Attorney in Carhartt trusts case: It's 'terrible' to be accused in crime you didn't commit

The attorney defending a Grosse Pointe Farms lawyer accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the trusts of former Carhartt leader Gretchen Valade asked jurors to find his client not guilty and said this case is about relationships.

"It's a terrible thing to be accused of a crime you didn't commit," James Joseph Sullivan said during his opening statement Friday, adding that it's even worse to be accused of a crime that didn't occur.

Sullivan's opening statement to a Wayne County Circuit Court jury came more than a week after the trial of his client, David Sutherland, began. Sutherland is facing four charges, including three counts of embezzlement, from Valade trusts when he was serving as trustee.

The trial wrapped up its seventh day Friday and will continue next week, longer than what was originally anticipated.

Sutherland is facing two counts of embezzlement over $100,000, one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $100,000 or more and one count of conducting criminal enterprises. Each charge is a 20-year felony offense, the Michigan Attorney General's Office previously said.

Sullivan reserved his opening statement when the trial began May 15. On Wednesday, he filed a motion for a directed verdict, which was denied Friday by Judge Paul John Cusick.

Sullivan asked for a mistrial Friday after answers to a few questions posed by the prosecution and directed at one of the defense's first three witnesses, Bruce Knapp, a licensed certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner.

Knapp previously was tasked with looking at records, including two promissory notes for $5 million each to Sutherland, himself, and Byzantine Holdings LLC, of which Sutherland was a partner.

Testimony: Trust lost $37 million in value

Julie Cotant, a senior trust officer with Plante Moran Trust, testified Wednesday for the prosecution that the notes are owed to Valade's 2009 irrevocable trust and a review of the records on each note indicates the amounts actually owed appear to be in excess of $7.7 million each.

The prosecution, cross-examining Knapp, asked if the 2009 irrevocable trust gained or lost value under Sutherland's control. Knapp testified that he would say it lost money.

The prosecution then asked if the total loss calculated to the 2009 irrevocable trust during Sutherland's tenure was $42 million. Knapp testified that he thought it was closer to $37 million.

After the jury was dismissed for lunch, Sullivan made a motion for a mistrial, arguing that up to this point the prosecution did not put numbers on how much allegedly was embezzled.

"It's the shock value that is the prejudicial effect of this. ... It had to have been done on purpose," Sullivan said. "The problem is the damage has already been done. ... It's prejudicial to the accused. ... It's very damning, I think, for this guy to get up here and say that he caused a loss to the trust of $37 million, when that's not the case at all."

Cusick said he would allow cross-examination on any relevant issue in the case and that any claim of mistrial is "so over the top, so over the top." He denied Sullivan's motion.

Valade, a businesswoman, philanthropist and arts patron, died at her Grosse Pointe Farms home on Dec. 30, 2022. She was 97 and the granddaughter of Carhartt Inc. founder Hamilton Carhartt.

Sutherland lawyer portrays friction between Valade and her son

Sutherland was charged in January 2023, less than two weeks after Valade died.

Assistant attorneys general rested their case Wednesday after putting nine witnesses on the stand. The defense called five witnesses Friday. The trial is to continue Tuesday.

During his opening statement, Sullivan told the jury that Sutherland had "total authority" over the trust. He said Valade admired Sutherland's entrepreneurial spirit, not just to make money but to do something good. A quality, Sullivan said, Valade saw in her own family history.

Sullivan said many of Valade's businesses lost money. He told jurors that Sutherland, who Valade sought out years ago, "walked into a battle" that is still going on. Sullivan asserted the battle was between Valade and her son, Mark Valade, the CEO of Carhartt.

Sullivan asserted that Gretchen Valade and her son had differences of opinion on how she spent her money and the relationship Valade had with her "very, very close friend" Tom Robinson, who was a beneficiary of the 2009 irrevocable trust.

Sullivan said both Sutherland and Robinson, who supported Valade's decisions, were severed from her after August 2020. Sullivan asserted to jurors in his opening statement that Robinson is "despised" by Mark Valade.

Sullivan told jurors that Valade was very excited about real estate and getting involved in some real estate ventures. He also said she was Sutherland's biggest and most time-consuming client. Sullivan said Sutherland was put into a position of power by Valade for many years until the latter part of 2020.

Sullivan said this case didn't get reported for more a year and a half and it didn't go through normal channels of investigation. He asserted that those who brought it forward did so through connections and dictated what the charges should be. He told jurors that his client started to voluntarily pay back the money.

Sullivan told jurors that Sutherland didn't betray his client, who was generous. He said Sutherland had "many opportunities to feather his nest, but he didn't."

On Wednesday, Cotant testified for the prosecution, telling the court that the 2009 irrevocable trust of Valade's "is deeply underwater" with liabilities far exceeding its assets.

Plante Moran became the trustee of the trust in August 2020, taking over Sutherland's role, Cotant testified. When the firm took it over, the interests it held included real estate (buildings and parking lots), some promissory notes and life insurance policies.

She testified the trust now holds about $9.4 million. However, she testified that the trust owes $60 million, adding that money was borrowed from Valade's 1982 revocable trust to keep the 2009 irrevocable trust alive. The borrowing occurred while Valade was alive, according to Cotant's testimony.

In a separate matter, Sutherland also is accused of stealing from the trust of a Grosse Pointe Farms school in a case that will be tried later. He's charged with one count of embezzlement of $100,000 or more in that case.

In that matter, the Attorney General’s Office said the allegation involves embezzlement of more than $1.4 million from the William Cardinal Foundation, which is to benefit education at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic School in Grosse Pointe Farms. That alleged crime is said to have occurred between Aug. 1, 2018, and last year, according to statements made during Sutherland's arraignment in June 2023 in Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Attorney for lawyer in Carhartt trusts case gives opening statement