Chesterfield Detective Will Not Face Perjury Charges

A Chesterfield Township police detective will not face perjury charges for testimony he gave in a civil trial for a former Macomb County commissioner and her husband, township police Chief Bruce Smith said Tuesday.

Although, Detective Joe Feld was counseled for an "off-color comment" he made during a phone conversation when speaking with Tadd Milavec about an issue pertaining to Michael Torrice, Smith told Patch Tuesday.

"There was one off-color comment made by the detective," Smith said. "He was counseled over his comment."

The remark occurred when Feld spoke with Milavec regarding boat trailer parking issues with Torrice and wife Carey, a former Macomb County commissioner. Michael Torrice, who owns a private detective business, told The Macomb Daily that Feld lied on the stand during the civil trial for an insurance company's lawsuit against the couple over a fire at his wife's Jefferson Avenue house in Chesterfield.

“Feld lied about discussing our case with his friend and was caught," Torrice said in the Tuesday article.

Smith told Patch the internal investigation was prompted by Torrice, leading the department to listen to thousands of recorded phone calls involving Feld. After hearing the comment made during a conversation, Feld was counseled and the chief told Torrice any potential perjury would be out of the department's jurisdiction since the civil trial testimony was in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Smith said the matter has no bearing on a jury's 2009 verdict that the Torrices deliberately conspired to burn down the house in Chesterfield in late 2005 and were ordered to pay $36,000 to insurance company,  American Fellowship, for pay outs. According to The Macomb Daily, "That amount has risen to more than $60,000 including interest and attorney fees as the Torrices have paid minimal amounts, and their appeal is pending."

Smith said, "It's inconsequential to any facts of the case. It has no merit to the case."

The detective was counseled over the matter early last year and the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office determined not to pursue perjury charges against him last week.

Feld is a veteran of the force who started in the department in 1999. He has never had any disciplinary problems in the past, the chief said calling him an "excellent officer with an outstanding record."