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51st District Court hopeful sued for Wendrow remarks
Dean
A candidate for the 51st District Court in Waterford Township is being sued for defamation following public remarks she allegedly made insinuating that a man many consider falsely accused of raping his then 14-year-old autistic daughter was guilty of the crime — over four years after the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office dropped the charges against him due to lack of evidence.
Andrea Dean, who is challenging 51st District Court Judge Jodi Debbrecht in the Nov. 6 general election, allegedly made the comments at a public forum last month that “has since been rebroadcast,” the lawsuit filed yesterday, Tuesday, Oct. 16, states.
A former assistant Oakland County prosecutor, Dean was asked by a reporter about her current sentiments on how she approached the case of Julian Wendrow, who spent three months in jail on the charges that he sexually assaulted his disabled daughter and that his wife, Thal, allowed the abuse to happen.
The lawsuit, which is now before Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rudy J. Nichols, states that a reporter asked her the following question:
“I was startled to read in sworn testimony you gave during the civil lawsuit years after the [criminal] case had been dropped the following statement (and I quote) ‘I would do this case again in a heartbeat, and I think the allegations are true.’ Is that an accurate summary of your sentiments today, and if it is, on the basis of what conceivable evidence would you prosecute the Wendrows for assaulting their daughter?”
(Click to view PDF)
According to the complaint, Dean responded by saying, “It is a true statement absolutely. I would do that case again in a heartbeat.”
Calling that statement “malicious and false,” the lawsuit states that Dean defamed the Wendrows last month by claiming “that the Wendrows are guilty of child abuse and/or that there exists or did exist sufficient evidence to prosecute them for abusing their children.”
Other statements Dean allegedly made at the forum on an expert witness in the case — who the reporter said “debunked the only evidence in the case,” according to the lawsuit — are also called “malicious and false” attempts to defame the Wendrows.
The case arose in 2007 after a controversial practice known as “facilitated communication” produced what prosecutors believed at the time was evidence that the girl, now 19, had been sexually assaulted by her father since she was 7-years-old.
But the case — which drew substantial local and national media attention — unraveled after her testimony in court when, using the same facilitated communication technique that the lawsuit says is “controversial and scientifically ridiculed,” she was unable to answer a series of simple questions.
David Gorcyca, who was the elected Oakland County prosecutor when the case was in court, decided to drop the charges against Julian and Thal Wendrow in March 2008. Both Wendrows had been jailed, their children were placed in foster care, and Thal Wendrow lost her job with Oakland County, in addition to the family being “devastated in every conceivable way,” the lawsuit states.
“It has taken so much effort to try to rebuild our lives, to try to provide as much support and security as we can to our children to allow them to move forward in a positive way — to hear Andrea Dean, once again, publicly stating that we are guilty of the most heinous act any parent can commit, when she knows this to be untrue, is devastating to us,” Julian and Thal Wendrow said in a statement provided by Deborah Gordon, their attorney. “It reopens old wounds.”
The Wendrows, who Gordon is representing in both the defamation lawsuit and a separate but related civil case that is now in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, are seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
It wasn’t just the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office that bore criticism for its handling of the Wendrow case. The West Bloomfield Township Police Department paid the Wendrow family a $1.8 million settlement for what the lawsuit says was its “contemptible handling of the matter,” and officials or former officials with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, Walled Lake Consolidated School District, West Bloomfield Township, and the Michigan Department of Human Services were all named as defendants in the lawsuit that is currently in the hands of the appellate court in Cincinnati.
District court judges serve six-year terms and are currently paid $138,272 annually.
The lawsuit claims that Dean refused to retract her statements about the Wendrow case, and that she threatened to sue the Wendrow family and their legal counsel if the defamation lawsuit was filed.
Messages seeking comment left with Dean yesterday were not returned prior to press time.
38 Responses to 51st District Court hopeful sued for Wendrow remarks
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Dave Foresmark
October 18, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Spend five minutes researching Andrea Dean – watch the debate video, research the Perry case, and more – and you will see that Andrea Dean is not qualified to be Waterford Judge. She wasn’t qualified to be a prosecutor, and was fired. She couldn’t cut it in private practice – and now that she is unemployed, she is looking to get a cushy government job. Sorry, honey.
AJ
October 18, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Agreed!
MALange
October 19, 2012 at 6:48 pm
always a follower not a leader………..again sad AJ
AJ
October 20, 2012 at 12:09 pm
What’s sad is that you’re confusing the terms “following” and “agreeing”.
Ms. Jill Maddie
October 19, 2012 at 7:51 am
Andrea Dean is a vile human who ruined the lives of some of my dear friends prosecuting them for crimes they didn’t commit. She has literally ruined lives. And then I hear she claims to “protect families.” From themselves, maybe.
Someone should put her in jail for three months and put her children in foster care and see how she likes it. GET OUT OF HERE, ANDREA!
JillP
October 20, 2012 at 2:12 pm
A new low for you I see
MALANGE
October 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Your right on JillP………………I keep wondering myself if they can get any lower………but then again stranger things have crawled from under rocks. And as for the REAL David Forsmark Good for you.
Aaron Ehrmann
October 20, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Want to talk about any lower? How about Ms Dean and her nasty campaign literature she is spreading around town. Who cares about web forums and comments and what the Internet says. Let’s look at the facts. Dean being sued, Dean sending out ugly literature. Ugly campaign means victory for the opponent. Didn’t you learn this in student council?
MALange
October 19, 2012 at 6:49 pm
wow a hole five minutes…………..must be a pretty smart to get all the facts to be able to judge in five minutes. I applaud you for such knowledge.
David Forsmark
October 19, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Learn to spell, genius.
MALange
October 19, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Well well I see we have reached a new low………………Hmmmmm who is Ms Jill Maddie ??? Who ever wrote that comment let me guess? And Came up with that name how childish. At least I have the gutts to use my own name not make up one. Maybe you should find new friends if Detectives found enough evidence to bring a case to the Pros office and the pros signed the warrant and the case went forward.
MALange
October 19, 2012 at 6:47 pm
………..sad that people are always looking for someone to blame.
sally s
October 19, 2012 at 8:56 pm
your own irony is palpable.
MALange
October 19, 2012 at 9:13 pm
lol
David Forsmark
October 19, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Maybe the Spinal Column should get to the 21st century and require real IDs. I see Jodi’s campaign is now engaged in identity theft… though they aren’t quite smart enough to spell names right. About as classy as everything else that’s been done in Jodi’s name since she arrived at Jennifer Granholm’s behest.
Aaron Ehrmann
October 20, 2012 at 3:41 pm
This article is about Andrea Dean being sues. Yet none of the comments reflect it. Good luck on your lawsuit, but sorry about the campaign!
David Forsmark
October 21, 2012 at 9:41 am
Okay, Aaron, you want to talk about the lawsuit? Here’s something that could have been uncovered with 5 minutes of reporting… The lawyer funding the lawsuit is a major donor to Jodi Debbrecht.
Aaron Ehrmann
October 22, 2012 at 7:18 am
And according to the litany of comments on the Oakland Press, you WORK for Andrea Dean. So I guess in the mind of the average voter, watching the employee of a candidate come on the internet and act like a petulant child is a bit worse than a supporter of the other filing a lawsuit on behalf of her clients – the Wendrows have been clients of Gordon’s for years. Dean’s statements were made a few weeks ago. The Wendrows probably caught word of it, turned it to their lawyer, who drafted a complaint.
David Forsmark
October 22, 2012 at 10:17 am
Nope, Brian Dickerson of the Free Press hammered this topic until he realized he could NOT get comments he wanted from her. The purported insult is a joke, and will be dropped right after election day. This is an inference, not even an implication. A publicity stunt concocted by one member of the media, and picked up by the rest of the lemmings. And if I were worried about this “issue” you raise, I would post anonymously, like all of Debbrecht’s people.
BTW, Debbrect’s peeps have been screaming Wendrow since February, look it up… though she took it off her Facebook when she realized they were saying too much.
Madelyn Luang
October 22, 2012 at 3:18 pm
“Debbrecht’s peeps have been screaming Wendrow since February, look it up.”
I am looking it up but cannot seem to find it, Mr. Andrea Dean Campaign manager.
It’s funny how I was going to vote for Andrea Dean, until I saw all this stuff in the press about Wendrows. My vote for Debbrecht was solidified when I kept receiving Dean’s abhorrent campaign literature – the “nail” photo was a bit too much.
Amused
October 21, 2012 at 10:18 am
This looks like the mute swan blog.
MALange
October 22, 2012 at 5:59 pm
The name is Madelynn Lange………..at least learn how to spell it. And if anyone would like to know who I voted for. I will be more then happy to let you know. It is a shame that court employee’s are drag into such a childish campaign.
sally s
October 23, 2012 at 5:59 am
Ken Hempstead may have picked his nose from the bench but we never had any drama like this.
MALange
October 23, 2012 at 7:16 pm
what no NEW comments from the peanut gallery tonight? Shocking. Yes this is Madelynn Lange (MA Lange) anyone who reads anything in the Free Press / Oakland Press or Detroit New or this Spinal Column from what ever name the Team of Debbrecht chooses to use saying it is me…………..PLEASE FEEL FREE to contact me for the TRUTH. Again as I have stated before it is a shame that employees have been dragged into this childish mess.
sally s
October 23, 2012 at 8:44 pm
“I have stated before it is a shame that employees have been dragged into this childish mess.”
Any admin that I’ve known would have (and did) restrict court employees involvement in these lurid little events we call elections.
Cherise T
October 24, 2012 at 7:29 am
I could not agree with Sally more! So I am to take it that MaLange is a court employee? Coming on here and talking trash about your employer? Are you a Waterford Court Employee? Isn’t that a violation of employee conduct? Who is the court administrator? I am thinking about contacting him with all this information. Someone who works at the court shouldn’t be spouting off about a judge there. Especially when that person is very loyal to Andrea Dean!
crazy townie
October 24, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Is it Judge Jodi or Judge Judy?
Jennie Belle Cox
October 28, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Well maybe they should interview the court employees, I have heard that she treats them pretty badly!!! And if she wants loyalty she should treat them like human beings and not bully them!!!
Jennie Belle Cox
October 28, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I thought it was your right to vote for whomever you felt was “best” suited for the job, too bad that Granholm made the wrong choice because now the voters are left with someone who thinks she is above the rule of being civil.
Jennie Belle Cox
October 28, 2012 at 1:33 pm
One last statement, I wish all the employees luck if she gets elected. Maybe she will have a change of heart after and treat employees with respect.
Former Court Employee
October 29, 2012 at 9:57 am
I am a (now former) court employee. I can speak from experience that Judge Debbrecht is the one that faces bullying and opposition from the court clerks.
The court clerks and staff at waterford 51st are deplorable. They are rude, vindictive, above all – LAZY. When Debbrecht was appointed, there was a lot of pushback from court employees – including some who have been posting in this thread. How they are still employed is beyond me. Mr. Dennis needs to get the affairs in order over there.
The entire court clerk department needs to be fired. Those women have been trying to sabotage Debbrecht since she walked in the door. When she is re-elected, the court will do well to clean house.
JBC – are you a court employee or what?
Jennie Belle Cox
October 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm
hell no, just an observer!!!!!
Jennie Belle Cox
October 29, 2012 at 4:42 pm
And Waterford voter!!! Which by the way, you probably don’t vote in Waterford or you would think differently about Judge Jodi.
Jennie Belle Cox
October 29, 2012 at 5:56 pm
I have a question for you Former Court Employee, why aren’t you still there???? You could say that you were also rude, vindictive and of course LAZY. Is that why you aren’t still a court employee. If you do have a job, does your new employer approve of you using the computer at 9:57 am to post crap like this?
David Forsmark
November 1, 2012 at 8:56 am
Chief Judge Richard Kuhn Jr. Endorses Andrea Dean to Join Him on Waterford Bench
For Immediate Release
(Waterford, November 1, 2012) In an extraordinary move, Chief Judge Richard Kuhn Jr. of the 51st District Court endorsed challenger Andrea Dean over the incumbent judge in his court, Jodi Debbrecht.
Kuhn has served the Waterford court for 10 years, since his election in 2002, when he defeated Dean in a race between the two longtime Waterford residents. Debbrecht recently moved to Waterford from Berkley, after her appointment by Jennifer Granholm in 2010.
Kuhn’s statement is as follows:
As a lifelong resident of the Waterford area, it is an honor and privilege to serve as one of your two District Court Judges. The 51st District Court strives to resolve traffic, civil and criminal cases of our citizens in a timely, efficient and fair manner.
For the first time in 10 years, you will have the opportunity to elect a new Judge to serve at the 51st District Court. I strongly encourage you to vote for Andrea Dean. Andrea has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our community, possesses unmatched integrity, legal ability and judicial temperament and will bring a strong work ethic to the bench.
Andrea Dean has been a resident of Waterford for over 15 years. She has been active in local civic and charitable organizations for many years. She and her husband, retired Waterford Chief of Police John Dean, have made Waterford their home and have dedicated themselves to making Waterford a safe place to live, work and raise a family.
Andrea served with distinction as an Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor and currently serves as a Waterford-based attorney in private practice. Andrea is a respected leader who will restore honor to the 51st District Court. We need a judge who will work hard for the citizens. On November 6th, join me in voting for Andrea Dean for Waterford District Judge.
Very truly yours,
Judge Richard D. Kuhn, Jr.
51st District Court Judge
Aaron Ehrmann
November 4, 2012 at 7:48 am
Too little too late with that
David N. Andrews M. Ed., C. P. S. E.
November 7, 2012 at 8:51 am
This woman caused uproar and grievious damage to a family. She did this purely on the basis of a prejudice: the police, in her mind, were always right – even when they were clearly bloody wrong. The police themselves are not blameless in the devastating experiences that the family had. Yet – alarmingly – none of those people who have perpetrated these horrors against this family have been sanctioned according to law: they just got away with it. That is sick. Angela Dean is a criminal: she presented evidence in court that she must have known was wrong. Perjury.
If she does get anywhere near the Bench as a judge, people, you better move away from that place. Because – as her behaviour has already shown – she will prejudge your case if you are not guilty of anything.
My message to Angela Dean: they can’t find a good word for you. But I bet that John Cooper-Clarke can!
David N. Andrews M. Ed., C. P. S. E.
November 7, 2012 at 9:07 am
Andrea Dean* Dunno why I’ve got the other name on my mind but hey-ho … ANDREA Dean, JCC has a great word for you!