Bob Carmack, Mayor Duggan's loudest critic, is headed for the fight of his life

As folk heroes go, Bob Carmack is one of the wackiest.

A deez-and-doze former Michigan Avenue bump shop owner who grew up on the mean streets of southwest Detroit, Carmack has gone from backroom political operator to standard-bearer for all who believe Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is more powerful than "Oz, the Great and Terrible." In fractured syntax and with mobile billboards and banners flown over sports stadiums, Carmack has tried to portray Duggan as an immoral, malevolent dictator capable of controlling police, prosecutors, judges and anyone else he needs to do his bidding. On social media and at his public appearances, Duggan-skeptics rally around Carmack, with his trademark baseball cap and T-shirts that proclaim his faith or populist messages like "Detroiters for Tax Justice."

Interspersed in the piles of papers strewn throughout Carmack's black SUV, its dashboard occasionally doubling as a filing cabinet, are documents Carmack believes prove Hizzoner is a puppet master. He has tried, without success, to convince Detroit's Inspector General, Michigan State Police, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and former President Donald Trump's Justice Department to investigate Duggan.

But Carmack's ability to wage his campaign as a free man may be ending soon. Eight months after a judge dismissed criminal charges accusing Carmack of swindling Detroit, another judge reinstated the charges. Two weeks ago, that judge set a trial date for Aug. 28. Like seemingly all things Carmack-related, the case is one of the most convoluted I've encountered. Even the district court judge who first heard the evidence seemed perplexed. Before she sent the case to circuit court for trial, she warned prosecutors they might have a tough time getting a conviction.

At the time she said that, however, Carmack had two aggressive, experienced and effective defense attorneys. Neither of them represent Carmack today. He told me he's going to have a lawyer at his side when he goes back to court, but he plans to defend himself. Carmack said he will call 30 witnesses.

"I'ma bring in Kwame Kilpatrick, because he's the one who started this. I'ma bring in Derrick Miller," Carmack said, referring to one of Kilpatrick's former top aides. "I'ma bring in Mike Duggan. I'ma bring in his wife. I'ma bring in his ex-wife. I'ma bring in his girlfriend, his dog — whoever I can bring in here."

It's said a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.

So what does that make Carmack?

Look back in anger

It would be easy to dismiss Carmack, who subscribes to the theory that "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."

But Carmack is street-smart and resourceful. An influential behind-the-scenes political player, he was chummy with loads of local, county and state politicians, as well as movers and shakers. Sometimes he fixed their cars for free, throwing in his thoughts on auto insurance reform as a bonus. Somewhere along the way, Carmack got fed up with the greasy side of politics. A few years ago, when Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland shook him down for cash, Carmack went to the FBI. The ensuing investigation resulted in Leland pleading guilty to misconduct in office and resigning from office.

Carmack's dealings with Leland and other local officials turned him into a self-appointed champion in the fight against public corruption. The victim for whom Carmack fights most ferociously is himself. He claims the city and county illegally seized and demolished a building across from his Michigan Avenue bump shop, and then shut his bump shop down. He claims Duggan orchestrated the criminal charges against him because he accused public officials of abusing their power. The mayor has said all of Carmack's problems stem from his failure to follow the law.

Carmack and the city have traded lawsuits in state and federal court over the past several years, but it is the criminal charges filed in 2018 against Carmack that should concern him the most.

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The case stems from Carmack's dream of building a resort along the Detroit River. Carmack said city officials forced him to spend a bundle evaluating the property before a henchman for Kilpatrick, who was then mayor, demanded a $50,000 payoff. Carmack said the deal died when he refused to pay. Then, with no explanation, the city sent him a deed to some nearby property. Carmack figured it was compensation for the dough he spent on his riverfront project. But before he sold the land, he took the deed to the Detroit City Council and said he would sell the land unless someone told him not to. No one tried to stop him, so he sold the land for about $1 million.

A decade later, as Carmack and the city were squabbling over Carmack's properties on Michigan Avenue, he hired private investigators to follow Duggan. On Nov. 14, 2018, Carmack hired a mobile billboard to show video of the mayor driving to the home of a woman who was not his wife. Five weeks later, Carmack was charged with stealing the city land he sold. (Duggan declined to comment on his excursions, but later got divorced and married the woman.)

The late, great Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law school professor and former federal prosecutor, told me when the case was filed that it could be hard for prosecutors to prove intent — a key element of the case — since Carmack told city officials he planned to sell the land before going through with the deal.

In Michigan, criminal cases go before district court judges to determine whether there is enough evidence to send a felony case to circuit court for trial. The district court judge faulted the city for being poor record keepers, and essentially accused Carmack of pulling a fast one.

The judge told prosecutors "I do think there are significant problems" with the case, but nevertheless bound it over circuit court for trial.

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In the meantime, the animosity between Carmack and Duggan festered.

In early 2020, Duggan was accompanying then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to an event at the home of Virgie Rollins, a legendary political activist who is National Black Caucus Chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee. Carmack says Duggan refused to enter until he left.

"The mayor did not want to be where he was," Rollins told me.

So Carmack got the boot.

Duggan told me Carmack was not on the invitation list that Biden's campaign team approved and the Secret Service reviewed, and "they had handled it appropriately."

"I had no input into the protocols for the vice president’s security and have no information on how they handled it," he added.

Based on what I know about both men, it's not hard to believe Carmack showed up where he wasn't expected and it's not hard to imagine that the mayor wanted to avoid a confrontation in front of the potential next leader of the free world.

Even after Carmack got the welcome news last October that a judge dismissed the criminal charges against him, he stood outside Detroit City Hall with one of his lawyers and said he would prove Duggan was out to get him.

Today, that lawyer is long gone.

And we're still waiting for that proof.

Defenseless?

Since 2018, Carmack has been sued by the city over the land deal; has been charged with four felonies stemming from the land deal, and has been charged with drunken driving. He has hired — and fired — enough prominent criminal defense attorneys to field an all-star hardball team.

He proclaims with equal conviction that there is no case against him, and that he doesn't have a chance.

"They can't take me to court, to trial, or anything," he says one moment. "The judge who made this decision is going to make a fool of himself."

"I don't believe that I can win with the judges, and I don't really believe that I can win the jury. I believe these guys are so crooked they'll pay a jury off," he says, in another moment. "I may go to jail. But there ain't nothing I can do about it. I'm doing right and I'ma do what I'm supposed to do."

To put it mildly, Carmack is not the most linear thinker I have ever met. He collects puzzle pieces — and eagerly shares them with anyone he thinks can help put them together — but they don't always fit. He believes he knows more about the case against him than anyone — which causes him to question the commitment and competence of his attorneys — but his peripatetic mind means he's probably not the best person to organize his defense and argue his case in court. Throw in that the legal system doubles as an employment program for some of the last people in America who spend time learning Latin, and it seems to me that Carmack sure could use a trusted counselor by his side before any of his cases go before a jury.

Yet, with his freedom on the line, Carmack seems more focused on confronting the mayor than hiring an advocate to help him navigate our labyrinthine legal system.

On Wednesday, when the mayor and city council held a meeting on the east side, Carmack stepped up during the public comment session to challenge Duggan.

"Who told you that I stole the deed in 2007?" he said. "You brought false charges on me, malicious prosecution, abuse of power. You need to be removed from office."

"I know you're facing a couple of felony trials," Duggan replied. "I know you've got another serious drunk driving charge in the Brownstown police, but I am not going to comment on your legal issues."

I don't know enough about the law to say whether Carmack can — or should — beat the rap.

But I have a strong suspicion that if Carmack doesn't get serious about finding a lawyer, the next time he dials my number it will be a collect call.

M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and host of the ML's Soul of Detroit podcast. Contact him at mlelrick@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter at @elrick, Facebook at ML Elrick and Instagram at ml_elrick. Support investigative reporting and use this link to invite a friend to become a subscriber. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bob Carmack heading back to court on criminal charges