Court reopens case against Detroit police officer accused of firing rubber bullets at journalists
(CBS DETROIT) - A case against a Detroit police officer accused of shooting journalists with rubber pellets at a 2020 protest has reopened and is bound over for trial, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.
Officer Daniel DeBono was charged with three counts of felonious assault for allegedly firing rubber pellets at three journalists who were covering a protest in downtown Detroit on May 30, 2020.
Prosecutors say each of the photojournalists was wearing press credentials, identified themselves as news media and raised their hands as they asked to cross the street. Debono, dressed in riot gear, struck all three with rubber pellets that inflicted bruises and other injuries.
The journalists were covering the protest that was sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Most of the protesters at the time had already dispersed from the area in downtown Detroit where the photojournalists were shot.
In a preliminary hearing, the 36th District Court judge dismissed the case against DeBono, citing a 1931 Michigan law that gave him immunity. However, the prosecutor's office appealed the ruling in the Wayne County Third Circuit Court, resulting in it being reserved.
Attorneys appealed that ruling, but the Michigan Court of Appeals denied it and remanded the case back to the district court.
An arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 28.
