Judge rejects efforts to order Seattle police to evict disabled vet from foreclosed home
Aug 13, 2014, 2:14 PM | Updated: 4:13 pm
A King County judge has rejected efforts to force Seattle police to arrest a disabled Vietnam veteran and his wife for refusing to leave their foreclosed home.
Byron and Jean Barton were evicted from the West Seattle home in July, three months after Triangle Property Development bought the home in a foreclosure auction.
King County sheriff’s deputies removed the couple from the home July 21. But protesters blocked an ambulance from taking Byron away, and the couple broke back into the home with the help of protesters that afternoon.
Seattle police refused to forcibly remove the couple from the home, and Mayor Ed Murray subsequently ordered police to “stand down” until the the matter was resolved in court.
Lawyers for Triangle filed a “writ of mandamus,” which would have forced police to arrest the couple, arguing the city was violating the law by not enforcing a previously court-ordered eviction.
But King County Superior Court Judge Mariane Spearman ruled Wednesday the City Charter gives the mayor and police “discretion to decide whether to arrest or remove a trespasser.” She wrote that a writ of mandamus was an “extraordinary” measure that wasn’t appropriate if there is discretion.
The judge also ruled Triangle has other options for removing the Bartons from the home, including seeking a new court order mandating the King County Sheriff’s Office again evict the couple.
Representatives for Triangle have not responded to a request for comment.
In a statement, Murray reiterated the city would have complied with a court order to proceed with eviction.
Murray said representatives from the City’s Office of Housing and Human Services Department have been in almost daily contact with the couple, presenting them with “an array of health and human services for which they may be eligible at the city, county, state and federal levels. To date, the Bartons, however, have not pursued any of these options while choosing to remain in the home,” he said.
Murray painted a troubling picture of conditions inside the home, saying staff have observed conditions that required them to submit reports to Adult Protective Services.
