Brian Alexander - Perjury
North Carolina -- Alexander, Brian; MI; NRE: perjury/false accusation, no crime
2016 WL 5887900; Ct. of Apps. of MI 10/6/16; previous grant of new trial (not in Westlaw) reversed
"The [supposed] victim, [Alexander's] stepdaughter, testifed that on three occasions [he] entered her bedroom, pulled her on top of him, and rubbed his penis against her groin while they both were clothed. She further testified that [he] once slid his hands into her pants to touch her buttocks, and another time pulled her on top of him when she was in his bedroom watching televison. On that occasion, she testified, she cried and ran to her own bedroom...The victim's mother believed that her daughter had lied to her about the molestation. The mother also provided testimony contradicting certain portions of the victim's testimony about the circumstances surrounding the alleged incidents.
"After the jury convicted [him], he filed a motion for a new trial and evidentiary hearing based upon various allegations. [He] pointed out that the victim testified at the preliminary hearing that she had stayed home from school because of illness on the day he allegedly assaulted her in his bedroom, but at trial she testified that she stayed in school despite her illness because her mother, by way of text messaging, encouraged her to do so."
"[Alexander] acknowledged that the victim's mother testified that she did not receive text messages from the victim on the day in question. Nevertheless, [he] produced telephone records and asserted that they revealed the pair did not exchange text messages during the relevant time frame, which, he argued, proved that the victim committed perjury. He argued that the allegedly newly discovered evidence (the telephone records) merited a new trial." [The Supreme Court of Michigan subsequently remanded the case to county court to determine if a new trial was warranted.]
from NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):
[M.B., the alleged victim, was 14 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.]
"M.B....testified that one day during the spring of 2013, she stayed home from school because she was sick. She said that she was in the master bedroom watching television when Alexander came in and pulled her on top of him. She said that she began to cry and ran into her own bedroom. After that incident, M.B. told the jury, Alexander never made any further advances.
"During cross-examination, Alexander's attorney, Bill McCririe, confronted M.B. with school attendance records that showed she had never missed a day of school for illness or any other reason. M.B. insisted the incident occurred but that it was after school."
"In November 2015, Ingham County...Judge William Colette granted the motion [for a new trial]...Judge Colette noted that the trial boiled down to a credibility contest between M.B. and Alexander."
"The prosecution appealed the ruling, and...the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed Judge Colette's decision."
"Alexander's attorneys then filed a petition with the Michigan Supreme Court seeking permission to appeal. On June 21, 2017, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a one-paragraph decision, vacated the appellate court decision."
"On September 25, 2017, the prosecution dismissed the charges.
"In August 2018, Alexander filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking compensation from Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Steve Kwasnik and Ingham County Sheriff's Detective Annie Harrison for not dsclosing the phone records. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2021."
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
