Recently a T-Shirt was put up for sale on the internet. It purports to be directed at Thomas Athans (since no one would even know who Alycia Martin is otherwise) however, Thomas Athans is not mentioned, depicted in picture, or otherwise referenced, on the shirt. This is because Thomas Athans was never charged with any crime stemming from the events of February 26, 2008. This remarkable lack of prosecution and fodder for the media (and this T-Shirt company) is a direct result of the "special treatment" afforded Thomas Athans. There simply is no "mug shot" of Thomas Athans to use. Instead there is only the widely disseminated picture of Alycia Martin which is captioned "The Information Super Ho-Way." Athans is, by virtue of his marriage to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow and/or his failed business venture in Liberal Talk Radio, an "important person" to the media. Since there is no charges against him, Alycia becomes the surrogate "whipping girl."
Lt. Gerry Scherlinck, public relations specialist for the Troy Police Department, released a high resolution digital picture of Martin's booking picture to the media in response to a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) from the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, for one and one purpose only, to maximize Alycia's exposure to the media, and convict her in the Court of public opinion. Most, if not all police departments release only printed low resolution pictures in response to FOIA requests. This "overkill" is not justifiable under any reasonable circumstances. The Troy Police knew Martin's desperate situation, yet purposefully decided to grind her into the dust. Alycia Martin will survive this assault on her dignity as she survived the other degradations visited upon her. Alycia was supposed to jump bond, but to the surprise of the Troy Police and Thomas Athans appeared in Court to face the charge. Alycia has not missed or been late to a single Court appearance. Alycia refused to disappear into the night, and decided to fight to regain her life against the odds. Attorney Frank Cusumano Jr. has and will continue to stand by her, as he has through her other challenges, in Court and in her life, to help her get back what was lost. Alycia should serve as an inspiration to others in similar straits that they can make positive change and get their lives back.
Predictably, Martin's FOIA requests for documents and for the inspection of things to the City of Troy relative to the investigation and prosecution of Alycia Martin were denied in total. Martin is, of course, a "little person" and is expected to absorb the glare and brunt of negative publicity while Athans, as if nobility, walks away "scot free."
In feudal Europe, nobility could not be punished for their crimes. Usually the nobleman was not charged at all. If charged and after the finding of guilt, the sheriff would pick out a peasant servant or one from the crowd and lash him/her to the whipping post to absorb the beating. This was "punishment" since it was such a "disgrace" and "embarrassment" to the person of noble birth to have to witness such a thing. Nobility could not be touched. Likewise, in People v. Martin, the Troy Police argue that Athans has been "punished" by his embarrassment of having been caught in criminal activity, and having to endure the legal proceedings against Alycia. Athans has not had to defend himself against criminal charges, bears no criminal record, has not been pilloried in the press like Alycia, and was not even forced to testify when Martin called him as a witness in her pretrial Motion to Dismiss. Alycia Martin, who had surprisingly few choices in her life, is portrayed as "evil" and prosecution is necessary for law and order, but the same does not apply to Athans. The founding fathers of this country rejected such notions of entitlement and opted for "equal justice."
It should be noted that U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow has spent a life time of public service to the people of the State of Michigan, and should not be victimized, or her contributions diminished, for the actions of her legal spouse, Athans or the actions of the Troy Police Department relative to their handling of Athans. Misogyny in any form should not be tolerated, and this principal holds for both Stabenow and Martin, irrespective of political, social or economic wealth or influence.
Alycia's survivorship story is on the full blog page. http://www.alyciamartin.blogspot.com/. It is not what the Troy "ministry of public relations" would have you believe. Alycia Martin is a person and she is healing physically, spiritually and emotionally, with the help of those who reached out and would not let go. Alycia is a survivor.
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