Written by Tanya Terry, with photo by L.M. Land
At a Dec. 23 pretrial hearing, Judge Khary L. Hanible ruled that 1st Ward Flint City Councilman Leon El-Alamin will both go to trial March 11, as well as remain on a tether until this trial date.
The councilman is facing felony assault and domestic violence charges. He is accused of choking the mother of his child and pulling her by the hair during a violent July 10 incident. The incident allegedly occurred in a Mt. Morris Township home that the victim and the councilman, according to the victim, lived in together in for over a year prior to the alleged assault.
The victim also stated in a preliminary exam that El-Alamin punched her in the head during the altercation.
The woman said this all happened after El-Alamin found her in a bedroom office making copies of emails.
El-Alamin’s attorney, Rolland Sizemore, had made a motion to drop the bond requirement for the tether.
He stated: “He has been on that tether since July 11. There have been no violations. It does impede his ability to conduct his business and live his life. There is also an expense to it. Since there have been no violations in 5 months or 6 months, we are asking the court to remove that tether.”
Judge Hanible responded by saying: “Court gives no credit for no violations on tether because there aren’t supposed to be violations on tether.”
She said the tether was “an alternative to an in-custody sanction.”
The judge did agree to a request to allow the councilman to visit the home where the victim said said she lived with El-Alamin before the alleged assault. Sizemore said the woman had vacated the home because fire damage from three recent arson fires made it “uninhabitable.”
Sizemore stated the home is one if many houses El-Alamin owns. He added that the councilman “has a duty to get there to start seeing repairs and insurance set straight.” He also said the councilman had no intention of living in the home.
When asked about it at the pretrial hearing, El-Alamin stated he is living on East Mott Avenue in a residence that is both within the Flint city limits and in the ward he was elected to serve in.
El-Alamin’s city residency and therefore the legality of him remaining in his seat has also been challenged, with a 26-page document being sent by Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue to the Michigan Department of State. The document, which Donahue stated had been submitted to her, was later returned to the Donahue. The state said the residency challenge needed to be addressed by the City Clerk’s Office.
Additionally, the Flint City Charter requires elected officials to forfeit their positions in the event they are convicted of a felony.
El-Alamin previously told the Courier he was “innocent of all the charges” brought before him, and that he takes the allegation “very seriously.”
In his statement to the Courier, he also said “…I am confident in my attorney’s ability to represent me in this case and to ensure that the truth comes to light…”
The trial will occur in Genesee County Circuit Court.
