Herman Lamoit Pounds has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging multiple constitutional violations and misconduct by state officials and agencies. The complaint was lodged in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan on December 4, 2025, against the State of Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Colonel James F. Grady II of the Michigan State Police, Chief David Boysen of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and Life EMS Ambulance.
The case centers around an incident on August 29, 2025, when Pounds claims he was physically assaulted at a Michigan Secretary of State office in Kalamazoo. Instead of receiving assistance as a victim, he alleges that he was treated as a suspect by law enforcement officers who attempted to conduct an unlawful search without probable cause while he was in an ambulance. When Pounds refused the search, Life EMS Ambulance staff denied him medical care citing “safety reasons,” which Pounds argues violated his constitutional rights.
Pounds further accuses the defendants of failing to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and Litigation Hold Notices he sent on September 8, 2025. These requests sought surveillance footage, body camera recordings, dispatch logs, internal emails, and other evidence related to his case. Despite confirmed receipt via certified mail return receipts (“green cards”), no responses or exemptions were issued by any agency by December 1, 2025. This lack of response constitutes a denial under Michigan’s FOIA laws and suggests evidence withholding and spoliation that violate federal doctrines established in Brady v. Maryland and Arizona v. Youngblood.
Additionally, Pounds recounts being denied a firearm purchase for self-defense without explanation during a background check at a licensed gun dealer in Michigan. He argues this unexplained denial violates his Second Amendment rights since no lawful disqualification exists according to him.
In his complaint, Pounds seeks $4.5 million in compensatory damages along with punitive damages as permitted under Section 1983. He also requests declaratory relief affirming his rights were violated and injunctive relief mandating preservation of all relevant evidence by the defendants.
Representing himself pro se (in propria persona), Herman Lamoit Pounds demands a jury trial on all issues presented in his lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering under Case ID: 1:25-cv-01645-JMB-MV.
Source: 125cv1645_Herman_Lamoit_v_State_of_Michigan_Complaint_Western_District_of_Michigan.pdf
