Misconduct could overturn conviction in fire that killed 5

<p>DETROIT &mdash; The murder conviction of a man who was accused of setting a fire that killed five children in suburban Detroit could be in jeopardy years later after a new prosecutor said Friday that she’s “gravely concerned” about tactics used by her office.</p>
<p>Juwan Deering’s defense attorney wasn’t told that three informants got substantial benefits from helping authorities at the 2006 trial, said Karen McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor.</p>
<p>Separately, McDonald announced an investigation of any case related to those informants.</p>
<p>“Fairness and transparency are paramount,” McDonald, who was elected in November, said in a written statement. “We must always do the right thing, even if it exposes our own office, even when it’s not easy.”</p>
<p>Deering, 50, is serving a life sentence for murder in the deaths of five children in a house fire in Royal Oak Township in 2000. Authorities at the time said the fire was revenge for drug debts, though Deering repeatedly declared his innocence.</p>
<p>The Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school has been seeking a new trial for Deering, arguing that the fire analysis was based on “junk science.” McDonald, a former judge, said problems with the informants emerged during her review of the case.</p>
<p>She said the informants had charges dismissed or sentences reduced based on their cooperation. Greg Townsend was the assistant prosecutor who prosecuted Deering. He’s now a Michigan assistant attorney general and part of the team handling an alleged kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.</p>
<p>“As prosecutors, we have an ethical duty to disclose information that bears on the guilt or innocence of the accused," McDonald said. “We also have a duty to disclose to juries what, if anything, an informant was given in consideration for their testimony. Based on the evidence I reviewed, I am gravely concerned that this was not done in the case against Juwan Deering.”</p>
<p>Townsend was “reassigned from his docket” after the attorney general’s office was informed about developments in the Deering case, spokeswoman Lynsey Mukomel said.</p>
<p>An email seeking comment was sent to Townsend.</p>
<p>“My goal … is to get Mr. Deering out of prison," Imran Syed, an attorney at the Innocence Clinic, told the Detroit Free Press. “And I believe that we now have a mountain of evidence.”</p>
<hr />
<p>Follow Ed White at <a href="https://twitter.com/edwritez">http://twitter.com/edwritez</a></p>