DETROIT – A former deputy Detroit police chief could face criminal charges after a state police investigation found problems with how an alleged confession was obtained in the Devontae Sanford case.
James Tolbert was the deputy police chief in 2007 when Sanford, then 14, was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to killing four people in a home on Runyon Street.
A big piece of evidence was a drawing by Sanford that detailed the crime scene.
"The signed sketch was a key piece of evidence because it demonstrated knowledge of a crime scene," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “Mr. Sanford being able to draw the sketch would demonstrate that all of the information came directly from his recollection or from his participation in the crime.”
Worthy said Tolbert testified that Sanford created the drawing on a blank piece of paper. However, in a follow-up interview with state police, Worthy said Tolbert "responded to questions that undermined his prior testimony under oath that Mr. Sanford created the sketch from a blank piece of paper.”
Worthy said Tolbert is heard on tape during the state police interview, saying, "I drew the house."
"This called into question Tolbert's credibility in the case," Worthy said.
A warrant was submitted by state police in May. Worthy said it's still under review.
Tolbert declined to comment to Local 4.
“For us, the result of the investigation of the Michigan State Police showed us that our building blocks of the initial investigation were now in question. And since they are now in question, we’ve moved to take the actions that we’ve taken," Worthy said.
Tolbert was with the Detroit Police Department until 2013, when he left to become the chief of police in Flint. He was fired from that job in February.
Judge Brian Sullivan this week dismissed Sanford's four guilty pleas to second-degree murder at the request of prosecutors.