An Arabic woman maintained that a Black woman used ethnic slurs against her and threw a pillow at her in a Macomb County store, although her allegations were weakened slightly by some differences from her prior statements.

Ela Musaid, 19, took the stand Tuesday at the start of the jury trial for Tenia Fleming, an off-duty Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy who is charged with ethnic intimidation and assault and battery for an incident last December at the Marshalls store at 12 Mile and Gratiot Avenue in Roseville.

Musaid, who was shopping with her two sisters, testified in Macomb County Circuit Court that she felt “terrified” and her life was in danger after Fleming allegedly called her a “f—— filthy Arab,” cussed at her further and threw a pillow at her as Musaid walked away.

Musaid, who is Muslim and was wearing a hijab at the time of the incident, called Fleming’s remarks “violent and racist” and she felt “afraid for my life.”

She said she didn’t think the comments were necessarily directed at her but that she and her sisters were the only people in the store donned in hijabs.

Musaid, who spoke softly through a face mask, at times was difficult to understand.

Musaid said she did not see Fleming when she made the initial remarks as they were in separate aisles. Musaid said she and Fleming began walking in the same direction after the alleged slurs were spoken, and they both ended up in the main aisle. Video of the incident shows Fleming was about 10 feet behind Musaid when she threw the pillow. Musaid said was shouting at her but she does not recall what she said.

She said she did not say anything to prompt the initial remarks, was not on the phone with one of her sisters in the moments prior to the incident and did not recall whether she said anything further to Fleming following the remarks.

Video shows that Fleming’s husband, Kenneth, also a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy, restrained Tenia from rushing toward Musaid after throwing the pillow.

Ela’s sister, Lamees Musaid, 23, testified she heard the initial slurs and then in a second set of comments heard Fleming say “names.”

“I do not recall the exact names,” she said. “It was a long time ago and I do not remember.”

Lamees Musaid called 911 and told a dispatcher, “A Black lady comes across and calls me names and then a pillow is thrown at us. I’m in danger,” according to a recording played in court while Lamees testified.

Police arrived, and after talking to officers, the sisters asked to be escorted to their vehicle because they were scared, Ela Musaid testified.

Meanwhile, Fleming and her husband left immediatley following the incident. Mr. Fleming was later identified from security video at the store, leading to the charges against Mrs. Fleming.

During cross examination of Ela Musaid by Fleming’s attorney, Lillian Diallo, Musaid said she did not recall some aspects of the incident or her prior statements because, “It was so long ago.”

Diallo pointed out Musaid told police Fleming made the initial remarks “under her breath,” but Tuesday said, “I don’t remember.”

Diallo also noted that twice in police reports officers did not include that Fleming included “filthy” in her remarks, although under redirect questioning from Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Coletta, Musaid noted  it is included in at least one other report.

Musaid said she also did not remember testifying that she said, “This is crazy,” as she walked away around the time the pillow struck her.

Diallo pointed out at the start of her cross examination Musaid was wearing a hijab, face mask and eyeglasses while testifying Tuesday but at the district court hearing wore only the hijab while on the stand.

“It’s clear we cannot see your facial expressions right now, correct?” Diallo said. “At the preliminary examination we were able to see your facial expressions, correct? We didn’t have a jury at the preliminary examination, correct?”

Musaid replied, “correct,” to the trio of questions.

Musaid testified under Coletta’s questioning that she felt “afraid” to be testifying in the same room as Fleming, who was sitting at the attorneys-parties table.

Ethnic intimidation is a low-level felony punishable by up to two year in prison and assault and battery is a misdemeanor.

Fleming was suspended without pay following the incident.

The trial in front of Judge Joseph Toia was expected to conclude this week.

A 50-year-old Macomb County man was convicted Wednesday of brutally murdering his live-in girlfriend following a two-week trial in Macomb County Circuit Court.

Jason Ross was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and three other felonies in connection with the beating death of Kathleen Hales, 47, in July 2021 in her home in a mobile-home community near 19 Mile and Utica roads in Sterling Heights.

He faces life without parole at his Oct. 10 sentencing by circuit Judge Matthew Sabaugh.

The jury deliberated only two hours before reaching its verdict late Wednesday afternoon following closing arguments that ended abruptly when Ross, who was representing himself, quit 30 minutes into his closing.

Earlier in her closing, Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Elizabeth Abbo accused Ross of “brutally beating” Hales with a hammer and stabbing her with three knives, inflicting 69 wounds in all.

“The defendant put a hammer to her head while she was defenseless, laying there yelling for help,” Abbo said.

Hales suffered from torture, Abbo added.

“This took time. It wasn’t quick. It didn’t occur all it once. It took time. She suffered,” Abbo said, telling jurors Hales died from blunt-force trauma to her head, as she suffered several skull fractures.

Ross was 30 minutes into his closing argument in Macomb County Circuit Court when he quit after being told for the third or fourth time by Judge Matthew Sabaugh to stop bringing alleged facts or issues into the case that were not touched on during the trial.

“At this point, I don’t know what I can say,” he said at the podium in front of 13 jurors. “I’m done. I just don’t got anything to say. I’m happy. I’m good,” Ross said as he walked back to the defense table.

Sabaugh asked him twice, “Is that your choice?”

“It’s my choice,” Ross replied as he sat down.

Abbo, who made the objections, declined to give a rebuttal, as allowed by law, she said for the first time in her career.

Ross, who testified a day earlier under questioning by his advisory counsel, Adil Haradhala, claimed he acted in self defense after Hales cut him with a knife during an argument.

He admitted to police he killed Hales, telling detectives they “fought like men” but that he overpowered her.

He also blamed his actions on excessive drug use.

Ross and Hales had been together a short time as he had moved in next door to her only months before.

Hales got him a job at a restaurant where she had worked for over 20 years and held several positions, according to testimony.

After the slaying, Ross took Hale’s credit or debit cards and fled in her red 2004 Ford Explorer, prosecutors said. He was captured two days later in Prescott, Mich., located about a 50 minute drive north of Bay City, in possession of items owned by Hale that tie him to the slaying scene and a weapon, prosecutors said.

The jury acquitted Ross, who has been in custody, of first-degree murder although they found him guilty of the underlying charge, larceny. He also was convicted of unlawfully driving away a vehicle and illegal possession of a financial transaction device.

Several of Hales’ family members attended the trial.

A Shelby Township man who wants to build a tiny house in Chesterfield is suing the township over its zoning ordinance that prevents any house below 1,200 square feet.

Jordan McBain’s company, Jordan’s Rehab LLC, sued Chesterfield Township in Macomb County Circuit Court in June after the Zoning Board of Appeals rejected his proposal for a 200-foot home on 1.8 acres on 26 Mile Road east of New Haven Road, land zoned for single-family residential or agricultural, he says. He says he gained state approval the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy as it will have an agricultural use.

McBain refers to the high minimum house size as “snob-zoning,” saying the rule in effect blocks access to affordable housing options for vulnerable populations, including the poor, disabled and minorities. He said tiny houses can help reduce homelessness.

“I believe in tiny houses as a way to take off stress from those with lesser financial capabilities by providing them with relief,” McBain said in an email to The Macomb Daily. “I also think there are many people who just want them and that they should have the right to do so.

“These restrictive laws also endanger retirees with limited resources, who may be forced out of their homes due to unaffordable repairs, and young adults just starting their lives, who are denied access to low-cost housing. Young entrepreneurs could also benefit from affordable housing options that tiny homes provide.”

McBain, who is representing himself in the case, is seeking relief under the Michigan constitution’s equal protection clause, Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act and the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act.

The township attorney firm declined to comment because the matter is pending.

The case is up for a hearing next month after Judge Matthew Sabaugh on Aug. 6 granted most of McBain’s legal motion for the township to provide a transcript of the May ZBA meeting and two corrections to meeting minutes where a variance was rejected.

Sabaugh ruled against sanctions for McBain against the township because the mistakes that must be corrected were unintentional.

McBain, who said his company flips houses and is a consulting software engineer, said he initially planned to live in the house but delays due to the conflict with the township forced him to buy another house, and he doesn’t want to reside in a community where he has a strained relationship with local government.

He said he plans to build and sell the tiny house, which would be kept on a trailer, and there would be a mobile bathroom because there is no sewer lines connected  to the property.

The property contains wetlands and forest and cannot be easily developed for anything else, he says.

The popularity of tiny houses, which are considered to be homes under about 500-square-feet, has increased over the last 10 to 20 years, and many TV shows depict surrounding tales of tiny homes and tiny-homes lifestyles

According to todayshomeowner.com, there are more than 10,000 tiny homes in the United States.

“Tiny houses likely represent an enduring expansion rather than a fleeting fad,” the website says. “Worsening housing affordability pushes Americans toward cheaper ownership options like tiny homes.”

There are several tiny-homes builders in Michigan, including Cool Tiny Homes in Oakland Township.

The price tag for tiny houses typically range from $30,000 to $60,000 on average but can cost as little as $8,000 and as much as $150,000, todayshomeowner.com says.

Proponents note the houses have less negative impact on the environment, and demographics show that while tiny-home owners average income is about $42,000, they are twice as likely to hold a master’s degree.

An attorney for one of six defendants charged with racketeering for alleged false medical billing in Macomb County said the case should be thrown out because the state Attorney General’s Office has failed to provide any evidence of criminal acts.

James Amberg, attorney for Hassan Fayad, argued for dismissal earlier this month in front of Macomb Circuit Judge James Maceroni.

He called the case “the most convoluted a case as I’ve ever seen” in his over 20 years of practice, referring to the case presented over a several-day preliminary examination in 41B District Court in Clinton Township.

“The Attorney General’s representative didn’t even know what their own theory of the case was, and if they did, they didn’t tell us, the various attorneys in the case,” Amberg said. “There are no crimes here. The case has been problematic since the beginning.”

Amberg said the Attorney General’s Office failed to provide what is known as the “bill of particulars,” what is supposed to be a concise description of the alleged law violations.

“It’s difficult to fight a case when nobody from the government side can offer a rational explanation of what your client is charged with,” he said.

Instead, state attorneys were allowed to file arguments on why the case should be bound over to circuit court. District Judge Carrie Fuca advanced the case to the higher court.

Judge Maceroni said following the July 15 he likely would issue a written opinion before the next scheduled hearing, Aug. 29.

Fayad, 39, of Dearborn, is charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, aka racketeering, three counts of conspiracy to commit false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000 and three counts of insurance fraud.

Codefendants include:

• Michael Angelo, 62, of Springfield, N.J., who owns the multiple medical offices under one roof in Clinton Township, faces the most charges. In addition to a criminal enterprise count, he is charged with four counts of false pretenses, four counts of conspiracy to commit false pretenses, six counts of delivery or manufacture of controlled substances and three counts of insurance fraud.
• Chitra Sinha, 81, of Bloomfield Township, and Mohammed Ali Abraham, 71, of Dearborn Heights, each face charges of racketeering, and three counts each of false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000 and insurance fraud.
• Robert Presley, 50, of Ferndale, is charged with racketeering, two counts of delivery or manufacture of a controlled substance and two counts of insurance fraud.
• Thomas Quartz, 37, of Grosse Ile Township, is charged with racketeering,, two counts of conspiracy to commit false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000 and three counts of insurance fraud.

Angelo’s attorney, Michael Bullotta, a former federal prosecutor, is scheduled to argue for dismissal of the case against his client Monday in front of Judge Diane Druzinski.

Judge Richard Caretti initially was assigned the case but split it up among a half-dozen judges.

Some details of the allegations were presented in a news release in which Attorney General Dana Nessel and Anita Fox, director of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, announced the charges.

State officials say that beginning in 2013, Angelo ran a hotline, 1-800-USLawyer, and funneled auto-accident callers into an “elaborate insurance fraud scheme,” directing the callers to one or several of the many medical enterprises owned or controlled by Angelo.

Those callers were directed through a predetermined protocol of office visits, device and injection treatments, medication prescriptions, and drug screenings, physical therapy sessions and diagnostic imaging all performed within Angelo’s network of enterprises or those operated by co-conspirators, according to state authorities. It is alleged that each business then billed the no-fault auto insurance carriers or the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan for the uninsured patients for the treatments.

Assistant Attorney General Dan Grano said at the July 15 hearing the government is not required to provide a “theory” of the case to defense attorneys, and the legal brief filed at district court served as the bill of particulars.

“This essentially is insurance fraud with some false-pretense counts,” Grano said.

He agreed the evidence that has been presented so far is not enough for convictions.

“I would not argue to the court that I’m anywhere close to my burden for a criminal trial based on the record before you now, but in sustaining the charges (at this point), I think there is enough,” he said.

Grano added it is illegal for “a non-doctor to be involved in running a medical center,” and, “The evidence is overwhelming that Michael Angelo was running this medical center.”

Amberg criticized state prosecutors for failing to provide any experts to testify about whether the procedures received by the five patients who testified were legitimate.

One insurance company witness testified the “reputation of the center was that they over-billed” the companies, according to Grano.

But Amberg noted a defense attorney objected to that testimony as being improper.

Grano noted that three witnesses testified they immediately removed a “P-Stim” device that was implanted in them for pain management because it didn’t work. The company billed $7,500 for each of the devices.

Amberg called the patients’ testimony “anecdotal evidence” that carries minimum influence.

“A patient is not enough. You need to bring in someone with some expertise,” he said.

Amberg said his client is specifically accused of providing transportation to patients.

“How is that a crime?” he said. “It’s all speculative.”

The case, including the preliminary examinaton, was initially handled by Assistant Attorney General Keisha Glenn, but she is no longer on the case.

In a separate matter, Glenn was subject of a criminal contempt hearing in March in circuit court on allegations she gained a freezing of the assets of a Warren pharmacy owner who was the target of a criminal investigation in district court less than two hours after agreeing in circuit court the assets should be unfrozen. The assets – about $700,000, $2 million in real estate and a vehicle – were returned to the owner in October 2023 by order of Judge James Biernat Jr.

Biernat has not yet ruled on the contempt charge.

Glenn and an investigator were removed from that case.