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Case involving ELPD officer's use of force assigned to special prosecutor

July 9, 2020
<p>The East Lansing Police Department is pictured on July 6, 2017.</p>

The East Lansing Police Department is pictured on July 6, 2017.

Jackson County Prosecutor's Office has been assigned as the special prosecutor in a case involving East Lansing Police Officer Andrew Stephenson, according to Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.

Last month, Michigan State Police submitted a warrant request to Ingham County prosecutors asking for the review of Stephenson's actions during a December 2019 incident.

Most recently, Stephenson's defense attorney Mike Nichols called for a swift decision by prosecutors and said he didn't think Stephenson will be charged.

This warrant request followed a Michigan State Police investigation into two separate use of force complaints involving Stephenson. The investigation concluded in May, exonerating him.

The traffic stop related to the recent warrant request involved Stephenson's interaction with Anthony Loggins.

Loggins was initially charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer. However, these charges were issued based on the police report of the incident without notification of Loggins' use of force complaint.

As a result of further notification, the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office reviewed the incident further and dismissed charges against Loggins.

The Ingham County Prosecutor's Office filed a petition with the Attorney General's Office to assign a special prosecutor to Stephenson's case last month.

Ingham County Prosecutor's Office attributed the decision to ask for a special prosecutor to providing "an extra layer of credibility and public confidence" in a previous release.

"There is no set timeline. We were just assigned," Jackson Prosecuting Attorney Jerard Jarzynka said. "It will be a process that will take some time to complete."

Ryan Jarvi, press secretary for the Attorney General's Office, said that the decision to fulfill the request for special prosecuting came after consideration of the resources that may be needed to handle the case. Typically, an office in the same region is requested to handle the matter.

"The county prosecutor decides whether to accept responsibility of prosecuting," Jarvi said. "In this instance, the Jackson County prosecutor accepted that responsibility.”

Editor's note: Article was updated Thursday evening at 7:35 p.m. to add a comment from the Attorney General's Office press secretary.

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