Trial for ethnic intimidation at Roseville store set for next month

It looks like an off-duty Wayne County Sheriff's deputy will face charges for using an ethnic slur against Arabs and throwing a pillow at an Arab woman in a Roseville store.

Attorney Lillian Diallo, who represents Tenia Fleming, told Macomb County District Judge Joseph Toia on Monday that she expects the case to go to trial after Macomb prosecutors did not offer her a deal to potentially plead guilty.

“We have not been able to reach a resolution in this matter,” Macomb Assistant District Attorney Patrick Coletta told the judge.

The trial is scheduled for September 10.

“We expect this to be a one-day trial, don’t you think, Mr. Coletta?” Diallo said at the end of the hearing.

“We will try to move it forward as efficiently as possible,” Coletta replied.

Fleming is charged with ethnic intimidation, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison, and assault, a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to 93 days in prison.

Ela Musaid, then 19, testified during Fleming's preliminary hearing last May in 39th District Court in Roseville that Fleming made the remark on December 15 of last year at the Marshalls store on the corner of Gratiot Avenue and 12 Mile Road.

“You damn dirty Arabs,” Fleming said within earshot of Musaid, who was sitting in another aisle and could not see Fleming, Musaid testified.

Musaid, who is of Yemeni descent and wore a headscarf, said she “left immediately” and went in search of her two sisters who had accompanied her.

“As I was walking away, a pillow was thrown at me,” she said.

Musaid said in the store, “This is crazy,” she testified, and Fleming used “a lot of swear words,” including the word “crazy.”

A video of the incident from Marshall's surveillance camera system shows that Fleming's husband, also a deputy, had to stop Fleming from approaching Musaid during the incident, attorneys said.

Musaid denied Diallo's claim that she made racist remarks about black people on the phone immediately before Fleming's comments.

Diallo argued in district court that while her client's conduct may have constituted “bad conduct,” it did not amount to a criminal offense because Musaid was not hit by the pillow.

Trial for ethnic intimidation at Roseville store set for next month – Macomb Daily

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