Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to Be Charged With 12 Felonies

March 24, 2008

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“Everybody quiet,” shouted Robert Coates, a customer. When Worthy announced perjury and other felony charges against Kilpatrick and Beatty, cheers erupted in the diner packed with 35 people on Jefferson. The charges carry penalties upon conviction of up to 15 years in prison. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Monday that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and former chief of staff Christine Beatty will face charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office and conspiracy. The announcement follows an eight-week investigation that was prompted by a Jan. 23-24 Free Press story that revealed the existence of text messages showing that the mayor and his then-Chief of Staff Christine Beatty lied at last year’s police whistle-blower trial when they denied having an extramarital affair.

Edward Baxter, 47, of Detroit toasted a full cup of water with several other patrons.”He’s got to go,” Baxter shouted.

“It’s about time,” he said. “This scandal has gone on long enough. I’m disappointed that the mayor let me down, but he has to go. He put it on himself.”

Donna Murray, 52, of Detroit said she is completely impressed with Worthy. “She’s excellent. She broke everything down in layman’s terms,” she said. “I think she’s being fair.”

The messages also showed that they provided misleading testimony about firing former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003 after he and former mayoral bodyguard Harold Nelthrope began asking questions about a rumored wild party at the mayoral Manoogian mantion and alleged misconduct involving the mayor’s security team questions that threatened to expose the sexual affair. Despite the false testimony, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury last September awarded Brown and Nelthrope $6.5 million in damages. Kilpatrick vowed to appeal, but on Oct. 17, abruptly decided to settle the case and a second police whistle-blower suit involving former mayoral bodyguard Walt Harris for $8.4 million $9 million with legal costs.

Although Kilpatrick’s lawyers settled the suit with one agreement on Oct. 17, they decided to split it into public and private settlements after the Free Press requested a copy.

The public agreement showed how much the former cops would be paid. The secret agreement, signed by Kilpatrick and Beatty, swore Brown, Nelthrope and Stefani to secrecy about the text messages under threat of forfeiting their settlement proceeds and legal fees.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. released the secret agreement last month after the Kilpatrick administration repeatedly denied its existence. Colombo released the agreement and other secret settlement records after the administration appealed unsuccessfully to the Michigan Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court, which rejected Kilpatrick’s claim that the documents weren’t public documents.

The City Council, which was kept in the dark about Kilpatrick’s reasons for settling the lawsuit and never saw the confidential side agreement, voted 7-1 last week to pass an advisory resolution calling for the mayor to resign. It also ordered an investigation of the episode and directed its auditor general to look into spending by the mayor’s office and the city Law Department.

Kilpatrick went on television with his wife in late January and apologized for his conduct, he insists there was no cover-up and has blamed the news media for most of his problems. He accused the Free Press of illegally obtaining the text messages which the newspaper denies and accusing the media of conducting a public lynching. He said the text messages and the settlement agreement that concealed them should never have been made public.

He also said the text messages were private even though he signed a policy directive in June 2000 advising city employees that all electronic communications should be considered public.

So far, Kilpatrick has refused to step down, saying he is on a divinely-inspired mission to help rebuild the city. But conviction of a felony would force him to resign.

Besides possible criminal charges, the text messaging scandal and how city-paid lawyers responded to it could result in professional misconduct charges from the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.

If Kilpatrick or Beatty is charged with crimes, defense lawyers are expected to attack the authenticity of the text messages, demanding that prosecutors prove Kilpatrick and Beatty sent them and that they had an affair.