William E. Bufalino; lawyer for the unpopular
Hyfler/Rosner
who was short, round and impeccably dressed -- grabbing his
stomach while representing a union man, saying management
bosses could not develop such a girth if they worked on the
line like his client did."
Rights-defending lawyer Bufalino is dead at 57
May 28, 2004
BY NANCY A. YOUSSEF
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
William E. Bufalino II, a lawyer who represented some of
metro Detroit's most infamous defendants -- including those
linked with the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa -- died
Thursday from complications of lymphoma.
He was 57, a native of Detroit's east side, and lived in
Grosse Pointe Woods.
His father, William E. Bufalino Sr., also was an attorney
who often represented Teamsters and was a friend of Hoffa.
After Hoffa's 1975 disappearance, the senior Bufalino
represented Teamsters from around the country at the federal
courthouse in Detroit. He drafted his son to help him. The
younger Bufalino had graduated from the University of
Detroit Law School just three years earlier.
The son went on to tackle tough legal cases, with clients
including alleged Mafia bosses, drug dealers, a Nazi suspect
and a privileged suburban high-school class president
charged with raping three ninth-graders.
His law partner of 24 years, Frank Palazzolo in Clinton
Township, said he did it because he believed protecting a
defendant's rights protected the legal system. And, in
between the high-profile cases, he just as rigorously
defended lesser-known clients.
"He made it clear to juries that he was protecting rights,"
Palazzolo said.
Bufalino appeared in state and federal courts throughout
metro Detroit. Prosecutors and judges said he was known for
his respectful demeanor.
"Everybody I knew enjoyed dealing with him as an adversary,"
said Walter Kozar, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Some of his methods of capturing the jury's attention were
unorthodox.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman remembered Bufalino --
who was short, round and impeccably dressed -- grabbing his
stomach while representing a union man, saying management
bosses could not develop such a girth if they worked on the
line like his client did.
When Ferdinand Hammer of Sterling Heights, charged with
being a World War II concentration camp guard, faced
deportation in 1994, Bufalino represented him, saying his
client was only an infantry soldier in the German army and
not a member of the Nazi elite SS. Eventually, Hammer was
deported in 2000.
In 1998, Grosse Pointe North High School senior class
president Daniel Granger was charged with raping three
ninth-graders. Granger eventually pleaded and served a short
prison sentence, an outcome Bufalino called fair.
And among his earliest high-profile cases was in 1988, when
he represented 18-year-old Richard (White Boy Rick) Wershe
Jr. Wershe was convicted in Wayne County Circuit Court of
possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of
cocaine, which then carried a mandatory penalty of life in
prison without parole.
Bufalino loved spending time with his family and watching
his son play hockey, said Peter J. Kelley, an Ann Arbor
lawyer and law school classmate.
Bufalino is survived by his wife, Joanne; children Nina
Bufalino-Moceri , William E. Bufalino III and James
Bufalino, and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were
incomplete Thursday.