Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wants a Saginaw County court to reinstate criminal charges against three law enforcement officers for willful neglect of duty.

Circuit Court Judge Sara Spencer-Noggle last month dismissed the charges against Michigan State Police Trooper Zachary Tebedo, and Saginaw Police officers Jordan Englehart and Dominic Vasquez, ruling that failure to intervene amid excessive force by another officer does not constitute willful neglect of duty.

The case centers on a traffic stop in March 2022 that involved former MSP Trooper Bram Schroeder, who was sentenced to 12 months of probation and a $1,000 fine in March for use of excessive force.

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Schroeder pleaded no contest to single counts of aggravated assault and willful neglect of duty for repeatedly punching 48-year-old motorist Vance Martin in the face during the stop. Martin was restrained in handcuffs at the time, but resisting officers at the scene suspected him of drunken driving, MLive reports.

Nessel also charged Tebedo, Englehart, and Vasquez with willful neglect of duty, a one-year misdemeanor, but a visiting judge in March 2023 dismissed the charges against them.

The AG’s office refiled the charges, and Spencer-Noggle again dismissed them last month.

While an internal investigation cleared Englehart and Vasquez of wrongdoing or policy violations, MSP suspended Tebedo in August 2022.

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Leaders with the Saginaw Police Officers Association, Saginaw NAACP and Saginaw Citizens Advisory Committee have defended the officers and argued Schroeder alone should be held responsible for the incident.

Nessel clearly disagrees, filing an appeal on Friday calling for the court to reinstate the criminal charges against them.

“When these officers took the victim into their custody, they assumed a duty and obligation to keep him safe from further harm, and that includes further harm perpetrated by a fellow officer,” Nessel said in a prepared statement.

“The district court judge ruled these officers did not have a legal duty to intervene in the criminal use of excessive force by another officer against a handcuffed man in their custody, and we plainly disagree,” Nessel said. “We stand by these charges, that this was willful neglect of duty, and look forward to making our case in the Circuit Court that they were correctly filed.”

Nessel’s legal brief alleges “Tebedo and Officers Engelhart and Vasquez had a duty based on the U.S. Constitution as well as the Michigan Constitution to protect” Martin “from further harm while he was handcuffed and in their custody.”

“At a minimum the allegations and the law cited by the People raise a question of fact for a jury of the officer’s peers to decide whether they have committed the crime of Willful Neglect of Duty,” the brief read.

Legal filings in Tebedo’s case make it clear the charges against the officers have been repeatedly dismissed in part due to errors by the AG’s office and missing documentation.

Michigan Supreme Court justices noted in a June opinion denying Tebedo’s request for superintending control that the initial amended complaint “had not been sworn to by the complainant, and no affidavits were attached to show facts to support reasonable cause.”

The Saginaw County cases are the only the latest to illustrate Nessel’s overzealous prosecution of police officers who are put in impossible situations on the job, and her general disdain for the law enforcement profession.

In June, Nessel charged MSP Detective Sgt. Biran Keely of Grand Rapids with second-degree murder and an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter in the April death of Samuel Sterling, a felon who was wanted on multiple warrants.

Keely was working with the MSP Sixth District Fugitive Task Force that located Sterling at a gas station in the Grand Rapids suburb of Kentwood. When Sterling fled from officers on foot, they pursued on foot and in vehicles, and an unmarked SUV driven by Keely struck Sterling as he ran through a Burger King parking lot.

The incident prompted swift condemnation from Nessel and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, while others pointed to Keely’s unblemished 25-year record with the MSP, which included awards for bravery and life-saving actions for taking a bullet to the chest to save a hostage in 2015.

“It is unfortunate that in this time of political correctness, Michigan’s Attorney General has chosen to ignore the facts of this incident and rely on political pressure,” Keely’s attorney, Marc Curtis, said in a statement to WXMI. “It is also unfortunate that our Governor, without having seen or heard all the evidence in the case, chose to interject her opinion and side against law enforcement in this matter.”

Nessel also faced heated criticism for showing little concern for the families of three police officers killed in the line of duty over roughly a month span this summer.

“The DAG is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Officer Mohamed Said,” Nessel posted to X a day after the third officer’s death in July. “Every day, law enforcement officials across MI risk their lives to ensure our safety. We are profoundly grateful for their sacrifice & our thoughts are with Officer Said’s family during this difficult time.”

Melvindale Police Officer Mohamed Said was allegedly shot and killed in a scuffle with 44-year-old Michael Lopez, a criminal with a history of assaulting police who was arrested following an extensive manhunt.

Said’s death was the third murder of an on-duty officer in Michigan in a matter of weeks. Hillsdale County Deputy William Butler Jr. was allegedly killed by motorist Eric Fiddler on June 27 during a routine traffic stop, and Oakland County Deputy Bradley Reckling was murdered on June 22 when he was gunned down while stopping a suspected stolen vehicle.

Neither Whitmer nor Nessel bothered to attend the funeral services for the officers, who left behind devastated families with young children.

Instead, while the victims families, fellow officers, and the law enforcement community mourned the losses, Nessel was busy celebrating at Warren’s Pride Parade, and Whitmer shared techniques for making an “incredible Crispy Feta Greek Salad with Za’atar Vinaigrette” with her social media followers.