Judge to Kwame Kilpatrick: 'Pay or Go to Jail.' Finds Former Mayor's Behavior 'Reprehensible'

A Wayne county judge orders former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to pay more than $300,000 in 90 days or face punishment.

Former Attorney for Detroit's Former Mayor Says He was Betrayed by Kilpatrick

Taken from Redding News Review

The former head of Detroit's legal department testified today that he is angry about not being informed of a secret portion of the controversial $8.4 million lawsuit settlement that was designed to hush up Kwame Kilpatrick's infamous text messages.

John E. Johnson, former Detroit Corporation Counsel, told an Attorney Discipline Board that is considering professional misconduct charges against him that the city's current Deputy Corporation Counsel Valerie Colbert-Osamuede never filled him in.

And, he said, former Mayor Kilpatrick threw his lawyers "under the bus."

"I did feel he (Kilpatrick) didn't care about anyone but himself," Johnson testified. "Then, he blamed it on the lawyers. I said, 'You're the one who lied.'  "

Johnson is the fourth of five lawyers involved in the text message settlement negotiations to face a panel of Attorney Discipline Board judges. His hearing is set to continue Friday and possibly next week.

The messages revealed Kilpatrick and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty lied to cover up their extramarital affair while testifying in a 2007 whistle-blower lawsuit against the city by police officers. Jurors found in favor of the cops who had claimed they were punished for looking into the activities of the mayor's police bodyguards, including rumors of a party at the Manoogian mansion.

The messages were obtained from the city's text pager service provider after the trial and were used by the police officer's lawyer, Michael Stefani, to compel the city to settle the case after Kilpatrick had vowed to appeal the jury's verdict. The deal contained secret agreements that were supposed to have locked the messages away, but they were instead leaked by Stefani.

Their publication in January of 2008 launched an investigation by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy that resulted in Kilpatrick and Beatty pleading guilty to multiple felony charges to avoid going to trial. Both served time in the Wayne County Jail.

Johnson said he was told Stefani had obtained the text messages and Johnson agreed settlement as the wisest course of action. The city's lawyers had urged Kilpatrick to settle quickly because they had concluded there appeared to be little chance of overturning the jury's verdict in favor of the officers.

Colbert-Osamuede had testified in a previous hearing that it was Kilpatrick's political advisors who concluded he needed to take a stand against the jury's verdict. Johnson reasoned the $8.4 million settlement was a bargain, perhaps saving the city $2.5 million in accumulating interest and continuing legal fees.

"I told Val, 'We are going to be heroes for getting rid of a matter everyone wanted to put behind us,' " Johnson testified.

He said he never saw the content of the messages and was therefore unaware they contained evidence that Kilpatrick and Beatty had lied under oath.

Johnson and four other lawyers were found to have committed professional wrongdoing by the Attorney Grievance Commission, and now face possible punishments ranging from reprimand to disbarment if the findings are confirmed by the discipline board.

The commission determined the messages should have been reported to Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Callahan, who oversaw the lawsuit trial. The fact that the messages showed Kilpatrick and Beatty committed criminal perjury in Callahan's court also should have been reported.

Separate discipline boards already have heard testimony in hearings for three of the four other lawyers. Decisions have yet to be announced on Stefani, Samuel McCargo, a private practice lawyer hired by the city to represent Kilpatrick, and Wilson Copeland, another private practice attorney hired to help the city with the case.

A hearing for the fifth lawyer, Colbert-Osamuede, has yet to be scheduled.

Guys..before you text your side-chick read this!! Nytimes: Text Messages: Digital Lipstick on the Collar

There is a question that has crossed the mind recently of anyone who has sent a cellphone text message while cheating on a spouse: What was I thinking? Text messages are the new lipstick on the collar, the mislaid credit card bill. Instantaneous and seemingly casual, they can be confirmation of a clandestine affair, a record of the not-so-discreet who sometimes forget that everything digital leaves a footprint. read more

SEE BELOW THE STEAMY TEXT MESSAGES THAT GOT FORMER MAYOR OF DETROIT, KWAME KILTPATRICK, THROWN OUT OF OFFICE

9/12/02, 10:38 p.m., during trip to Washington, D.C.
Christine Beatty: Can I just come and lay down in your room until you get back?
Kwame Kilpatrick: Yes.
9/13/02, 9:02 a.m. (the next morning)
KK: They were right outside the door. They [the mayor's bodyguards] had to have heard everything...
CB: So we are officially busted! LOL
KK: LOL LOL! Damn that. Never busted. Busted is what you see! LOL. ...
CB: LOL, LOL. Damn, so they have to walk in before you conceed busted! LOL.
KK: Hell yeah. Walk in.
9/15/02, 3:38 a.m. (still in Washington)
CB: I'm on my way to your room now. But by the time you get there I'll be sleep and it will be 5am!
KK: I got something for you.
CB: LOL. Is that so? I'm in your room. Don't let Mike check it [an apparent reference to Mike Martin, a bodyguard who often traveled with the mayor]. Are you in route or still hanging? What do you have for me?
9/24/2002, 6:56 p.m.
CB: This is one of those little things I had to tell you. Last night when I was laying on your shoulder in the car and you held my face and sang whatever song it was, that felt so good. It was just one of those little moments when you just made me fall some more.
9/28/2002, 11:53 p.m.
CB: Where are you now?
KK: At home waiting for all EP [executive protection unit officers] to leave. Where are you?
CB: At the residence inn in Madison hgts.
KK: What rm?
CB: ...I'm in room 311 in bldg 3 in the back.
10/7/2002, 11:20 p.m.
CB: OK, I'm feeling like I want another night like the most recent Saturday at the Residence Inn! You made me feel so damn good that night. As you can see I can't let it go! ...
KK: I feel that we can do that in WV [West Virginia] + just relax together. I need you soooo bad. I want to wake up in the morning and you are there. Make it happen. Love ya.
10/8/2002, 10:18 a.m.
KK: I'm fine. Need a break. I want to get out of town w/you. Check on resorts outside of Houston.
10/16/02, 11:48 p.m.
KK: I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days...relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love.
10/31/2002, 5:28 p.m.
KK: I'll feel better once I'm holding you.
CB: You didn't say whether or not we are trying for some time tonight.
KK: Definitely. I'm getting a room. Damn that!
CB: LOL. Okie dokie.
(Kilpatrick later tells her to pick up room key at Marriott)
11/1/2002, 12:28 a.m.
KK: 6301 or 6302?
CB: Definitely 6302! 6301 has two double beds.
4/8/2003, 8:55 p.m.
KK: I'm at Laker game. The security doesn't believe I'm mayor. Mike is pulling out all kind of shirt to prove it.
CB: And, did you miss me, sexually?
KK: Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. Don't sleep!
5/5/2003, midnight
KK: That's the first time that I couldn't fully seduce you. My game is off. LOL! Thanx for the conversation and the QT! Love you!
CB: LOL! Your game is way on baby! "you had me at hello!" Jerry McGuire 2000. LOL. I just didn't want to get caught.
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Kilpatrick Defends Self, Says He Still Loves Christine Beatty

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is due back in court today, says he still loves Christine Beatty and is stronger for what he considers ongoing persecution from those disappointed he wasn't destroyed by the scandal and criminal charges that drove him from office last year.

"I have talked to her since all of this stuff happened," Kilpatrick told The Final Call, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, according to a video excerpt of the interview posted online Monday.

"I tried to make sure that she understands that I still care about her very deeply. A lot of times when women get caught in a situation like that, they get perceived as a whore. I think that is so unfair. It takes two to tango. She is a very good person. ... We made some bad decisions and we are living with the consequences of those decisions, but I respect her tremendously and love her."

Kilpatrick used a similar line during a civil trial two years ago to deny an affair with Beatty, his former chief of staff. That lie -- and mistruths about firing police officers -- led to an $8.4 million settlement that jailed both Kilpatrick and Beatty.

Kilpatrick is set to be back in Detroit today to continue a probation hearing. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy contends Kilpatrick deliberately hid his wealth to avoid making $6,000 per month payments toward $1 million restitution he agreed to pay when he took a plea deal that included jail time and his resignation.

On Oct. 29, Kilpatrick testified he has little knowledge of his finances because he has turned them over to his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick. The prosecution contends more than $1 million flowed through family accounts last year, while Kilpatrick claimed he had only $6 a month left for restitution payments after expenses for living in Southlake, Texas. He said Carlita Kilpatrick leased a Cadillac Escalade and $1 million home in the town described as the most affluent community in America.

A prosecutor expressed surprise when Kilpatrick said he didn't even know if his wife has a job.

His lawyer, Michael Alan Schwartz, later explained Kilpatrick remains "in the dog house" with his wife and is in a delicate position when it comes to demanding answers about how the family should run.

The prosecutor could call Carlita Kilpatrick as a witness because rules for a probation violation hearing are different than at trials, but that's unlikely, said Cooley Law School Professor Curt Benson.

"His tactic now is to deny any knowledge," said Benson. "He doesn't have a shred of credibility anymore, but that doesn't matter. After the prosecution asks him some more questions, they will go about the less exciting task of showing where the money came from and where it went. The reality is Kwame Kilpatrick is now a sideshow. This is now about collecting the money and the reality will be found buried in the bank records and transactions."

But Kilpatrick told Ashahed Muhammad, assistant editor of The Final Call newspaper, that racism and the media are to blame for his troubles. Kilpatrick said no one disputed his accomplishments, but antipathy toward his style formed a "theater of hatred" against him.

"I don't think there's been any mayor scrutinized like I was every day. Day in, day out. It was tough. It was tough to do the job under that kind of scrutiny," Kilpatrick said. "Then afterwards, there's definitely a campaign -- an overt campaign -- they were against me. Now it's turned into something else. He didn't die. He wasn't destroyed. We did everything we possibly could and he's still standing, he's still married, he's still happy, he's still blessed and that has been a real issue for a lot of people."

The interview was recorded two weeks ago in Chicago. Kilpatrick told authorities he planned to travel there to make a sales presentation for his employer, Covisint, a division of Compuware.

During the interview, Kilpatrick said Detroit "is a very racially separated city" and has never healed from the race riots of the 1960s. He said that while he was mayor, he and his family received death threats.

"I was never fearful or scared of that at all," Kilpatrick said. "I knew that God had me. ... We continued to march."

He spoke about rebuilding hope in a city that had been the butt of jokes before he was mayor. He took credit for new parks, recreation centers, and investments in new buildings and businesses.

"We restored hope in the city of Detroit, that we could be something better than this degraded, deteriorating city. That we can have new stuff, new opportunities, new businesses, new events."

Kilpatrick also slammed the politics of the city.

"The commentators are running the town," Kilpatrick said. "They can never understand or even have that kind of responsibility to do anything in a meaningful or positive way. It's bad. I'm not the mayor. I've been gone a year. They come to Texas, film my house, illegally subpoena my bank records and my wife. They film my kids' school. They film my kids at football games. They've done some tremendous things. They've conspired, they've consorted -- it's well known -- to gain information they didn't have access."

Kilpatrick's bank documents PDF

PDF: Letter from Matty Maroun to Carlita Kilpatrick

Kilpatrick testifies in court today

Kilpatrick/Beatty Text Messages

Who Killed Tamara Greene? UPDATED 11/17/2009

Victim of a Senseless Drive-By or Something Much Worse?

3:40 a.m. April 30, 2003, on Roselawn near Outer Drive, Tamara Greene, age 27 became Detroit murder victim No. 113. Initially it appeared that the young woman was just another victim of a cowardly crimminal act, but when her name went public, this tragedy quickly turned into a politically charged soap opera.

It was reported that she danced at a party thrown at the mayor's mansion when Kilpatrick was still in office, was assaulted by the Mayor's wife when she walked in and caught Greene in her home and was later executed because she knew too much. Some say the former Mayor was involved and that there may be text messages to prove it. With all of the contradictions and twists involved with this sad mystery, no one knows what to believe. Judge for yourself: Full Story Here

Ex-Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick Released From Jail

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer

Kwame Kilpatrick regained his freedom early Tuesday morning, emerging from jail after a 99-day sentence and stepping back onto the streets of the city he once ruled as mayor.

The 38-year-old Kilpatrick, about 25 pounds lighter than when he entered jail at the end of October, left the downtown Detroit facility wearing a dark suit just after 12:30 a.m. On the sidewalk, Kilpatrick stood for a long moment amid bright television camera lights, a crush of awaiting reporters and swirling snowflakes, smiling occasionally to those in the crowd who called his name and shouted: "We love you, Kwame! Detroit loves you, baby!"

Kilpatrick was rushed to a waiting blue Chevrolet Suburban, as the Democrat waved from behind tinted windows as he was whisked away as part of a multi-vehicle caravan. Kilpatrick made no statements to the media during his release, upon the orders of new defense attorney Willie E. Gary, according to the AP. "He's not bitter. He said he learned a lot," Gary said during an impromptu sidewalk news conference.

"He said this has been an experience he'll never forget, and he thinks because of it he'll be a better person." It's been more than a year since a text-messaging sex scandal started the long process that ended in Kilpatrick's arrest, plea, jailing and release.

Now, the man who quickly rose from a state representative to mayor of a city of 900,000 people simply is looking for work. Kilpatrick was expected to meet with state probation officials before heading to a job interview Wednesday with an unnamed company at an undisclosed location in Texas. His wife, Carlita, and three young sons, already have left Michigan.

A judge has ordered that he return by Feb. 9. "The job prospect is very, very, very favorable," Gary told reporters. "We want to make sure he can get, and land, the job. That's his first thing. He wants a job. That's what he is concerned about now.

He wants to get with his family, get with his kids so he can start his life again." The next five years, though, will be spent on probation and paying off the bulk of $1 million in restitution to the city. He also has had his law license revoked. If Kilpatrick lands the job in Texas, he must first get permission to transfer his probation from Michigan to that state, as reported.