Judge removes Sumpter Township, Supervisor Morgan from law suit

At a Dec. 16 session in Wayne County Circuit Court, Judge Robert J. Colombo, Jr. laid out the schedule for the case of Clarita Po vs. Sumpter Township, Supervisor John Morgan, and Sumpter Police Detective John Toth.
Clarita Po sued following a raid in August on her home and her husband’s marijuana grow house. She was jailed and then released without any charges filed.
Clarita Po’s attorney Ronald Reese Ruark agreed to withdraw Sumpter Township’s and Supervisor John Morgan’s names from the case as defendants based on Michigan’s law on governmental immunity.
Judge Colombo said discovery and depositions will run until April 14. The case will mediate in June and then a settlement conference will be held 42 days later, sometime in the late summer.
The only defendant left in the case is Sumpter Township Police Detective John Toth who led the raid on the house and grow facilities. On Dec. 16 Judge Colombo denied Toth’s motion to dismiss Clarita Po’s case against him.
The McGraw Morris law firm, the township’s insurance attorney, is representing Det. Toth.
Clarita Po’s lawsuit demands a jury trial.
Attorney Ruark’s son, Scott Richard Ruark, recently was admitted to the Michigan bar, and he and his father are representing Nelson Po on the criminal charge of delivering / manufacturing 5-45 kilograms of marijuana on Aug. 16 at the Pos’ home at 45025 Harris Road.
The Dec. 16 final conference and motion hearing before Judge Ulysses Boykin at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice was to be held with a substitute judge sitting in, since Boykin was on vacation.
But the substitute judge said he did not wish to act on these motions, adjourning the case until Jan. 6 when Boykin is back.
A jury trial on the felony charge is set for Jan. 26 before Judge Boykin. If found guilty, Po could be imprisoned for 7 years and/or pay a fine of $500,000.
Scott Ruark drafted a motion to be presented Jan. 6 to dismiss the charge against Nelson Po based upon entrapment. He will be arguing his motion to dismiss.
Scott Ruark will argue that the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, signed by Sumpter Township and Po on Nov. 3, 2015, is an illegal drug deal – 200 pounds of marijuana for $40,000 – and that Sumpter Township used it to entrap Nelson Po into breaking the law.
“Look at it this way,” said defense attorney Ronald Ruark last week. “If the 200 pounds of marijuana was legal, it never should have been sold for $40,000. That’s extortion. It should have been returned to its rightful and legal owner.
“If the 200 pounds of marijuana was illegal, it never should have been sold for $40,000. That’s an illegal drug transaction. It should have been kept in police storage and used as evidence.
“Sumpter Township either extorted $40,000 from Nelson Po, or they engaged in an illegal drug transaction. There is no other option,” attorney Ronald Ruark concluded.