Interview: Michael Mette, imprisoned Chicago police officer

Update: Hello to readers from the Anderson Cooper 360 Blog.

Michael Mette is a 31-year-old Chicago cop who's spent the last 11 months in an Iowa prison. During the last year, some very powerful people, including Chicago's mayor, its police superintendent, one of its top newspaper columnists and Cook County's discrict attorney have gone to bat for him to secure his release. So far those efforts have been in vain. That could change this week.

In 2007, Mette was convicted on an assault charge and given a five-year sentence stemming from a 2005 fight in which he punched 20-year-old Jake Gothard outside a house party in Dubuque County. Gothard suffered a broken nose, cheek and jaw. Mette was off-duty at the time. Critics call the sentence overly harsh and say he was "railroaded" by a smalltown justice system hostile toward Chicago cops. Prosecutors argue that Mette should have avoided the fight altogether.

Recently, during a September 11th hearing attended by about 40 Chicago Police Officers, Mette asked Iowa’s Court of Appeals to dismiss the charges and reverse his conviction. This Wednesday is the earliest that the appeals board can release an opinion on the matter.

Windy Citizen contributor Brenna Ehrlich wrote to Mette a few weeks before his appeal to learn more about his life in prison and what happened on that 2005 night in Iowa. What follows is the transcript of their correspondence.

To learn more about Mette's story and compare his account here against what others have said, here are links to about most everything worth reading on the matter:

• John Kass' Tribune Columns (7/07, 7/07, 8/28, 10/07, 1/08, 4/08, 8/08, 9/08, 9/08)
• Reader comments on Kass' most recent column disputing his take
• Facebook Group started by Mette's friends and family
• Michael Mette Defense Fund web site
• Bio on Mette's lawyer, Mark McCormick, who once ran for Iowa governor
• Article describing Mayor Daley's recent letter to Iowa Governor
• Iowa Gov's response (pdf)
• Dubuque, IA (wiki, google map, city site)

Windy Citizen: First, could you describe your average day now? Your surroundings, etc? When do you get up? What do you do? Do you talk to anyone?

Michael Mette: My average day starts at 0500hrs. I get up to eat breakfast in the dining hall. It’s called a hall, but it is way too small to accommodate the amount of people in the prison. After breakfast I get ready for work like I normally would: shave, shower, brush my teeth. Monday through Friday I work out at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. The crew I work with is picked up outside the prison at 0615hrs and we are dropped back off at the prison between 1630 and 1700hrs. Most of the time the crew does the odd jobs around the campus: mowing, picking up trash, etc. Once we get back to the prison I usually try catching up with some reading and writing. A couple of times a week I’ll call home and talk with my family.

WC: How do people in prison respond to you as a police officer?

MM: Up until recently only a handful of people knew who I was or what I did for a living. The first person to know was someone from Dubuque, IA. We ended up in the same cell and have become friends over the last 8 months. No one else really knew about my being a police officer until the Des Moines Register came out with their article. Most of the guys in here understand my situation and do not make a big deal out of it. Some ask questions about why I would want to be a P.O. Others just like talking shop. I do get shunned by some, which is better than I had expected when I first got here.

WC: Do you hear from any supporters? Receive a lot of letters?

MM: I do hear from friends and family a lot. I also have been getting letters from people around the country who have heard or read about my case. With the exception of my appendix rupturing, prison has not been a physical burden. The hardest part of being here is the mental and emotional drain. I miss my family and friends. I truly believe it’s the letters of support, especially from people I don’t know, that have kept my head above water.

WC: I know that this has been written about extensively in the papers, but could you describe what happened that night two years ago?

MM: This incident actually happened three years ago. The judge wrote it wrong in her ruling. On October 8, 2005, I drove to Galena, IL, to meet up with my brother Marc. He had just turned 25 on the 5th. We played golf in Galena and drove to Dubuque after our round. I was working midnights at the time, so when we got to Marc’s house I took a nap.

Later that night, my brother, his girlfriend and I went out to celebrate his birthday. We went to a bar in Dubuque and then caught a mini-bus ride to East Dubuque.We played pool for a while at another bar. When we were leaving we ran into a few of my brother’s friends from school. Marc’s friend Tanner offered us a ride home and we took it. On the way home, the others in the car mentioned a homecoming party that was close to my brother’s house. After parking in front of my brother’s house we all decided to check it out.

One of the group knocked on the front screen door and Mr. Gothard waved us into the house. We walked in and were told the beer was downstairs. Our group walked downstairs and saw no one was there. We decided to leave and proceeded to walk back upstairs when Mr. Gothard came down and offered us cups for $5. We told Gothard we decided not to stay. Gothard began yelling obscene remarks toward the group and followed us out of the house. Once my brother and I were outside, I heard Gothard say he was going to call the police. I grabbed my brother and we started walking back to his house. The rest of the group joined us and we walked back in front of Marc’s house.

We stood outside talking for a few minutes when Gothard and his roommate Nick Boyd came running at us yelling about how they were going to beat the shit out of us. Mr. Boyd made the first contact by pushing his way through my brother and I. He then ran out into the street and began shoving Mr. Tanner, who was trying to get into his car. This is when Mr. Gothard ran up to me and began hitting me with both fists in my chest. His first hit almost knocked me over. He hit twice more before I pushed him away from me. I yelled at him to leave me the f**k alone. When he came at me again with his fist raised I punched him once in the face. Mr. Gothard fell on his back and hit his head on the sidewalk and began snoring. I looked into the street and saw my brother trying to keep Mr. Boyd from hitting Marc’s friend Tanner. I went out into the street and stood behind Marc. When Mr. Boyd finally calmed down the three of us went back by Mr. Gothard to make sure he was alright. As the three of us stood by my brother’s side door the first officer from the Dubuque Police Department showed up. He attended to Mr. Gothard while other officers showed up.

The first officer I spoke to was Off. Salmonson who asked me about my shirt. The officer and I walked over to his squad and I told him the man on the ground had attacked me and I hit him. Officer Salmonson asked me to stay by the car while he went back to the house and talked to the other officers. When he came back he asked if he could search me, I said yes. After he frisked me he yelled back to the other officers, “He don’t have a cell phone.” Officer Salmonson then asked me for my ID. I handed my wallet to him. When he noticed my police ID behind my driver’s license he asked if I was a police officer. I told him I worked for Chicago, at which time he asked me to place my hands behind my back. I asked Officer Salmonson what I was being arrested for and he told me disorderly conduct.

While I was still in his car he explained I was actually being arrested for assault. I told him to look at my brother’s house and Mr. Boyd, who wasn’t wearing shoes. He said nothing and drove me to the station. After being processed for the assault I was finally read my rights at 0830hrs and asked a few questions. After which I was placed in the same cell as Nick Boyd. Interesting how I could have just attacked someone and then the police put me in the same cell with my “victim’s” roommate. Both my brother and Mr. Boyd were arrested for public intox and Mr. Gothard was not charged with anything. Not even under-aged drinking.

WC: Would you have acted differently if you could have?

MM: If I could have acted differently absolutely I would have. I could have chosen not to go to the party. Being as I did and the situation being as it was there was nothing else I  could have done. We walked away from Mr. Gothard’s first act of aggression at his house. We went home. Mr. Gothard chose to wake his roommate Nick Boyd and chase us home. Mr. Gothard chose to hit me several times. I never intended Mr. Gothard to be hurt like he was and I am grateful he wasn’t severely injured. I wish things could have happened differently. I would never intentionally hurt someone or cause any kind of pain, physically or mentally, to someone or their family.

WC: What are you doing to prepare for your appeal next month? What do you think of Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine and Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis being on your side? Have you heard from them?

MM: I’m actually trying not to think about the appeal. My only hope is for fairness. In the Judge’s Ruling and Findings of Guilt, the facts actually prove my innocence. This is why there are so many supporters out there. This is also why Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine and Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis have spoken out on my behalf. I have not personally spoke with them, but I am grateful for their support.

WC: Why wouldn’t you plead to an assault? It seems like you would have had a lighter sentence if you had pleaded.

MM: Why wouldn’t I plead to an assault? That is a very good question. I have been trying to get my first attorney, Ben Roth, to answer that one for me. I have never heard of any plea offer from the prosecutors in Dubuque. My first attorney never told me of any plea offer. In fact, he told me on several occasions that Mr. Gallagher would not return his phone calls regarding a deal. I would like to see any documentation where I signed denying a deal. Ever notice how the prosecutors always say “the Mette family” refused to make a deal? I did not know my family was on trial.

WC: What do you plan to do when you get out?

MM: What I do when I get out depends on the circumstances of my release. If justice is done and the Appellate Court reverses the guilty verdict, then I’ll go back to my career with the police department. If the appeal is denied, I’ll appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court and then the Federal Supreme Court if need be.

WC: Why do you think that you’re in prison right now?

MM: I am in prison right now because of the corruption inside a Dubuque courthouse. Just read the Judge’s ruling and then Iowa’s code 704.3. How can anyone, let alone a Judge, tell someone, “I understand that you were attacked by this person, but you had no right to defend yourself.” This case has never made much sense to me. Why have laws set in place if we are not wiling to abide by them? And if we cannot trust those who govern to uphold these laws then should we not put someone else in office?

If you'd like to write to Michael Mette yourself, you can do so by writing to:

Michael A. METTE # 6520284
North Central Correctional
313 Lanedale
Rockwell City, Iowa 50579