Master's report questions why 'trivial dispute' over bike rental led to ethics complaint against 2 judges
Two Michigan judges who faced ethics charges stemming from a “trivial dispute” over a $23 Mackinac Island bicycle rental did not commit misconduct, according to two reports by a retired judge appointed as a master in their cases.
Ethics charges should be tossed against 36th District Judge Demetria Brue of Detroit and 46th District Judge Debra Nance of Southfield, according to the Oct. 14 reports and recommendations here and here by the retired judge, Alexander C. Lipsey.
The dispute involved a “heated argument” between Brue and Ira Green, a bicycle shop owner, over issues with a rented bike and a receipt that tore in half when Brue tried to grab it.
Relying on video evidence, the report says Brue “can be seen reaching across the checkout counter to retrieve her receipt. As she grabs the receipt, Mr. Green turns away from her, and the document is torn.”
Issues include whether Brue mischaracterized what happened when she said the owner assaulted her and whether both judges wrongly said a police officer did not fairly consider their side of the story.
Both judges are Black, and Brue alleged that they were treated poorly due to their race, according to the report. Lipsey resolved all the allegations in favor of the judges.
“What began as a trivial dispute over a bicycle rental on Mackinac Island ended up mushrooming into a six-year conflict in front of the Judicial Tenure Commission,” the report in Brue’s case say. “The parties have expended thousands of dollars because a petty argument in which harsh words were spoken.
“It is unclear to this master why this matter resulted in a formal complaint, but it is clear the matter should have been resolved short of a formal hearing. All parties have been damaged by this proceeding.”
The incident occurred in August 2019 when Brue and Nance were attending a judicial conference. Both were accused of making false statements about the dispute to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission; Brue was also accused of making false statements to police.
A video recorded the incident, but the shop owner retained only the portions showing himself. There was no audio.
The judges rented bicycles from the Mackinac Island Bike Shop during a break in the conference, both reports say. Nance had trouble with the bike pedals locking up so they returned to the shop and told an employee what had happened. He tested the bike and claimed there was nothing wrong. He said there would be no discount and the judges would not get a “free ride,” the report in Brue’s case says.
When Green was called, he could not find Brue’s account on the computer so he asked for her receipt, the report in her case says. Brue suggested their treatment due to race,and Green began waving the judges’ receipt in the air during the discussion. Nance volunteered that Brue was a judge, according to Green.
Brue tried to grab the receipt after Green didn’t respond to her request to return it. After Green turned away and the receipt was torn, Brue immediately accused Green of assaulting her.
After two police officers intervened, Green agreed the judges wouldn’t be charged for the bikes and Brue agreed she wouldn’t charge Green with assault. Green later filed a complaint with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
Brue was accused of making misstatements to police when she said Green snatched the receipt from her. The master found that Brue did not lie. In this context, she had “every right” to believe it was true, the report says.
Brue was also accused of lying about an assault to police and the commission. The disciplinary counsel, on the other hand, claimed that Brue “lunged” at Green. “The video clearly shows that neither action occurred” and both parties “maintained an untenable position,” the report says. But failing to prove an accusation of assault is not misconduct, the report concludes.
Brue and Nance were also accused of lying to the commission when they said one of the officers didn’t fairly listen to the judges and he told the judges to “stand at the curb” while he reviewed a video of the incident. Brue was accused of making additional false statements to the commission, including that she never told Green she was a judge and that she didn’t make statements about fearing for her life after the receipt was torn.
The reports did not find sufficient evidence that either judge lied.
“The optics” would lend credence to Nance’s perception that the officer didn’t give the judges the same attention as the shop owner, the report in her case says. As for her claim that the officer told them to wait by the curb, she was clear about what she heard and the officer “equivocated in his testimony.”
The master also ruled for Brue on those points. The report also noted Green’s testimony that it was Nance, not Brue, who said Brue was a judge.
Green had alleged after the incident that Brue made comments along the lines of, “You attacked me. .. I am in fear for my life. … Do you know what is now going to happen to you, a Caucasian man that’s found guilty of striking an African American female judge?”
But the video shows no one reacting to those comments, and police were not made aware of the allegation until Green provided his written notes recounting what happened. Looking at the whole record, the statements attributed to Brue are unsupported by a preponderance of the evidence, the report says.
The master also rejected an allegation that Brue refused to cooperate with the disciplinary counsel. She answered numerous questions during an investigation but objected to four questions and asked for an explanation why they were reasonable. Rather than respond, the disciplinary counsel charged Brue with a failure to respond.
“Simply because disciplinary counsel makes a request does not mean that it requires [Brue] to blindly comply with that request,” the report says. If the disciplinary counsel had attempted to resolve the matter through dialogue with Brue’s lawyer, the master said, he would be more sympathetic to the argument that Brue failed to cooperate.
Law360 and the Detroit Free Press had coverage of the master’s recommendations.
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