The attorneys for three people charged with the failed conspiracy to kill a Macomb County businessman are attempting to have the prosecutor disqualified from the case because of his relationship with the victim.
The attorneys argued last week that Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido’s office should be removed from prosecuting the cases against Dawn Huffman, Rachard Huffman and Jasan Martin, all of whom are accused of attempting to kill Dawn’s boss Eddie Jawad to try to hide her alleged embezzlement from him.
Martin allegedly lay in wait for Jawad at his Macomb Township home, then shot at Jawad seven times as he pulled out of his garage. Jawad was grazed in the leg while being hit by flying glass.
Nijad Mehanna, the attorney for Dawn Huffman, Jawad’s office manager, said because Jawad and Lucido are friends, the prosecutor should be disqualified from the case. Lucido also may be called as a witness in the case because he called Dawn Huffman the night of the shooting, before she was a suspect, and told her he was closely monitoring the case, Martin’s attorney Noel Erinjeri wrote in a motion for an evidentiary hearing about the relationship between the prosecutor and businessman.
“All we’re trying to do in this case is protect my client’s rights and ensure the public does not lose confidence in the system,” Mehanna said. “There’s no reason whatsoever for the prosecutor’s office at Macomb to continue handling this case.”
Erinjeri wrote in his motion that the relationship between Lucido and Jawad is “much closer than one would expect between an elected official and an ordinary constituent.”
Lucido did not respond for comment, but his spokesperson Esther Wolfe said in an email that it would be inappropriate for Lucido to comment because the matter is pending.
The case
Dawn Huffman worked as Jawad’s office manager for 21 years and quit several days after the Oct. 14 shooting, which prosecutors allege was done by Huffman’s brother-in-law, Jasan Martin. Jawad said he did not know Martin’s name before the shooting, but recognized him as someone who had once asked the businessman for a pay advance, as he was working for one of his companies at the time.
Huffman’s husband, Rachard, also is charged in connection with the plot. Rachard Huffman briefly worked for Jawad about a decade ago, before Jawad fired him two months later when he closed down the gas station he was working at and left.
Police have said they believe Martin was the triggerman in the alleged plot, but the Huffmans were in on the conspiracy.
The attorneys in the case had an evidentiary hearing last week where they argued their case and Lucido testified. Mehanna said Judge Peter Maceroni will make a decision about the role of Lucido’s office in the case after a transcript of the evidentiary hearing is done and once they can file a written reply to the motion to disqualify the prosecutor.
Lucido testified Aug. 12 that he had no personal relationship with Jawad, according to the Macomb Daily. He said he was a “good friend” but said he calls everyone he meets that “unless they’ve run me into the ground.” Lucido said he was unaware of the exact amount of Jawad’s donations to him because he does not personally track them.
Mehanna said Lucido testified he did not recall the contents of this phone conversation.
Mehanna said Jawad has made “huge financial contributions” to Lucido both before and after the shooting. Since June 2025, Jawad has donated $6,000, Mehanna wrote in his motion to disqualify Lucido. The prosecutor has gone to public ribbon cuttings for at least one gas station Jawad owns and Lucido attended a fundraiser at the businessman’s home while Dawn Huffman was present. Jawan offered Lucido the use of his Florida condo, Mehanna wrote.
“This is not a personal vendetta or a personal issue with the prosecutor’s office,” Mehanna said. “Nobody is alleging any illegal actions occurred in this particular case. … I don’t think a prosecutor can be a witness in the case while also trying the case, and we don’t think that anybody else in that office would be able to handle that case.”
Dawn Huffman is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and two counts of embezzlement of more than $100,000, a 20-year felony.
Rachard Huffman is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and embezzlement of more than $100,000.
Martin is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted murder, and several other charges.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Attorneys in Macomb murder conspiracy want prosecutor off the case
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kara Berg, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
