'Systematic errors at every level’ led to wrongful conviction of Detroit man

Before Eric Anderson went to trial for armed robbery and ended up getting convicted and imprisoned for years, a Wayne County judge ridiculed him for not taking a plea deal, telling him: "Are you stupid, or what?"

Whatever he was — he was innocent.

Fifteen years later, the judge's words would turn up in a first-of-its kind report detailing numerous mistakes that led to the wrongful conviction of Anderson, who was freed in 2019 after spending nearly nine years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Two others would confess to the armed robberies, triggering a new investigation and ultimately Anderson's exoneration.

"Mr. Anderson’s wrongful conviction could not have happened without systemic errors occurring at every level of his case," states the 54-page report, which was released Monday, Nov. 17 by the Wayne County Sentinel Event Review Team, a collaboration of prosecutors, Detroit police, judges, public defenders and the Cooley Innocence Project.

Perhaps the most notable and acknowledged error was police not properly investigating Anderson's alibi: He was shot at a Coney Island at the time of the armed robbery, though surveillance video of that restaurant shooting was never shown to the jury, and police did not thoroughly investigate his alibi.

Eric Anderson said he's appreciative that his case is being used "as a standard of what not to do" to help others avoid his same fate,.

“What happened to me should have never happened," Anderson told a Free Press reporter after the review of his case was released on Monday. "All the evidence supported my alibi."

Even Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison acknowleged on Monday that Anderson had "the perfect alibi."

Still, Anderson vented: "At every level, I kept getting deeper and deeper in the criminal justice system ... And ultimately, I was wrongfully convicted.”

Anderson's case was reviewed at the request of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who helped bring a team together to investigate the case, and figure out what mistakes were made to make sure they don't happen again. Her office said it's the first-ever such review conducted in Michigan to identify factors that led to an inaccurate conviction. It also offers 25 system-wide recommendations to strengthen the fairness and accuracy of the Wayne County criminal justice system.

'40 distinct factors contributed to Mr. Anderson's wrongful conviction'

According to the report, the authors "identified 40 distinct factors that contributed to Mr. Anderson's wrongful conviction and his wrongful incarceration for 9 years." Among the factors cited:

• Anderson was arrested and convicted on the eyewitness testimony of a single individual without any corroborating physical evidence. That witness was one of the robbery victims who said he knew Anderson from the neighborhood and ID'd him as his assailant, though he couldn't see who the robbers were that night because they were masked and it was dark.

• Anderson's alibi was not properly investigated. He was arrested based on the words of a woman who was not at the scene that night, but told one of the victims that Anderson was known for doing those kinds of things. The victim also relied on a Facebook photo of Anderson in fingering him.

• A video that supported Anderson's alibi was never shown to the jury, nor properly investigated by police. Following his arrest, Anderson told police he, himself, was shot at a Coney Island at the same time as the armed robbery, and therefore could not have committed the armed robbery. Anderson said he stopped to use the restroom at the restaurant when upon entering, someone fired shots inside. Surveillance video of that shooting shows Anderson entering the restaurant, but was never shown to the jury.

• Medical personnel were not called to testify about the foot injury Anderson sustained at the Coney Island shooting, which was backed by hospital records.

• Police theorized that Anderson could have shot himself while fleeing from the robbery, but upon review years later, hospital records show his foot was shot on the side, not on the top, suggesting he could not have shot himself, but was shot by someone else .

• Security cameras inside the restaurant captured images of the shooter(s). One is later identified as the person who confessed to the shooting for which Anderson was convicted. A companion of that confessor also appears to have fired shots. That restaurant shooting formed the basis of Anderson's alibi.

• The appearance of "influence" by the judge, who during trial allegedly showed favoritism for the prosecution and may have impacted the jury. At the pretrial hearing, the same judge "aggressively questioned" Anderson's intelligence after learning he had turned down an offer to plead guilty and receive a sentence of three years’ probation. The court asked Anderson, “Are you stupid or what?” and asked what his level of education was, and which high school he had attended. Anderson stood by his refusal to plead, and the judge told thim: “there will be no pleas accepted after today.”

A video that supported Anderson's alibi was never shown to the jury, nor properly investigated by police. Following his arrest, Anderson told police he, himself, was shot at a Coney Island at the same time as the armed robbery, and therefore could not have committed the armed robbery. Anderson said he stopped to use the restroom at the restaurant when upon entering, someone fired shots inside. Surveillance video of that shooting shows Anderson entering the restaurant, but was never shown to the jury.

• Medical personnel were not called to testify about the foot injury Anderson sustained at the Coney Island shooting, which was backed by hospital records.

• Police theorized that Anderson could have shot himself while fleeing from the robbery, but upon review years later, hospital records show his foot was shot on the side, not on the top, suggesting he could not have shot himself, but was shot by someone else .

• Security cameras inside the restaurant captured images of the shooter(s). One is later identified as the person who confessed to the shooting for which Anderson was convicted. A companion of that confessor also appears to have fired shots. That restaurant shooting formed the basis of Anderson's alibi.

• The appearance of "influence" by the judge, who during trial allegedly showed favoritism for the prosecution and may have impacted the jury. At the pretrial hearing, the same judge "aggressively questioned" Anderson's intelligence after learning he had turned down an offer to plead guilty and receive a sentence of three years’ probation. The court asked Anderson, “Are you stupid or what?” and asked what his level of education was, and which high school he had attended. Anderson stood by his refusal to plead, and the judge told thim: “there will be no pleas accepted after today.”

"Ultimately, there was no one thing that caused the Wayne County criminal justice system toconvict Mr. Anderson," the report states. " ... Rather, a wide variety of “contributing factors” came together in ways that led all participating agencies at the time to conclude incorrectly that Mr. Anderson was guilty of armed robbery."

Police chief: 'In 2025 - it would not have happened'

At a Nov. 17 press conference, the police and prosecution acknowledged mistakes were made, and vowed to do better.

"These mistakes happen ... and we need to do everything in our power to make sure that they don’t happen," Worthy said at the press conference, stressing "this process did not assign blame or finger-pointing."

Bettison also acknowledged that police made errors, particularly in not thoroughly investigating Anderson's alibi.