In an article entitled, “Detroit Police Inquiry Expands,” Detroit News correspondents Norman Sinclair and Ronald J. Hansen cite a recent case where Detroit homicide investigators coerced a false confession following a polygraph interrogation. U.S. Justice Department investigators are examining the case:
Gayles’ case history
The case of Michael Gayles began at 2 a.m. Sept. 2, [2000] when police took a statement in which Gayles confessed to the Aug. 31 rape and killing of J’nai Glasker in her bedroom.
During the next 36 hours, Gayles, who receives disability benefits from the state, signed another typed confession statement and a handwritten addendum in which he implicated his mother. Each confession was more explicit and precise in its language than the first.
His mother, Leathy Gayles Washington, was held for a weekend but never charged.
Michael Gayles, who has the IQ of an 8-year-old, lived near Glasker on the northwest side and had a juvenile record of criminal sexual conduct. At the time of his arrest, he repeatedly maintained his innocence in statements to the media.
Two weeks after charging him with first-degree murder and criminal sexual conduct, police dropped the charges when DNA evidence proved he did not rape the girl.
Deputy Chief Hall said the case proves that the department properly handles investigations. “He took a polygraph and failed it. After that, he made a full and graphic confession. The confession fit the facts of the crime. It was our investigation that cleared him in the end.”
Lawyer Mark Satawa, a former Wayne County prosecutor who represented Michael Gayles after his arrest, said the confessions are signs of major problems in the department’s Homicide Section.
“Most of the homicide investigators I worked with when I was a prosecutor were honest, hard-working professionals,” Satawa said. “But at times, we used to scratch our heads over some of the things that happened over there. We knew something was wrong in homicide.
“The Homicide Section is overworked and under pressure to solve cases. I know the job is difficult, but the pressure forces some to cut corners. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.”