GRAND RAPIDS - A federal lawsuit filed by a sitting Ingham County judge against the former county sheriff over a criminal investigation related to the release of video of a courtroom attack has been dismissed.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina filed the lawsuit in September 2016, four days before a prosecutor declined to charge her after an Ingham County Sheriff's Office investigation.
The investigation centered on the release of a video that showed an August 2016 attack in a Lansing courtroom. Joshua Harding, who was on trial for sexually assaulting two children, pulled a weapon from his sleeve before charging across the room at the assistant prosecutor, according to video of the incident. No one was injured.
The State Journal obtained a recording of the video, which at the time had not been publicly released, and included the video as part of its reporting on the courtroom attack.
Video of shank attack:
Video that shows the assault officials said took place in Circuit Court Judge James Jamo's courtroom about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016.
The investigation ended with a request for criminal charges against Aquilina. The request was denied on Sept. 27, 2016.
Last week, a federal judge dismissed Aquilina's lawsuit against former Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth and Ingham County Det. Charles Buckland, who led the investigation.
John McGlinchey, the attorney for Wriggelsworth and Buckland, said he and his clients are pleased with the federal judge's ruling.
"I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this," he said. "I was hoping the case would have been dismissed earlier and voluntarily, but we just had to go the distance."
A message was left seeking comment from Aquilina's attorney, Nick Bostic.
In the lawsuit, Aquilina had claimed the criminal investigation of her was "malicious because it is motivated out of embarrassment for the shank attack" and is a "retaliation for First Amendment protected activity."
Harding, the man who attacked the assistant prosecutor, was later sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison for assault with intent to murder and two to six years each on two weapons offenses in connection with the incident. The sentences will run consecutively to the 19 to 38 years in prison he was sentenced to for the sexual assault conviction.
Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.
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