In a misconduct saga that’s dragged on longer than most felonies, a Michigan judge accused of faking an assault allegation and charge of racism against a small businessman, wants key evidence thrown out, including silent surveillance footage and expert lip readers that might prove she lied to police.
Judge Demetria Brue of Detroit’s 36th District Court is fighting misconduct charges from the state’s Judicial Tenure Commission over a 2019 dispute with a Mackinac Island bike shop owner that she accused of being a racist. The Commission has said they are upset about two things: 1) that the judges lied about the encounter, and 2) that they attempted to use their status as judges to evade prosecution, both of which are against the rules for judges.
Documents reveal that the significant delay has been caused by repeated motions filed by the two judges challenging the process and power of the commission to censure them.
The shop owner, Ira Green, operates a bike rental business on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, and rented to two judges who were sightseeing during a judicial conference being held on the island.
The JTC says Brue falsely claimed the shop owner assaulted her during what was supposed to be a $23 sightseeing trip along with another Michigan judge, Judge Debra Nance of Southfield, Michigan. The Detroit Judge Brue wanted half off the price of the bike rental because of a complaint about how the bike handled, and then grabbed the receipt after, allegedly, calling the shop owner racist.
After assaulting the shop owner, Judge Brue allegedly said:
“You assaulted me. Did you just assault me? You took my receipt and tore it up. I want the police. … I am a judge. … I am an African-American female. That was racist, and it was disrespectful and it was violent.”
Judge Brue denies this was said, and the controversy is over whether or not the Commission was going to be able to bring in lipreaders to determine what she said on the silent audio.
The special master originally appointed by the Judicial Tenure Commission had previously tried to dismiss the complaint against the two judges, but the Michigan Disciplinary Council appealed that decision, reinstating charges against the judges.
Judges nationwide have been under greater scrutiny in recent years as the public has noted a rise in judicial misconduct. Judges, critics say, have an attitude that they are above the law and that the rules do not apply to them. Notable incidents include a long list of federal judges who have attempted to stop Trump policies and actions, including federal Judge Boasberg stopping immigration enforcement and the deportation of violent illegal immigrants, a case that was ultimately overruled by the appellate court and Supreme Court.
And even recently former FBI Director James Comey was seen encouraging the assassination of President Trump and then acting as though he didn’t know that the code “8647” referenced “86ing” the nation’s “47”th President Donald Trump.
Another odd recent judge incident involved a Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines executing Kentucky Judge Kevin Mullins. Both Stines and Mullins were allegedly implicated in a sex-for-leniency arrangement with women who came before the court, though details have been sparse.
In Michigan, the police declined to accept the assault charges that Judge Brue attempted to file against the shop owner. Security cameras verify much of what the shop owner says. However verbal statements by the Judge during the altercation are in dispute. The shop owner claims the judge said she was a judge during the altercation, using her office as a way to get out of paying the full price, and out of trouble when she escalated the conflict.
And if true, that would be a major violation of the code of judicial ethics.
Now, as a disciplinary hearing looms next month, Judge Brue’s legal team is going after the central evidence: the silent video footage from the shop and the two expert lip readers prosecutors intend to call to interpret what was allegedly said.
Brue’s attorneys: Philip J. Thomas, Jeffrey L. Edison, and Christine Pagac, call the footage “unfairly edited” and argue that lip-reading has no scientific reliability as expert testimony.
“This should not be the Michigan test case for the introduction of speech-reading evidence,” they wrote in a motion filed this month. They also took a jab at the length and cost of the case, writing, “What should have been a fun sightseeing adventure that would cost them $23.34 has dragged into this nearly six-year Judicial Tenure Commission proceeding, costing the taxpayers of this state thousands of dollars.”
The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for June 9 through 13 before retired judge and former state lawmaker Alexander Lipsey, who’s serving as Special Master in the case.
The JTC says Brue and fellow Southfield District Judge Debra Nance, who witnessed the incident, made false statements about what happened at the shop. Among the allegations: Brue claimed she feared for her life, but Nance testified she never heard Brue say that.
Nance, whose own hearing is set for June 16 through 20, allegedly contradicted herself at least nine times in sworn testimony about whether they spoke to police on the island.
The shop’s video, though lacking audio, reportedly shows a heated dispute. According to investigators, the shop owner says Brue loudly accused him of racism, said “You assaulted me,” and invoked her judicial position in demanding police involvement.
Brue and Nance claim they were the ones mistreated both by the bike shop staff and by local police, whom they say dismissed their complaints.
In another twist, Brue is seeking dismissal of a charge that she failed to cooperate with the JTC investigation, and is demanding access to a 59-page handwritten memo summarizing witness interviews. Brue alleges the memo includes exculpatory material, like whether staff accused her and Nance of trying to scam a free bike ride, and highlights discrepancies between the handwritten and typed versions.
The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered that both hearings be wrapped up by July 1.
With no audio, no agreement on what was said, and no clear resolution after six years, the case may hinge on whether silent video and lip readers can determine whether this Michigan judge lied about what was said, what she did, and lied about supposed racism about a Mackinac Island shopkeeper who simply wanted her to pay for riding a bike.
There are approximately 31,700 judges nationwide.
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