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A year after an Ypsilanti Township man's death, new information has surfaced from a change in the family's pending lawsuit.Clifton Lee Jr., 45, died after a confrontation with Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies on June 1, 2006 in the West Willow neighborhood of Ypsilanti Township. The cause of death, reported by Bader Cassin, Washtenaw County's medical examiner, was asphyxia due to the weight of several people pressing his chest against the ground.
The lawsuit, filed by two of Lee's daughters, alleges wrongful death and police brutality. Washtenaw County had been the sole defendant. However, the complaint now lists Aaron Hendricks, Christopher Campbell, Thomas Guynes, Michael Mahalik, Jeffery Hankamp and Joseph Eberle as additional defendants. Washtenaw County Sheriff's Cmdr. Dave Egeler confirmed the individuals listed as deputies.
He said three of the deputies are on paid administrative leave. Two of those were put on leave as of the date of Lee's death. The third, he said, was placed on leave earlier this year.
Those and other changes come after the family's attorney, Paul Broschay, filed a subpoena with the Michigan State Police, who had been conducting an investigation into the event.
After the case had been handed over to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor in Sept. 2006, the FBI took over the investigation.