Macomb prosecutor's lawsuit against county's top attorney, ethics board to get new judge

A judge in another county is expected to preside over a lawsuit filed by the Macomb County prosecutor against the county's top attorney and ethics board after Macomb's chief circuit judge disqualified himself from the case Friday.

Macomb Chief Circuit Judge James Biernat signed an order of disqualification/reassignment in Prosecutor Peter Lucido's suit against Corporation Counsel John Schapka and the ethics board.

Biernat indicated "my continued assignment would create an appearance of impropriety." No additional reasons were given.

The request for reassignment will be forwarded to the State Court Administrative Office.

This isn't the first time a judge or judges in the Macomb Circuit Court have recused themselves from a case involving an elected official in the county. A St. Clair County Circuit judge handled a case involving ousted Macomb County Clerk Karen Spranger and an Oakland County Circuit judge handled a criminal case involving former Prosecutor Eric Smith.

Biernat's order came less than a month after Circuit Judge James Maceroni decided to not disqualify himself from the case, per Lucido's request, after Lucido raised concerns about a campaign contribution linked to Maceroni that Lucido argued created an appearance of impropriety as it related to the lawsuit.

Maceroni's decision was expected to be reviewed by Biernat and a hearing was scheduled for Sept. 16, but it was adjourned without a date because of "out of county assignment," per online court records. Other matters scheduled in the case also are adjourned without dates.

"It's disappointing that this matter has dragged on and on and on, and everyone involved needs some closure," Schapka told the Free Press on Friday.

Lucido's attorney, Todd Perkins, wrote in an email Friday: "Clearly, Judge Biernat sees the entire landscape and not from a myopic view. Even I argued this case seeking a different Macomb jurist, but Judge Biernat's order takes the precaution and preserves all appearances of appropriateness for the entire bench. The people involved in this litigation are so entrenched into the fabric of the community that the possibility of finding a jurist who is untethered to a particular side, even if that association is casual, is improbable."

Perkins, representing the Republican prosecutor, filed a motion Aug. 12 after he discovered Maceroni had contributed to the campaign of Christina Hines, the Democratic candidate for county prosecutor in the upcoming November general election. The date of the campaign contribution was more than seven months before the June 28 filing of Lucido's lawsuit, which was in Maceroni's court.

Perkins argued the $100 political contribution made to Hines' campaign on Nov. 15, 2023, is "not about the money, but a bias, the perception of what could be impropriety."

Maceroni decided that no evidence had been presented as to a connection resulting in the alleged appearance of impropriety between the contribution and the decision before the court in the lawsuit, according to his opinion and order, which detailed many points behind his reasoning.

Mark Brewer, a former Michigan Democratic Party chairman, filed his first of two complaints against Lucido with the ethics board in February. Lucido's motion to disqualify Maceroni indicated Brewer is the leader and/or adviser for Hines' political campaign.

The ethics board dismissed one of Brewer's complaints and voted to forward the other to a public hearing. The remaining complaint alleges Lucido used county property, buildings and offices to create a photo of himself for political campaign purposes. Perkins has disputed the allegation. The public hearing has not been held.

Perkins wrote in his email Friday that Lucido has suffered politically-motivated attacks by Brewer, that Schapka is reluctant to advise the ethics board on the "basic precepts of the law" and there is "acrimony" against Lucido by the executive branch. He wrote that what has happened to Lucido "has just been plain wrong."

Contact Christina Hall: [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawsuit against Macomb county attorney, ethics board gets new judge