Court Grants Stay on Guardian for Hermit
BOSTON — A Housing Court judge had no authority to appoint a guardian for a hermit resisting eviction from a lean-to on public land, a judge ruled Monday.
State Appeals Court Judge Joseph Warner ordered a stay of a lower court’s ruling naming a guardian for Bill Britt, who has lived nearly 20 years at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The stay is effective pending appeal.
Britt, whose life will be the subject of a television movie starring Mickey Rooney, has been in and out of court in recent months, fighting a state effort to force him off the five-acre patch of land he calls home.
Housing Court Judge E. George Daher has given Britt until July 1 to find a new home, but, earlier this month, after Britt turned down offers of housing, Daher said he would name a guardian to work with Britt’s children to find him a new place to live.
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