Mahalik, Jeffery Hankamp and Joseph Eberle.

Lee died after a confrontation with the deputies in the West Willow neighborhood of Ypsilanti Township following a traffic stop in front of his house. The cause of death, as reported by Bader Cassin, Washtenaw County's medical examiner, was asphyxia due to the weight of several people pressing his chest against the ground.

A Michigan State Police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death was turned over to the county prosecutor's office in September 2006. The Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation in January 2007. A determination from the FBI is still pending.

The FBI has said it is investigating possible civil rights violations. At a forum held in July 2007 to discuss the case, Deputy U.S. Attorney Brondell Morey said, "I can assure you (a civil rights conviction) is as serious, or more serious, than someone convicted of murder. I know murder sounds maybe more serious. It's not called murder, but it's part of the crime."

Three deputies who were involved in the incident remain on paid leave until the FBI's determination. At this time, no one associated with the case seems to know when that might be.