(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/05/2023) About two hours after defending her pick for a law clerk, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Bolden announced that the clerk resigned to avoid being a “distraction.”
The clerk, Pete Martel, spent more than 14 years in prison after pleading guilty in 1994 to an armed robbery of a Genesee County convenience store and then firing shots at a police officer.
“I have accepted Pete Martel’s resignation,” Bolden said in a 12:27 p.m. statement. “He did not want to be a distraction or in any way divert the Court from its important work. I respect his decision and do not intend to comment further.”
Martel, who did not return a message seeking comment, turned his life around and earned a law degree after the criminal offense. His name is not found, however, in the State Bar of Michigan directory and efforts to learn if he'd been admitted to the SBM were not successful.
Fellow Democratic-nominated Justice Richard Bernstein criticized Bolden’s choice, telling MIRS that the simple, but critical issue, is the employment and hiring practices and policies of the court – a topic he expects the bench will address after the Martel incident became news.
“This isn’t about criminal justice reform. This isn’t about redemption. This isn’t about second chances,” he said. “This is simply an employment decision or determination that I really had grave concern with . . . (T)he most important thing for the court to function is the court has to be a neutral arbitrator. We are not there to set policy . . .
“It creates an appearance that if you are law enforcement or a prosecutor and you’re making your argument, how (will) you feel if a critical member of the staff was involved in a shoot-out with you?” he added. “… That’s a problem. … If you shoot at a police officer, does that give you entrance to the Michigan Supreme Court?”
Bernstein said Martel’s advocacy work and his tenure with the State Appellate Defender’s Office (SADO) were “a perfect” position for him.
In the morning, Bolden told MIRS that Martel is “well-qualified” to serve as a clerk and is an example of how the justice system should work.
“I think his story is really an inspiration for people that are returning citizens -- that you don’t have to recidivate and go back to prison,” she said. “You can change your life and possibly clerk at the highest court in the state . . .
“I think justice comes in many forms,” Bolden added. “Anyone serving in this role has to acknowledge this.”
Bolden said Bernstein did not bring his concerns about Martel to her, and Bernstein said he didn’t first speak with Bolden because The Detroit News got to him first, asking questions about a staffer who “got into a shoot-out with police.”
“The whole building knew about this,” he said, noting that many likely checked Bolden’s staffer’s backgrounds considering how much attention the new justice has received. “… I don’t appreciate walking into work and getting a call like that. I’m not upset about it. I’m just saying that it was completely unexpected.”
Bolden, a former lawmaker, was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after she lost in the November general election to incumbent Republican-nominated Justice Brian Zahra. The appointment made Bolden the first African-American female justice on the Supreme Court.
Both Bolden and Bernstein said they would move forward and work together.
Martel, who passed the State Bar exam and worked for SADO as a mitigation specialist, began working as an advocate after his 2008 parole.
Martel told WXYZ in 2017 that his turnaround occurred when he began thinking about how his past actions affected others, and he began studying law. Martel eventually earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School and has worked as a prisoner advocate at the American Friends Service Committee.
Martel, a second-year doctoral student at the University of Michigan’s Ford School, also worked as a legal writer in the Michigan Department of Corrections, according to his biography on the University’s website.
Bolden said retired Chief Justice Bridget McCormack “highly recommended” Martel, who is a former student of McCormack’s.
McCormack did not comment to MIRS, but a court spokesperson said she supports Bolden’s decisions.
The Detroit News, however, quoted McCormack as saying Martel “was one of the best students I ever had.”
"He's been open about his past and his regrets about it, and how he's eager to be an example for others, to show them that you don't have to be defined by your past,” she told the newspaper. “I honestly can't think of anything in a justice system that we value more — we should support people who succeed at redemption."
Bolden said her office staff offers a variety of experience, including staff members who have knowledge of the Supreme Court as well as federal and appellate courts.
One staffer, Bolden said, is a Sorority sister who grew up in Southfield and completed a federal clerkship.
“I think what happened with (Martel) is exactly how our justice system should work,” she said in the morning. “He committed a crime. He was convicted; he served his time. And, he completely turned his life around to help people in the justice system . . .
“The decision I made was a decision for my office,” Bolden added. “I don’t think it affects anybody else. I picked the best people to surround me that I thought would help me come to the best decisions and (Bernstein) sees it differently.”
Bernstein acknowledges that each judicial chamber makes its own staffing decisions, but when one chamber makes “a very controversial hire … it affects all the chambers,” who are questioned.
“I take a different position. … All this is, is me taking a separate position,” he said. “… It created a problem for me because I vehemently disagree with it and I was put into a position where either I was going to go along with it or I was going to have to say something different.
“This is not something I approve of. Period,” Bernstein said.
