Former Republican Sen. Lucido accused of unethically grinding political axe with Gov. Whitmer in new prosecutor role – MLive.com

Former Republican state Sen. Peter Lucido is accused of using the power of his newly elected role as the Macomb County prosecutor to grind a political axe with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Hes accused Whitmer of crimes related to her handling of nursing home patients and asked relatives of patients whove died of COVID-19 in nursing homes to file wrongful death lawsuits.

Now a trio of legal ethics experts are accusing Lucido of violating his Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct and conflict-of-interest ethics standards.

Mr. Lucido may have been within his rights to use the tools of his office to advance his cause, but his actions as a prosecutor raise serious questions under the rules governing the legal profession and the prosecutors office, said a complaint filed with the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission Monday, March 29. In light of his public pronouncements regarding the guilt of a potential defendant prior to an investigation, Mr. Lucidos continued involvement in this matter implicates a conflict of interest between his personal political interests and the duties of a prosecutor ... "

The complaint is filed by Larry Dubin, former chairman of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and a law professor at University of Detroit Mercy; Claire Finkelstein, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota.

They claim if Lucido doesnt recuse himself from any criminal investigation related to the nursing home issue he may be in violation of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct that guide legal professionals in the state.

It was one thing for Mr. Lucido to make such allegations as a politician; (its) quite another thing for him to do so as a prosecutor, the complaint said. We urge the Commission to investigate Mr. Lucidos behavior for violations of his duties in his capacity as a prosecutor for Macomb County.

Despite calls for a criminal investigation into Whitmers handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, Lucido previously told MLive theres not exactly probable cause to open an investigation, but rather a cumulation of general information hed like law enforcement to look into.

Across the state and in Lansing, Michigan Republicans are pushing for an investigation into Whitmers handling of nursing home policy after a reporting scandal in New York, despite data indicating the same problems do not exist in Michigan.

Michigan is below the national average in nursing-home deaths from COVID-19 and theres no evidence that Michigan has been hiding data or is an outlier in its handling of the situation.

On two different metrics, Michigan is slightly below the national average in regards to nursing home deaths: The death toll per 1,000 nursing home residents and the percentage of total COVID-19 deaths attributed to long-term care facilities. On the latter, about 31% of the states COVID-19 deaths are attributed to long-term care facilities compared to a national average of 34%.

Whitmers widely criticized policy telling nursing homes they had to accept COVID-positive patients was never actually implemented, according to Melissa Samuel, president and CEO of the Health Care Association of Michigan, which represents long-term care providers.

In April 2020, Whitmer put in place a policy ordering nursing homes to accept COVID-19-positive patients back into their facilities but paused the implementation due to a flurry of complaints and amended the order and eliminated the re-acceptance mandate in May, Samuel said.

As of data available this week, residents of long-term care facilities accounted nearly a third, or 5,563 of Michigans 16,034 COVID-19 deaths.

Michael Goetz, who oversees grievance investigations, on Monday said he could neither deny nor confirm a complaint was filed against Lucido, although a copy of the complaint has been publicized in the media.

According to Goetz, a review of any attorney complaint is conducted internally and referred to the Attorney Discipline Board if there is adequate evidence and the alleged misconduct is severe enough. That is rare.

According to Goetz, about 120 of 2,500 attorney complaints in a year are referred, at which time they become available for public inspection. Prior to that, any complaint, the resulting investigation or disciplinary action -- such as an admonition, warning or consensual probation -- remains secret from the public.

MLive has requested comment but not received response from the filers of the complaint and left a message with the Macomb County Prosecutors Office offering Lucido a chance to respond to the grievance.

Lucido defeated former judge Mary Chrzanowski in November to replace the seat left open by former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith after he resigned amid allegations that he was fraudulently spending public forfeiture funds.

More on MLive:

Nursing home cases on the decline

Republicans search for smoking gun in nursing home handling by Whitmer

Michigan to allow nursing home visits statewide

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Former Republican Sen. Lucido accused of unethically grinding political axe with Gov. Whitmer in new prosecutor role - MLive.com