Robert Snell / The Detroit News reports:
Former state Rep. Mary Waters wants her conviction in a bribery case last year to be set aside on claims her constitutional rights were violated and she was not treated fairly.
Waters, 55, a former Detroit lawmaker who became ensnared in the City Hall corruption probe, made the argument Friday in a brief filed in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The filing comes four months after she was sentenced to a year’s probation on a misdemeanor charge of filing a false tax return. Prosecutors allege she received a $6,000 Rolex watch from a Southfield jewelry store.
Waters, who served in the state Legislature from 2001-06, was a co-defendant in a Southfield bribery case involving her then live-in companion, political consultant Sam Riddle.
The appeal argues U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani failed to establish a factual basis for Waters’ guilty plea; her Sixth Amendment right to effective legal assistance was violated; and it was unfair to make her guilty plea conditional upon Riddle also pleading guilty, according to the filing.
During her plea hearing, Waters admitted failing to pay taxes on a ladies’ Rolex watch given to her by Riddle, but that was not enough to justify a charge of tax fraud, court-appointed defense lawyer Melvin Houston wrote.
“If defendant was of the impression or belief that the watch was given to her as a gift by her boyfriend, Mr. Riddle, she had no obligation to report same on her federal income tax return,” Houston wrote.
He also argued that Waters was entitled to a waiver hearing when defense lawyer Richard Convertino was allowed to represent her and Riddle. Riddle initially had a different lawyer, but he was replaced by Convertino last July.
Riddle was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison but also has appealed.
Finally, Houston argued it was unfair and inequitable to make Waters’ guilty plea conditional on Riddle’s separate guilty plea.
“Allowing the government to impose conditions such as those used in this instance seriously undermines the fairness, integrity and public reputation of judicial proceedings,” Houston wrote.
The conviction should be vacated or set aside, he added. He wants a new plea and sentencing hearing for Waters or a new trial.
