By Kara Berg/The Detroit News/TNS
Detroit tenant rights groups are protesting the death in July of a 45-year-old man by a court bailiff who was evicting the man from his Detroit apartment.
Sherman Lee Butler, 45, was shot and killed July 12 by a bailiff, who is an independent contractor with Detroit’s 36th District Court, when Butler failed to vacate his Palmer Park apartment when his lease ended, said Marc Landau, the attorney for the Manderson Road apartment complex.
Butler allegedly had a weapon and lunged at the bailiff, said 36th District Court Chief Judge William McConico. A Detroit Police Department officer used a Taser on Butler before the bailiff shot him, said McConico and Detroit police Cpl. Dan Donakowski.
Detroit police declined to provide further information about the shooting, but said a homicide task force is investigating it, with Michigan State Police as the lead investigator. MSP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Attorney Landau said the apartment complex would have given Butler 30 days to move out after his lease ended. After 30 days, he was directed to start the legal eviction process, which began April 4. Butler appeared for an initial hearing April 16, but did not appear for hearings May 7 or May 17, according to court records. The order of eviction was entered June 25, according to court records.
The bailiffs who handle evictions are on a list on independent contractors provided to landlords by 36th District Court but are not employees of the court or police departments, McConico said. Landlords pay the bailiffs to perform the evictions.
The bailiff in the July incident remains on the list of approved contractors and is eligible to do evictions, McConico said. He said there is no unpaid leave for contractors, he said, so he is waiting for the process to play out before deciding to remove him. If he is charged, he will be removed from the list, he said.
Lack of transparency
Tenants’ rights groups that said they are frustrated with the lack of transparency on Butler’s death held a protest Sunday, Aug.11 to demand answers. They want to see body camera footage from Detroit police who were with the bailiff during the eviction, and they want the name of the officer who used a Taser on Butler, they said.
Groups protested in Palmer Park to call for information, including the release of body cameras by police officers and an independent investigation.
Robert Day of the Detroit Tenants Association said they want the bailiff to be charged and fired. He said the city is trying to cover up Butler’s death and is frustrated he and other protesters had trouble finding even basic answers, like Butler’s name, from the city.
“He should not be dead. His life was taken by a damn bailiff for a damn slumlord,” Day said. “This is state violence serving landlords. … We’re saying enough. This has got to end.”
The incident demonstrates the terror and violence bailiffs put Detroiters through on a daily basis, Day said. He was an attorney who represented tenants for 25 years and has never seen the treatment of tenants appear this bad, he said.
“Your eviction machine is a murder machine,” Day said.
Victoria Camille, who was the secretary for the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, questioned why bailiffs show up to evictions armed and frequently with police in tow. Police are only supposed to be called if there is an issue with the eviction, Day said, but it appears to be routine that police and bailiffs work together.
“It’s definitely intimidating to have someone show up armed,” Camille said. “We can deal with this in a different way. … Property should never be put above a life.”
No surprise evictions
McConico said the shooting is a tragedy, but he cannot rush the investigation and would not interfere with the police investigation. He said he has met with protesters and understands their frustrations.
Evictions are not short processes, McConico said, and there is no way Butler would not have known he was being evicted. The apartment complex went through the proper legal process to evict Butler, he said.
“There are no surprise evictions in Detroit,” he said.
Lakeshore Legal Aid attended the protest to help people with issues in evictions. They said they have a hotline at (888) 783-8190 for low-income renters to get legal help.
Staff Writer Allison Wei contributed to this story.
