King Kwame's Text Messages

IN OUR OPINION
For good of city, state, Granholm must act now
August 7, 2008

A lot of bad things can happen in just a few weeks.

That’s the situation Gov. Jennifer Granholm faces this morning, as the Mayor of Detroit sits in a cell and the entire state awaits a merciful end to this sordid scandal.

If the governor sticks to her timetable for deciding whether to remove Kilpatrick, which she recently accelerated but is still a few weeks off, things could get stunningly worse. Look what’s happened just since late July.

What will the mayor do next? What reaction will escalate things to another, unbelievable level? What if he’s hit with new felony charges today by the state attorney general? Or what if he just sits in jail while an unelected — and just recently appointed — deputy mayor oversees city operations?

But if the governor takes charge of this problem and moves to resolve it swiftly, such questions become moot. The mayor’s gone. The city, the region and the state can move past him.

The governor has the power to remove the mayor from office for “official misconduct” or “willful neglect of duty.” A state law further defines that power, saying the governor “shall remove” a public official if presented with sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

Granholm has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 3 in Detroit to give Kilpatrick a chance to defend himself against such charges. Evidence already aired in the courts, however, weighs heavily in favor of more prompt action.

The public official is entitled to some due process, according to legal opinions that have further fleshed out the removal provisions. But the drawn-out, overly legal process Granholm has been following seems overkill, especially in light of the mayor’s escalating misbehavior. It’s time to act swiftly, and decisively, so the entire state can put this sordid scandal in the past.

Any constraints on the governor’s ability to act have arguably been made irrelevant by Kilpatrick’s own behavior.

Forget about whether he perjured himself at the police whistle-blower trial, or fired two cops improperly — points that he can still argue about. He has indisputably violated the terms of a criminal bond, according to 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles, who jailed Kilpatrick Thursday. He has also shown himself to be something of a danger by confronting sheriff’s deputies who were neither on his property nor trying to serve him with papers.

Yes, the governor should afford Kilpatrick a measure of fairness, but the process for ensuring that fairness has already taken place, in Giles’ courtroom.

Ultimately, the governor’s decision is a political one, according to the Constitution and the law; it’s only quasi-judicial. Kilpatrick has had plenty of due process in that regard; it’s time for action.

Friday, August 8, 2008
Judge hears Kilpatrick bail challenge; additional charges may come today
Gordon Trowbridge and David Josar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The scandal engulfing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in the hands of two men this morning: Wayne County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Jackson and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox.

Jackson gaveled the hearing into order at 9:15 a.m., 15 minutes after the scheduled start and just after the mayor was brought into court. The issue before him is whether to free the mayor, who spent the night in Wayne County Jail on a lower court judge's order as punishment for violating terms of his bond by traveling across the Canadian border to Windsor for a July 23 meeting.

An hour later, at the state office building in Detroit's New Center area, Cox is expected to announce criminal charges against Kilpatrick in an incident July 24 in which Kilpatrick is accused of shoving a police investigator who was trying to serve a court notice to a friend of the mayor.

Either event could add to the already growing pressure on Kilpatrick to step down, eight months after the revelation of text messages that have left a one-time rising political star's career in serious doubt.

As of 9:15 a.m., the hearing on Kilpatrick's bond had not yet begun, though Kilpatrick had just arrived. The mayor's legal team was there, including Judy Smith, the head of Kilpatrick's high-priced, East Coast-based crisis management team. His team also appeared to include two new lawyers: Warren Harris, a former head of Detroit's police narcotics unit, and Robert Mitchelll, a longtime Detroit criminal defense attorney. In addition, there several relatives of the mayor were in the courtroom. This is the first time any of his relatives have been in court when he has had to make an appearance.

At around 8:30 a.m., two of the mayor's bodyguards arrived at the courtroom of Wayne Circuit Judge Thomas E. Jackson, as well as DeDan Milton, one of the mayor's appointees and the brother of Kandia Milton, who is now running the city as deputy mayor.

"He is still running the city," Milton said of Kilpatrick. "It is no different than if he is out of town on vacation."

Milton said he has spoken with the mayor, who he said is able to make and receive calls freely.

The bodyguards and Milton stood down the corridor from about three dozen members of the media, waiting to get in the courtroom.

A parade of public officials, including some former allies, called Thursday on Kilpatrick to resign after a dramatic hearing in which 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles ordered him behind bars. A contrite and emotional mayor apologized to Giles for traveling to Windsor without informing the court -- a violation of the increasingly strict terms by which Giles had limited Kilpatrick's travel.

Cox, at a 10 a.m. news conference, is expected to announce new criminal charges stemming from an incident in which Kilpatrick reportedly pushed a Wayne County detective. That would add to the already lengthy list of charges facing Kilpatrick in connection with the text messages, revealed in January, that showed he concealed an extramarital affair with a top aide during court testimony in 2007. He and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, face perjury, conspiracy, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice charges in that case.

That list of woes is now before not only the legal system, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who will hold a Sept. 3 hearing that could remove Kilpatrick from office.

TEXT MESSAGE SCANDAL
Judge orders $50,000 cash bond, no travel, tether for Kilpatrick

By M.L. ELRICK • Free Press Staff Writer • August 8, 2008

Updated at 10:38 a.m.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Thomas Jackson ruled this morning that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick must pay $50,000 cash bond and wear a tether before he can be released from the Wayne County Jail. He also is forbidden to travel, meaning the mayor must cancel his trip to the Democratic National Convention and a family trip to Florida.


Jackson said earlier this morning that a lower court judge did not abuse his discretion in sending Kilpatrick to jail.

Jackson's decision came moments after prosecutors arguing to keep Kilpatrick behind bars for violating his bond told Jackson that Kilpatrick brazenly ignored restrictions on his travel, despite being given great leeway and warnings not to leave town without calling the court.

"He knows what the bond requirements are and yet he professes to take this case seriously," said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran. "It's about him not telling anyone and trying to get away with it."

Moran made his case moments after Kilpatrick attorney Jim Parkman argued that, short of a heinous crime like treason, a judge may not send someone to jail without setting bond.

"We believe that is nothing but a clear abuse of discretion," Parkman said, referring to District Judge Ronald Giles.

Kilpatrick, looking none the worse for wear after his night at the Wayne County Jail, watched impassively with his hand on his chin.

Parkman also argued that the mayor's trip to Windsor was for business and should be treated differently than that of the typical criminal defendant.

"My Johnny Six Pack would have been over at Caesar's, playin' cards, drinkin' liquor and chasin' women," he said, invoking Giles' "six-pack" quote Thursday. Parkman added that the mayor was in Windsor only for 45 minutes.

He said he didn't want special treatment for the mayor, but felt there were mitigating circumstances involved in the mayor's violation of bond terms that required him to notify the court before leaving town. Giles revoked Kilpatrick's bond and sent him to jail because the mayor did not clear the trip with him.

Jackson started the proceedings by announcing that he had received and ignored a call from a lawyer who works for the mayor and used to be a City Council member, underscoring his pledge to be objective as he considers Kilpatrick's bid to be set free.

Jackson did not identify Sharon McPhail, but she is the only lawyer working for the mayor who fits the description he gave.

"I assume they were not calling to wish me a happy day or a happy Friday morning," he said, explaining why he did not take the call.

Jackson made his remarks moments after supporters of Kilpatrick and at least two of his police bodyguards joined the crush of reporters and photographers filling his basement courtroom in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, where felony criminal cases are tried in Wayne County.

A least one city employee watched the proceedings. DeDan Milton, a longtime friend and mayoral appointee, sat in the front row of the courtroom. His brother, Kandia, is acting as mayor while Kilpatrick is incarcerated.

On Thursday, Jackson scheduled a 9 a.m. hearing to determine whether the mayor, who spent the night in the Wayne County Jail after his bond was revoked, will go free today.

Kilpatrick entered the courtroom about 9:15 a.m., his presence answering one, relatively minor, question that has hung over the proceedings: He is wearing a tan suit with a blue shirt, not the jail scrubs he was issued Thursday.

When he was processed at the jail, the mayor was wearing a shiny gray suit with matching vest and a French-cuffed shirt with "Mayor" embroidered on the sleeves.

Come back to www.freep.com throughout the day for the latest developments in this breaking story.

Contact M.L. ELRICK at 313-222-6582 or mlelrick@freepress.com.

TEXT MESSAGE SCANDAL
Kilpatrick charged with new felonies moments after jail order is lifted
Attorney General Cox says mayor assaulted two officers in shoving incident

By Jim Schaefer and Ben Schmitt • Free Press Staff Writers • August 8, 2008

After spending a night in the Wayne County Jail on an unrelated criminal case, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with two counts of felonious assault today for allegedly shoving a sheriff’s deputy into his partner last month.


"We are charging defendant Kwame Kilpatrick with assaulting ... police officers in the furtherance of their duties," Cox announced in a news conference this morning.

The latest charges poses yet another threat to the livelihood of the 38-year-old mayor, who has steadfastly remained in office while battling eight other felony charges and possible removal hearings by the city council and Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The other criminal charges all relate to the text message scandal exposed in the Free Press in January.

The charges against Kilpatrick each carry a penalty of up to two years in prison upon conviction. If he is convicted of a felony, he would automatically be removed from office.

"This is a very straightforward, simple case" that prosecutors hope to bring to a preliminary hearing withing two weeks, Cox said.

"it is a very serious case. ... I cannot recall, ever, seeing let alone hearing of a situion where a police officer trying to serve a subpoena was assaulted," Cox said, adding that he has been a prosecutor for 20 years.

The new charge stems from a July 24 altercation with Wayne County Sheriff’s Detective Brian White, who testified that Kilpatrick shoved him into his partner at the mayor’s sister’s house in Detroit. Kilpatrick’s lawyers said the mayor gently escorted White away from the house.

White said he was trying to serve the mayor’s friend, Bobby Ferguson, with a subpoena for a hearing in the text message case against Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty, who also is facing multiple felonies in that case.

White testified in a bond hearing the day after the altercation that he saw a truck from Ferguson’s contracting company in front of the house on LaSalle Boulevard on the city’s west side. He and JoAnn Kinney, a former Detroit police officer who now works as an investigator in the prosecutor’s office, approached the house to ask whether Ferguson was there.

Kinney testified that Kilpatrick burst through the door, hurled expletives at her and White, then shoved White into her. Kinney, who is black, also said that the mayor made a racial remark to her about White, who is white.

It was never explained why the mayor was at his sister’s house during the altercation, which happened about 4 p.m. on a weekday. The home is next door to his mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.

Cox announced the following day that his office would review the case after state police concluded their investigation.

Come back to www.freep.com throughout the day for updates on this breaking story.

That dude is unreal....

This whole NIGHTMARE is unreal!

A horrid real life soap opera

Saturday, August 9, 2008
Kilpatrick may have violated bond, Cox spokesman says
David Josar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- A spokesman for Attorney General Michael Cox said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may have broken conditions of his bond if he had contact with his sister Saturday morning while visiting his mother's house.

Kilpatrick, along with his executive protection police unit, was at the home of the mayor's mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick on Saturday at the same time his sister was seen entering and leaving the home.

On Friday, a magistrate in 36th District Court barred Kilpatrick from having contact with witnesses to an assault the mayor is accused of committing July 24. The mayor's sister, Ayanna Kilpatrick, and members of his executive protection unit, were among the witnesses listed.

At least one of those witnesses, Sgt. Jefferson Travis, was at the congresswoman's house on Saturday, and was part of the team protecting the mayor.

The alleged assault occurred at the home of Ayanna Kilpatrick, which is next door to the home of the mayor's mother where the mayor was visiting Saturday, according to witnesses.

Rusty Hills, a spokesman for Cox, said new bond conditions forbade Kilpatrick from having contact with any witnesses to his alleged crime, all of whom were listed on investigative reports released on Friday. Hills did not indicate whether lawyers for the state would ask to have the mayor's bond modified.

"We take the conditions set by the court very, very seriously," Hills said.

Hills said if the allegations are true, Kilpatrick was not truthful when he told 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles on Thursday that he has "great respect for the court."

One of the mayor's attorneys, Jim Parkman III, said on Saturday that the magistrate only forbade the mayor from contact with the two law enforcement officers he's accused of assaulting.

"They are the only two," he said.

Investigators for Cox are looking into Saturday's visit.Kilpatrick already faces a string of felonies, including perjury, in another case involving text messages and his testimony in a whistle blower case last year. Cox filed two felony charges of assaulting or obstructing a police officer against Kilpatrick on Friday.

During Friday's court proceeding, Magistrate Renee McDuffee wondered out loud how she would bar Kilpatrick from contact with all witnesses in the case since two of them are relatives --- his sister, Ayanna and brother-in-law Daniel Ferguson.

But in the end, McDuffee in setting the mayor's bond in the assault case specifically said Kilpatrick is to have "no contact with witnesses in this case." Moments later she also told the mayor: "I am most concerned you have no contact with the complainants in this matter and those individuals are Officer Brian White and Investigator JoAnn Kinney."

Immediately after the hearing, Doug Baker, special assistant attorney general, said that the magistrate's final order barred Kilpatrick from contact with all witnesses, including relatives.

In this case, the mayor is accused of shoving White on the porch at Ayanna Kilpatrick's home as he tried to serve a subpoena on Bobby Ferguson, a friend of the mayor and a city contractor.

It is "extremely common" for courts to bar defendants from having contact with witnesses, said Curt A. Benson, a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

"You do that for a lot of reasons and one is to ensure that witnesses aren't manipulated," he said. "What is the mayor thinking?"

Travis, who was also outside the congresswoman's house and delivered what appeared to be a bag containing lunches to the home on LaSalle near the Henry Ford Hospital. He is also listed as a witness in the assault case. Travis was part of the executive protection unit that was escorting the mayor on Saturday.

Saturday was the first full day for the mayor to meet with his advisors after he was jailed on Thursday for violating his bond in the perjury case. He was jailed for failing to notify the court when he went for a meeting in Windsor in July.

At around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, three police officers assigned to the mayor's executive protection unit were stationed in two black Ford Crown Victorias outside the homes of Ayanna Kilpatrick and the congresswoman.

Around noon, Ayanna Kilpatrick left her mother's house and later pulled a large black SUV from the driveway from her home into the street. She went into her house, but later exited, talked to one of the EPU officers, and then returned to her mother's house.

Travis said a reporter had to leave the area because there was a "police detail."

However he did allow a lawn service crew cutting the grass at the Kilpatrick homes to stay.

Around 1:30 p.m., the mayor, wearing a yellow T-shirt, casual pants and carrying a large bag, was seen leaving his mother's home with his bodyguards, according to Detroit News reporting partner WXYZ (Channel 7).

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, with perjury and obstruction of justice in March. Kilpatrick and Beatty are accused of lying under oath in 2007 to cover an affair and the firing of a deputy police chief; and misleading the City Council into an $8.4 million settlement with a side agreement to hide text messages that allegedly reveal the lies.

The mayor's bond now prohibits all travel outside the tri-county area, requires him to wear at tether that includes a GPS tracking device.

IS HE GOING TO WORK AT HIS OFFICE TOMORROW MORNING TOO?!?!??
GEEZ!
GET THIS BEHIND BARS!

ROCHELLE RILEY
Kilpatrick should quit, his ex-pastor says
Vann urges other religious leaders to speak up for the greater good

BY ROCHELLE RILEY • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • August 10, 2008

One thing that may get lost in the endless stream of information about the mayoral scandal is this: Six years ago, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his family attended the same church as veteran police officer Gary Brown, whose lawsuit became the mayor's Achilles' heel.

And the Rev. Edgar Vann ministered to both.

Vann helped get Kilpatrick elected as Detroit's youngest mayor, and the mayor stood next to Vann as the pastor built dozens of homes near his sanctuary, Second Ebenezer, ran successful youth programs and nurtured a booming congregation.

Vann said he was watching a shooting star.

But now Vann believes the time has come to extinguish that star. He says he intends to call on the city's spiritual community to stand up, speak up and work together to convince Kilpatrick to put the city before himself.

"I just feel that the mayor came into office with a lot of promise, a lot of potential, some very unique gifts to help Detroit be better," he said. "I think that what we have over the city now is this abyss of darkness that prevents us from moving forward. ... And so I think the time has come for the mayor to resign."

Besides Detroit's business community, no group of leaders has been criticized more than the city's ministers for the silence of their voices, which are so strong and powerful when confronted with injustice. It was ministers who led the civil rights movement. It was ministers who fought for falsely accused prisoners, ministers who counseled cheating spouses. It has been ministers who have answered the call to the front lines when trouble comes.

But in Detroit, which is facing one of its greatest crises of leadership, the ministers have been absent in the mayoral scandal.

Time for spiritual leadership, unity

Vann, the 52-year-old minister whose new church now is home to a 5,000-member congregation and who is whispered about as a possible mayoral candidate, wants ministers to practice what they preach and unite with the community in ending the scandal the only way possible.

"I believe that there comes a time when we as religious leaders have to speak with our prophetic voice, even to powers that be, and say what needs to be said.

"I think that the private conversations that people are having right now are all about a quick resolution or an expeditious resolution of this situation. There are sentiments on both sides. But I think that everybody wants this to be over."

Vann said the scandal has taken the city's focus off of larger problems that are growing unchecked.

"I've been doing funerals of young people all summer," he said. "This has been a tough summer. Funerals of young people whose blood is being spilled in this city nonsensically, and I just believe that there are other issues right now that are not getting any attention.

"We have an imploding educational system that is rife with corruption, it appears," he said. "We have a brutal economy that is ravaging our region. We have middle-class families who have left the city and many who have left the state looking for greater opportunities.

"It's hard to get things done these days. It's hard for people to get together and talk about anything."

Ministers across the city and some in the region have preached tangentially about the scandal, he said. But the time has come for more.

"A lot of ministers have been preaching messages that revolve around themes of hope in the middle of despair," he said.

Answering critics, Vann said that men and women of God do not work according to a human clock.

"It shows wisdom for people not to be so reactive to everything," he said. "They're not at everyone's beck and call as to how and when they react. I think it is wise to understand human frailty and to understand that people make mistakes. So when you look at it from a spiritual standpoint, the elements of forgiveness are always there."

But the mayor can be forgiven and still not remain in office where his presence keeps the city in turmoil.

'Right now we're hurting'

Vann, one of the most prominent ministers yet to call for the mayor to step down, joins the Rev. Nicholas Hood III, pastor of Plymouth United Church of Christ, and the Rev. Kenneth Flowers, pastor of Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, in seeking the mayor's resignation for moral, if not legal, reasons.

Vann said he believes Kilpatrick is conflicted.

"I believe he truly loves the city," Vann said. "But you've got to love us enough to know when you're hurting us. ... And right now we're hurting. Our visible and conversational image worldwide has just reached an all-time low, and this has to stop. I believe that the city is in God's hands, and that we will survive.

"But the time has come for him to resign.

"If you accept the creation story, which I preach, then you know that God always forms things out of chaos," Vann said.

"I still believe in this city. I'm invested here. I live here. I raised my family here. I believe that the city will rise again. I believe this city can thrive again."

Please join the conversation about this column at www.freep.com/rochelleriley

FREE PRESS CARTOONIST MIKE THOMPSON
ANIMATED CARTOON: Kilpatrick's Jailhouse Rock

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FUNNY VIDEO

Rachel May and Billy Reedy came through again, this time to provide the music and vocals for a celebratory animation about Mayor Kilpatrick’s trip to the slammer. Having been held prisoner for months by the delusional Kilpatrick, metro Detroit applauded the jailing of Motown’s most notorious thug. Nobody is above the law.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Judge to decide if Kilpatrick violated bond again
Mike Wilkinson / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is due in court this morning to determine if he violated the terms of his bond again.

Judge Ronald Giles is to decide if the mayor did not follow his bond agreement when he was seen over the weekend with his sister, brother-in-law and his bodyguard, each a witness to the alleged July 23 confrontation with a deputy and a summons server at his sister's home.

Giles, who handled the preliminary stages of the ongoing perjury case against Kilpatrick, had been assigned on Monday to handle the preliminary stages of the assault case as well.

Special Assistant Attorney General Douglas Baker filed a complaint Monday morning alleging Kilpatrick's meeting with Ayanna Kilpatrick at the home of their mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, violated the terms of bond set Friday in connection with new charges.

Kilpatrick was released from jail Friday, one day after Giles sent him there for violating the terms of his bond. Giles was upset that the mayor traveled to Windsor on July 23 without the court's permission.

Giles also would handle a preliminary examination set for Friday on the assault charges brought last week by the Baker, who works for Attorney General Mike Cox.

A bodyguard listed as a witness in that alleged assault was on duty guarding Kilpatrick on Saturday. The attorney general claims Kilpatrick is barred from meeting all witnesses in the case. Baker's complaint didn't mention the officer, but Rusty Hills said "we will address that" during Tuesday's hearing.

Kilpatrick's attorneys -- and Marylin Atkins, chief judge of the 36th District Court -- say Cox and Baker are mistaken and Kilpatrick's bond only prevents him from coming into contact with two court officers who claim they were assaulted by the mayor on July 24.

Marcus Reese, a spokesman for Kilpatrick's legal team, issued a statement claiming that attorneys for the mayor and Cox clarified the conditions on Friday and all sides agreed the order only prohibited contact with victims.

"The Attorney General appears to be ignoring both the magistrate and his own prosecutor, therefore one has to assume the true motivation behind this action is to build campaign support for the next gubernatorial election and divert attention away from his own personal issues that may stand in the way of his ambitions," the statement reads.

Baker's complaint argues otherwise.

"The court was clear that the prohibition extended to witnesses, not merely the two victims," the complaint reads.

The document also references Kilpatrick's ongoing felony case. He was jailed Thursday for violating that bond with a trip to Windsor without court approval.

"In this case, the defendant has demonstrated an inability to adhere to reasonable bond conditions and has had his bond in that case modified several times in response to violations," the complaint reads.

Ayanna Kilpatrick is a witness to the July 24 incident on her porch in which Kilpatrick is alleged to have assaulted two officers who were attempting to serve a subpoena to his friend, Bobby Ferguson.

The state attorney general's action is based on a Detroit News report that Kilpatrick apparently had contact on Saturday with two witnesses to the mayor's alleged July 24 assault on two police officers.

The attorney general believes the "no contact" order issued Friday by McDuffee included all witnesses in the case, but Atkins said Sunday the order didn't include the mayor's sister or members of the Detroit Police Executive Protection Unit.

Kilpatrick was seen Saturday at the Detroit home of his mother. Detroit Police Sgt. Jefferson Travis, who also was a witness to the alleged assault, was on duty protecting the mayor Saturday.

In the Wayne County prosecutor's case, in which Kilpatrick is charged with perjury, conspiracy, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice, the mayor saw his bond conditions tightened twice by Giles for alleged violations before the judge simply revoked bond and sent him to spend Thursday night in the Wayne County Jail.

Kilpatrick and his co-defendant, former chief of staff Christine Beatty, waived their right to a preliminary examination on the charges last week, and the case is being transferred for trial to Wayne County Circuit Court. A new $50,000 cash bond was set Friday for Kilpatrick by Wayne County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Jackson.

You can reach Mike Wilkinson at (313) 222-2563 or mwilkinson@detnews.com

From WDIV Channel 4
Judge Rules Mayor Did Not Violate Bond

POSTED: 7:13 pm EDT August 10, 2008
UPDATED: 9:24 am EDT August 12, 2008

DETROIT -- Judge Ronald Giles ruled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick did not violate terms of his bond in an assault case, a day after being released from jail following a bond violation in his perjury case.

The Michigan Attorney General filed a motion Monday alleging he violated
his bond terms by coming in contact with his own sister, Ayanna Kilpatrick, on Saturday while the mayor was visiting his mother, who lives next door.The motion filed by Doug Baker, a special assistant with the attorney general's office, asked for a hearing and for the court to amend the conditions of Kilpatrick's bond as it deems appropriate.Giles is the same judge who ordered the mayor to jail last Thursday, for another bond violation in a perjury and obstruction of justice case. The mayor spent the night in jail.The motion filed by Baker said that in the perjury case Kilpatrick has "demonstrated an inability to adhere to reasonable bond conditions and has had his bond in that case modified several times in response to violations. "The mayor's sister and 11 other people have been called to testify against Kilpatrick in connection with an incident in which the mayor had a confrontation with a deputy sheriff and an officer working for the prosecutor. They were serving a subpoena when the mayor allegedly shoved one of the officers on July 24.

Download: Assault Witness List

See: MSP Report

Attorney Jim Thomas said Magistrate Renee McDuffee clarified Friday that Kilpatrick could have contact with his sister.

The Judge agreed. He said because Ayanna is not in fear of the Mayor, he did not see an issue with the mayor seeing her or members of his Executive Protection Order bodyguards. He did clarify the terms continue to include the two plaintiffs in the case Detective Brian White and Investigator Joanne Kinney.

Judge Giles said the bond continues that McDuffy put into place on Friday.

Kilpatrick's attorneys released a statement clarifying their position on the bond terms.

"On Friday, Aug 8th, the mayor's legal team clarified with Magistrate McDuffee -- as well as Prosecutor, Baker that the mayor is indeed allowed to interact with his sister, his brother-in-law and the executive protection unit. The attorney general appears to be ignoring both the magistrate and his own prosecutor. Therefore, one has to assume the true motivation behind this action is to build campaign support for the next election and divert attention away from his own 'personal issues' that 'may' stand in the way of his ambitions."

Kilpatrick was charged on Friday with two counts of felony assault in that case.

Judge Giles will also preside over the preliminary exam in the assault case on Friday.

On Thursday, the mayor and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty will appear before a Circuit Court Judge on the original case of perjury, obstruction and conspiracy. That's the first step in the process of going to trial.

Prosecutors say text messages contradict their denial of an affair, a key point in a trial involving a former deputy police chief who claimed he was illegally fired.

Kwame gonna beat this shit


After Last Night's Game; I was in the parking garage talking with a couple people that work for the City; They claim that if Kwame goes to trial; he has stuff on Cox, Granholm and other politicians; and he will sing like a canary to avoid prison

In addition, if Kwame remains Mayor until January; He collects a full pension from the city the rest of his life

that's probably what he's trying to do! But with that pension I'm not sure he can live the life he's become accustomed to!

laprimamirala wrote:

that's probably what he's trying to do! But with that pension I'm not sure he can live the life he's become accustomed to!

But he will colllect money from taxpayers the rest of his life; even if he is convicted

I don't know how much?


But even if it were 30,000 a year; Say Kwame lives another 40 years


Look how much money he will get for being a thief


I guess crime does pay

In this life maybe

He will have to face God at the end of his life for what he's done, not me! Not saying that I am any better or worse, but as far as I know, I haven't stolen millions of dollars from hardworking people, shoved a police officer, or had an affair...

laprimamirala wrote:

He will have to face God at the end of his life for what he's done, not me! Not saying that I am any better or worse, but as far as I know, I haven't stolen millions of dollars from hardworking people, shoved a police officer, or had an affair...

Me neither

At least the first two

laprimamirala wrote:

Just Kidding!

A MAYOR IN CRISIS
Judge Giles orders Mayor Kilpatrick's tether put back on

By Jim Schaefer and Joe Swickard • Free Press Staff Writers • August 14, 2008

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick must return to wearing an electronic tether.

Detroit 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles clarified just moments ago in a written order that Kilpatrick must remain on tether, despite a ruling earlier today from another judge, Giles’ clerk Juanita Newsome told the Free Press.

Giles is presiding over two felony assault charges filed last week against Kilpatrick for allegedly shoving a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to serve a subpoena in a separate criminal perjury case that evolved from the mayor’s text message scandal.

Earlier today, Wayne County Circuit Judge Leonard Townsend ordered Kilpatrick’s tether removed in the perjury case, and also granted Kilpatrick permission to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 25, something Kilpatrick was not eligible to do under earlier restrictions.

But Newsome, the clerk, said Giles today put in writing that the mayor must remain on tether in the assault case and stay within the confines of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. His order does not grant Kilpatrick an exception to attend the convention.

The issue of attending the convention could arise Friday at Kilpatrick’s preliminary hearing on the assault charges.

Saying the case has “more twists and turns than Cedar Point,” Rusty Hills, spokesman for state Attorney General Mike Cox, said Kilpatrick will be back on an electronic tether today.

“We consider this a clarification of the bond,” said Hills, whose office is prosecuting the assault case. “We always felt Judge Giles’ bond conditions were still in effect.”

The tethering will be handled by the Wayne County sheriff, Hills said.

Contact JIM SCHAEFER at 313-223-4542 or jschaefer@freepress.com . Staff writer Joe Swickard contributed to this report.

ELECTIONS 2008
Obama aide: Mayor Kilpatrick would be a distraction at convention

By Kathleen Gray • Free Press Staff Writer • August 14, 2008

If Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick decides to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 10 days, he would be a distraction from the historic nomination of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee’s campaign said today.

But Obama staffers wouldn’t go as far as saying Kilpatrick shouldn’t make the trip to Denver.

The convention should be about the economic problems facing the nation overall and Michigan specifically, Brent Colburn, Obama’s Michigan campaign spokesman said.

“Many Michigan families are struggling as a result of the failed policies and old politics that John McCain wants to continue. The focus of our convention to people back here in Michigan should be on Barack Obama and how the party intends to get America back on track, not a distraction involving the troubles of one individual,” Colburn said in a statement released this afternoon.

Bond restrictions placed on Kilpatrick, in light of 10 felony charges filed against the mayor, had included no travel outside of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. But Circuit Court Judge Leonard Townsend lifted those restrictions so Kilpatrick could go to the convention, which runs from Aug. 24-28.

Telling Ya


The Power of Kwame


Them Judges in his pocket

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Kilpatrick going to trial
Judge sees probable cause in alleged assault case
Mike Wilkinson / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's attorneys were unfazed by a judge's decision to send his assault case to circuit court, using a lengthy hearing Friday to poke and prod potential inconsistencies in witness testimony.

Judge Ronald Giles bound Kilpatrick over to Wayne County Circuit Court for trial after a five-hour preliminary examination, saying prosecutors showed probable cause that Kilpatrick had assaulted a Wayne County Sheriff's deputy and his partner as they tried to serve a subpoena.

The mayor's next court date on the assault charges is Aug. 22.

After the hearing Friday, the defense team said they had expected Giles to send the case to circuit court and elicited more testimony -- where the officers were, what was said prior to the alleged shove July 24 -- that conflicted with previous statements and testimony.

"They're so inconsistent that a (juror) would have to look at that and say is this cooked testimony or not," said James C. Thomas, one of the mayor's attorneys. Thomas also claimed the confrontation was staged by the officer and his partner.

"It was a setup, there's no question about it," Thomas said.

Special Assistant Attorney General Douglas Baker downplayed the differences in testimony between what the officers said Friday and during a July bond hearing.

"There's a normal amount of play in the facts, and I think it's highly credible the testimony of both witnesses in the case," he said.

Baker scoffed at the claim of a setup. "That's a wild statement and I think it's a sign of desperation of the defense. There was nothing set up. They were simply assaulted trying to serve a subpoena."

Kilpatrick faces two assault or obstruction charges related to the confrontation. The felony charges, which allege obstruction of police officers, carry a possible two-year prison term and a fine of up to $2,000.

'I just couldn't believe it'

During the hearing, Brian White, a Wayne County Sheriff's detective assigned to the county Prosecutor's Office, and JoAnn Kinney, a former Detroit Police officer working as an investigator for the county prosecutor, both testified that Kilpatrick shoved White, knocking him into Kinney during a confrontation.

"The defendant charged at me," White testified. "He grabbed me with both hands around my shoulders and he threw me."

White said Kilpatrick pushed him into Kinney, and his reaction was a state of shock and "complete disbelief."

"I could not believe that this just happened," White testified.

Nor could Kinney: "I was in shock. I just couldn't believe it."

But during the hearing, defense attorneys had each witness describe second-by-second details about the porch: Where were they? Which way did the mayor allegedly push White? How long were they there? And why, in the moments after the incident, was one of the investigators allegedly joking about it?

Kinney said she was to the left of White as he stood at the door; White said she was right behind him. They also differed on how the mayor allegedly touched White. Kinney said he grabbed White's right arm; White said the mayor "threw" him after grabbing hold of both arms.

The questions made it clear that the defense intends to challenge nearly every aspect of the testimony of White and Kinney, from the directions they were facing to how long it took them to drive from the scene back to their office. Whether the differences will amount to an acquittal will be left to jurors.

"You really cannot predict what is going to be the tipping point for a jury," said Gary Wilson, a former Wayne County prosecutor who is now in private practice. "That's always the difficult part going into a trial."But Wilson said jurors are forgiving when testimony differs in small ways, like where the officers were on the porch.

Perhaps the most direct conflict came when White insisted, under cross-examination by Thomas, that the man who answered the door at the home where the alleged assault occurred never identified himself as a relative of Bobby Ferguson, who is a friend of the mayor.

If Daniel Ferguson had done so, White testified, he would have given Ferguson his card and asked him to give it to Bobby Ferguson, and then he would have left the porch. White said Daniel Ferguson never got a chance to say what his connection was to Bobby Ferguson before a cursing Kilpatrick stormed to the front door and assaulted him.

But earlier Friday, Kinney testified that Daniel Ferguson did in fact tell them that "he was Bobby Ferguson's brother."

Ayanna Kilpatrick is married to Daniel Ferguson. He is a relative -- sometimes described as a brother and sometimes as a cousin -- of Bobby Ferguson, a close friend of the mayor who is a controversial figure because of his own brushes with the law and because his companies have received tens of millions of dollars in city contracts during Kilpatrick's tenure.

'Fondling' comment attacked

White came under withering attack from Thomas, who played recordings of conversations between him and a dispatcher in an attempt to say the incident didn't amount to an assault. On the tapes, White asks to change the "header" on an incident report from miscellaneous to "assault against a police officer."

White jokes about adding a charge of "fondling" against the mayor and later suggests "manhandled." He likened the incident to having your hands in your pockets and getting "sucker-punched."

But he also tells the sergeant on the other end of the conversation he wasn't serious about the fondling charge.

To Thomas, the brief exchange showed that White didn't believe an assault had occurred. Thomas also played another tape in which a dispatcher asks White if the incident would be "newsworthy." White gave an answer that was partly inaudible.

He denied a suggestion from Thomas that he said: "This is as good as it gets."

"When I was asked if this was newsworthy, I was very hesitant," White testified. "I just said, 'Well, yeah.' "

White said he made the fondling comment because he was under severe stress. "My way of alleviating stress is to make light of certain things and to make a joke," he said.

Thomas offered a different theory: "May I suggest the reason you were joking about it was because you were not feeling stress?"

White did not respond.

Tapes spark lively debate

The tapes sparked a spirited debate before the testimony, when Baker lashed out at Thomas for holding a press conference on Thursday at which he played the tape that included the "fondling" reference. He said the release violated ethics laws and would have a chilling effect on potential witnesses who would fear coming forward.

"Here's an example of what a witness can expect: to be pilloried in the press," Baker said.

Thomas defended his right to release the tape and suggested that he was being attacked for having a press conference.

Giles said he would review the matter.

During their cross examinations and after the hearing, Thomas and Parkman both asserted the visit to Ayanna Kilpatrick's home was part of a setup. They questioned why Kinney and White decided to stop at the home and openly suggested that they were there to harass the mayor.

"And he wasn't out there for the reason that he said he was," Thomas said.

"He's out there and it's for a reason that different than he projects."

Thomas, however, could not say when the "setup" began or explain who was behind it.

Baker dismissed Thomas' suggestion and said the case is about the mayor, his shove and the proof that he intended to interfere with White and Kinney.

"The defense is swinging wild when it tries to attack it," he said.

Some defense attorneys suggested talk of a setup may be part of a defense strategy to convince at least one juror that regardless of whether the mayor bumped White, he shouldn't be convicted, holding out for a hung jury.

In the end, Giles said there was enough evidence that probable cause had been shown that the elements of the crime had been met: That Kilpatrick knew White and Kinney were officers and that he intentionally interfered with them.

You can reach Mike Wilkinson at (313) 222-2563 or mwilkinson@detnews.com

Kwame gonna beat this!


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I don't care anymore


But Everyone should boycott him


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