Judges: Bowman

Judge Leo Bowman

Leo Bowman is a pimp. He gives lighter sentences to men and women that sell themselves out of the clinic at the Oakland County Jail. It's hilarious, because he was after both Waterman and Brown during that tenure in the 50th District Court. I can remember a car accident that involved some kind of "hand-washing" between Brown and Waterman.  Bowman was the leader of the "witch hunt". He was quoted on every media source saying how corrupt Brown and Waterman were. He bound me over to circuit court in the Wittebort case. He claimed that Wittebort had no less right to be harassed, because he was a cop and carried a gun. He could not prove that Wittebort was being harassed, because Wittebort had never told me to leave him alone. That is a element of that crime. People need to know what activity is unwanted in order to stop it. He ignored that fact and bound me over anyway. Now I know why. He's a crook and a pimp and is no better than Brown and Wateman. He is worse if you ask me, because he is no better than a habitual criminal. Every time he gives a person a lighter sentence for prostituting, he breaks the law. 

I met David Bowman in 2012, while out on bond from my case. I never asked him or told him about his father's crimes at circuit court. I wanted him to know me as a person, because one day it would all come to light. I wanted his father to tell his family that I was crazy, and I wanted David to question his father's truth, because he knew me and knew that I wasn't insane. Recently, David ran for State Representative. There was a speed conversation at the failed Menagerie spot in downtown Pontiac. It was similar to speed dating. If you attended, you got three minutes with the candidate to ask them questions and get to know them. When I had sat with David Bowman, the conversation turned to his father. I asked him if he knew about what his father was doing. He told me that he had tried to talk to him about it, but he had gotten very angry with him. Being his son and scared of his father and any signs of disrespect, he backed down. He said that they don't talk about it.

Bowman always wanted to seem more respectable that other Black leaders in the community. His picnic for boys were well-known in Pontiac when I was a little girl. He lived on the Eastside, near MLK, back when it was East Boulevard. My brother and his friends would attend. He would bar-b-que hot dogs and hamburgers and the boys would come over and play. I guess he wanted to show the young men about be an influence in your town. Sort of like John Wayne Gacey and his clown outfit. He went to Oakland County Circuit Court and became a part of the worst part of it. That's probably why he was elected in the first place. No real Black person in Pontiac liked him, because he never showed us any love and never acted like he liked us at all. He was a derogatory human that appeared to not know anything about being Black at all. Not about our struggles or the day-to-day barriers that Blacks had to face, just for the cause of being Black. Brown knew it and so did Waterman and they treated us like we were involved in a fight that we were hard-pressed to win. 

I wanted to tell you about him, because he is the epidemy of what it looks like to sell-out. He left the 50th District Court and moved into the "Lily White" Oakland County and forgot he was Black. He didn't do anyone any favors by letting criminals go to satisfy deputies that were involved in crimes in the jail. I know he is getting paid for his folly. He might even participate in sexual activities with the inmates. I don't know, but I do know that he is a part of the "1200 Crew". Those judges that are th cause of our streets being unsafe and setting up the most vulnerable in our county to be victimized. I just am outdone, when I think of the fire he put on Brown and Waterman. He wanted to be Chief Judge, however, and thought he would kill "two birds with one stone". But the situation with those two, only caused him more grief and hatred from the citizens of Pontiac. I know after he bound me over on no evidence of harassment, he wasn't my favorite person and I would NEVER vote for him. Besides, he had a reputation for "Tomming" anyway. I guess since I wasn't interested in him on the outside, maybe he thought he could have me in jail. Like I say, "Hope springs Eternal".

I had to endure a lot of painful events in jail, during the Gross case. When I discovered that Bowman was giving lighter sentences for the prostitution ring, all I could say was, "He got his nerve!" Kim Hawkstra was one of his cases of prostitution. We went to court the same day. She had gotten nine months on a possession charge and had violated the terms of her probation for the third times. I had only violated my terms once and was over-sentences and sent to jail. She knew that Bowman would have to revert back to her original sentence and give her the maximum of nine months. Judge O'Brien in my case, on my first violation, sentenced me to 18 months to 9 months in prison. Since she had been back to jail two other times, she had racked up enough days to only have a few more to do. That's the reason for probation. You violate, come back, sell yourself out of a prison sentence, until you get enough time in to finish your sentence. Then you start all over again with a new charge. Bowman followed through and did exactly what Kim said he would do. I went back to my cell with another pre-trial conference in the next 45-days. My fourth in the last five months. I was on my way to the nuthouse, anyway.