Fergusonham

A dog could do better
Fergusonham
Fergusonham
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Western's Black Student Union held an event called “Getting Real: A discussion about Ferguson and Racial Profiling” . There seems to be plenty to discuss. As senior human services major Jazmine Smith noted in the Western Front, “There is no such thing as due process when you have brown skin.” Bellingham was once home to Washington State's strongest chapter of the Klu Klux Klan. Some of that attitude apparently still needs erasing. Just ask Mike Grundy.
Mike Grundy never had it easy. Bellingham turned out to be no exception. His parent's rights were terminated and he landed in foster care before being adopted by his grandparents. At fourteen, his grandpa died and his older brother was shot dead, so Mike helped his grandma raise his sister. He had good grades in high school, was a starter on the basketball team and stayed out of any trouble, by all accounts devoted to family and a polite, personable young man. He was doing well at Western and had a good relationship as an intern in a corporate career path.
Then, May 21, 2011, not long after he turned 21, MIke went out with friends to some student house parties. Not much of a drinker, he found himself on the street and feeling tipsy as police arrived to break up the parties. Suddenly he was surrounded by white 'jocks' telling him, "Nigger, you better get off of our block." Or they would "kick his ass." One thing led to another. A large football player approached Mike from behind. Mike turned, saw him, took a wild swing and ran. Police tasered him and took him into custody. Mike's punch had broken the man's jaw.
The all white police officers failed to do any investigation into why Mike Grundy, a black student, would take a swing at a white football player even as police had arrived or why he was surrounded by thirty to fifty other white students, calling him "nigger," posturing threateningly and commanding him to leave the vicinity, though he was standing in the public way - all points Judge Uhrig refused to admit into evidence.
The only student questioned at the scene was another black person. He was subsequently charged with obstruction, even though police never took his statement. His obstruction citation was delivered by mail after he was identified from a photo database police apparently keep of black people in town.
The Whatcom County prosecutor commenced a vigorous prosecution of Mike Grundy. The usual charge for this kind of incident would be Fourth Degree Assault, a gross misdemeanor. Not in this case. Judge Uhrig refused to admit any consideration of self defense and agreed with Prosecutor Hulbert to pursue felony criminal charges, disregarding a lesser degree plea usually available upon request, especially for first offenses.
Even when the jury rejected the Second Degree charge and asked if a lesser charge was available, Judge Uhrig and Prosecutor Hulbert refused to instruct the jury that a Fourth Degree finding was available, leaving them only the much harsher penalties. For Second Degree Assault, the Whatcom County Prosecutor's office often easily agrees to a Third Degree plea, but apparently not if you are black. Prosecutor Hulbert avoided even the Third Degree finding because adequate instruction would have opened the door to considering the element of self defense and the jury could have let Mike off.
Instead, Mike was sent to prison to serve the stiffer penalty. Aware that the Judge's instructions were obviously in error, counsel for the defense asked for an appeal bond to be set. The prosecutor responded with a remarkable $75,000 request, but Judge Uhrig doubled the amount to $150,000, knowing his judgement could not survive the appeal, but assuring the bond could not be met and Mike would serve the entire sentence before the judgement could be overturned. It's like a special 'get out of town free' invitation, courtesy of Judge Uhrig and the prosecuting attorney's office, underscoring that in Bellingham you still need to be just as white as you can possibly be.
The conviction was duly overturned and remanded to Whatcom County for correction. Even so, the prosecutor's office is now insisting on yet another criminal felony trial - even though Mike has already served his time.
It sounded silly at first, but maybe a dog could do a better job.
Whatcom County Superior Court cause number is: 11-1-00816-9. The cause number in the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division I, is 70243-2-I.
(On a side note, Mike remains saddled with the football player's substantial medical costs because the threatening actions of the white mob were never allowed to be entered in the case.)
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