By Jameson Cook
The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich.
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WARREN, Mich. — A Macomb County jury acquitted a former Warren police officer of two counts of manslaughter and two other charges for an on-the-job crash that killed two men.
The jury deliberated only about two hours over two days before finding James Burke not guilty Thursday morning for the September 2024 deaths of Cedric Hayden Jr., 34, and DeJuan Pettis, 33, following a four-day trial in front of Judge Jennifer Faunce in Macomb Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.
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James Burke appeared to hold back tears as the verdicts and was comforted by his attorney, Marc Curtis, during the polling of individual jurors. Burke’s sobbing mother embraced a relative In the moments following as Judge Faunce was dismissing the jurors.
After the jury was dismissed, the courtroom was quiet. One supporter of the victims yelled, “This is bull—-, straight up,” as he exited.
In his closing arguments Wednesday, Curtis, blamed the crash on Hayden due to his premature crossing of the double-center lines separating the two opposite lanes, his failure to activate the left-turn signal and intoxication as his blood alcohol level was 0.198%.
“That is a superseding, intervening cause of this accident, not officer Burke,” he said. “The individual that was grossly negligent this day that put himself, his passenger, officer Burke, officer (police officer passenger Michael) Rodolfo in danger was Mr. Hayden. He ignored the law. He ignored the public safety for everyone on the road, not Mr. Burke. He is the cause of this accident.”
In addition to the two counts of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, Burke was acquitted of moving violation causing serious injuries for the injuries to his partner, Michael Rodolfo, who was a passenger in the police vehicle, and willful neglect of duty.
In his closing arguments, Assistant Macomb Proscutor Corey Newman said Burke, who was 28 at the time, made the unnecessary, grossly negligent decision to speed at over 100 mph on Schoenherr Road in Warren in the seconds before the crash.
“The defendant made choices, and in this case those choices were criminal – the choice of speed in a grossly negligent manner,” Newman said. “Cedric Hayden and DeJuan Pettis wouldn’t be dead if the simplest choices were made, follow the law.”
Burke was speeding to try to locate a black Jeep Cherokee that was subject of a Flock camera hit as a potential suspect vehicle in ATM robberies in the area in recent nights, at 10 Mile and Schoenherr and at 4:56 a.m. and about one minute later another hit at Schoenherr and Groesbeck Highway. Flock is a license-plate and vehicle-description located along several local roads.
“Officer Burke was doing what he needed to do for what was necessary from him to protect us from crime,” Curtis said. “You have to look at the totality of the circumstance that Officer Burke had that day. Officers are human, they’re not robots. They have to make decisions on information they receive in seconds, and make those decision within seconds.”
Burke crashed the Explorer into the Durango’s passenger side at a speed of 94 mph, a decline from 115 mph only five seconds before the collision due to braking, according to evidence presented at the trial. The Durango was hit as it was turning left from the left lane of northbound Schoenherr at Prospect Avenue, three blocks south of Toepfer Road.
The verdicts were held in front of a full capacity courtroom filled with supporters of both the defendant and victims and their families, as well as other onlookers.
Burke was free on personal bond during the trial.
Two lawsuits by the families of Hayden and Pettis are pending.
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