Judge Cleared in Sex Sting Case
Prosecutor Says Decoy Operation Using Undercover Cop at Airport Was
Flawed
By Margarita Bauza
The Detroit News,
August 7, 2001
DETROIT — The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office
will not charge a circuit judge arrested last month after police said he
agreed to engage in a consensual sex act with a man who was actually a Metro
Airport police decoy.
Details of the incident involving Wayne County Judge Richard B. Halloran,
who is on a paid 30-day leave in connection with the incident, are still
unclear because officials would not release their report.
Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan said Metro Airport’s decoy
operation was flawed.
"I’m not going to charge people criminally for what they thought was
a consensual act between adults," said Duggan, who added that the
operation appeared to unfairly target gays.
"We do not send female officers into sports bars to come on to guys to
see which ones respond and then arrest them," he said. "We should
not be sending undercover decoys into homosexual-act areas to do exactly the
same thing."
Duggan referred to Halloran’s case during a news conference where he
announced the department’s revised policies on cases alleging sexual
misconduct in public places.
He acknowledged that his decision to not charge a high-profile person would
raise eyebrows, but said he handled it as he has handled others.
Halloran could not be reached for comment. His attorney, John Allen, said,
"The judge is pleased the prosecutor made the right decision."
The statewide gay rights organization Triangle Foundation applauded Duggan’s
decision to clarify his office’s policies.
"We’d been pursuing this for several years," said executive
director Jeffrey Montgomery. "This is an example of what happens when
police activities are allowed to run unchecked. We’ve been working with
hundreds of clients in the same situation as this judge."
The incident prompted the Wayne County Airport Police to change the way
they police bathrooms, airport spokesman Michael Conway said.
"If the person that was arrested somehow feels the behavior was being
invited, that would weaken the case," Conway said. "We are changing
our procedures so that when we arrest somebody it would be more likely to be
prosecutable."
Airport police began monitoring that bathroom after receiving complaints of
unwanted solicitations, Conway said.
"This is a public restroom that’s kind of out of the way but is
still accessible to children and everybody else," Conway said. "We
wanted to stop this behavior."
You can reach Margarita Bauza at (313) 222-2069 or mbauza@detnews.com.
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