For Detroit, Kilpatrick’s Resignation Closes a Chapter, But the Story May Not End There

By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s resignation may close the door on his sex-and-text messaging scandal, but where the city goes from here is anyone’s guess.

After pleading guilty to two felonies and no-contest to a criminal charge on Thursday morning, Kilpatrick addressed Detroiters publicly in the evening in televised remarks, appearing at times both contrite and somewhat embittered by the efforts that drove him from office.

“I want to emphasize tonight that I take full responsibility for my actions ... our challenge now is to put the anguish and the turmoil of recent months behind us,” Kilpatrick said to a packed City Council chamber.

Kilpatrick accepted a plea deal, announced in Wayne County Circuit Court on Thursday, in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice. He must serve four months in jail and five years of probation. His resignation will take effect Sept. 18.

For Detroit, Kilpatrick’s Resignation Closes a Chapter, But the Story May Not End There....

Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Resign

By SUSAN SAULNY

DETROIT — Kwame M. Kilpatrick, the charismatic mayor of Detroit who has been embroiled in legal problems stemming from a sex scandal since the beginning of the year, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to resign Thursday morning as part of a deal with prosecutors.

He agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice and to plead no contest to a felony count of assault on a police officer; to pay restitution to the city of $1 million; to surrender his law license, forfeit his state pension and be barred from elective office for five years; and to serve 120 days in the Wayne County jail, followed by five years’ probation. The other charges were dismissed, and the judge scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for Oct. 28.

Mr. Kilpatrick “understands fully the agreement and agrees to be bound by it, judge,” a lawyer for Mr. Kilpatrick, Gerald Evelyn, told Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David A. Groner.

Judge Groner asked Mr. Kilpatrick, “Is this something you are ready to do today?” He added, “Do you have any questions?”

“I have no questions about what’s going on today,” Mr. Kilpatrick responded. Later, referring to his guilty plea, he said, “I lied under oath.”

Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Resign....

Judge rules Detroit mayor didn't violate bond

DETROIT (AP) — A judge has ruled that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick didn't violate bond conditions in an assault case by visiting his sister, who is a potential witness for the prosecution.

Judge Ronald Giles agreed Tuesday with the mayor's attorneys that a no-contact order didn't include Ayanna Kilpatrick. The mayor spent time with his sister during the weekend.

Last week, Giles had sent the mayor to jail last week in a separate perjury case.

Giles had put the mayor in jail Thursday after learning he traveled to Windsor, Ontario, in July without notifying authorities, a condition of his bond in the perjury case. Kilpatrick was released Friday.

Judge rules Detroit mayor didn't violate bond....

Indicted Detroit mayor jailed for violating bond

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's mayor was ordered jailed on Thursday for violating travel restrictions imposed on him while he awaits trial on perjury and official misconduct charges.

Kwame Kilpatrick, once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, traveled to neighboring Windsor, Canada, in July without informing authorities. It was a condition of his $75,000 bond while he awaits trial on charges stemming from a sex scandal and his handling of a whistle-blower lawsuit.

Lawyers for Kilpatrick were appealing the ruling by Michigan District Court Judge Ronald Giles. They could not be reached immediately for comment.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas Jackson was expected to hear the appeal on Friday morning, meaning that Kilpatrick was likely to spend at least one night in the Wayne County jail.

Indicted Detroit mayor jailed for violating bond....

Commentary: Enough Already, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick – It’s Time to Do the Right Thing and Resign

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Kwame Kilpatrick, resign already.

Many Detroiters probably don’t care that you had an affair with your chief of staff, Christine Beatty -- the torrid details of which you revealed in text messages on city-owned pagers. They probably don’t condone it, but they understand that it should be a personal matter for you and your wife to work through.

Some of your defenders have tried to liken your situation to that of former President Bill Clinton in the hopes it will help you save your job. More than a decade ago, Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

COMMENTARY....

More Kilpatrick Text Messages Revealed

By: Corey Williams, Associated Press

DETROIT - (AP) A series of often explicit text messages from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's former chief of staff appear to show she had a long-term romantic relationship with the mayor and that he played a role in the firing of a police officer who sued the city.

The embarrassing messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty from 2002 and 2003 appear in an 18-page document released Tuesday on the orders of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. in response to a lawsuit by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.

The document was obtained from the computer of Michael Stefani, an attorney who represented three police officers in whistle-blowers' lawsuits against the city that were settled last year for $8.4 million. The text messages were taken from Beatty's city-issued pagers.

The messages could prove damaging to Kilpatrick and Beatty, who are accused of lying under oath in one of the lawsuits by denying they had an intimate relationship. They are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. Both have denied wrongdoing.

The Free Press published some of the text messages in January. Wayne County prosecutors began the perjury investigation after those excerpts were released.

The document released Tuesday includes descriptions of sexual trysts, the frequent use of the N-word by the mayor and Beatty as a term of endearment, and discussions of marriage.

On Sept. 15, 2002, Beatty described a sex act she wanted to perform on the mayor but said she didn't know how to approach him about it. He replied: "Next time, just tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing!"

Later that month, the pair appeared to arrange a sexual encounter in Beatty's office. On Sept. 19, 2002, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "I have wanted to hold you so badly all day, but I was trying to stay focused on work. So, I promise, not to keep you longer than 15 minutes."

Kilpatrick replied: "Don't promise (N-word.)"

Beatty said: "I'm in my office. Do you want me to come to yours or you coming to mine?"

Kilpatrick said: "I'm coming down there ... LOL ditto. Freaky Chris!"

The text messages also appear to show Kilpatrick was involved in the decision to fire one of the former officers, former Deputy Chief Gary Brown, which Kilpatrick also denied under oath as part of the lawsuit.

In a text message Beatty sent to Kilpatrick on May 15, 2003, that was contained in the document released Tuesday, she said: "I'm sorry that we are going through this mess because of a decision that we made to fire Gary Brown."

Kilpatrick said last September that the city would appeal a jury's verdict in favor of two officers in one of the lawsuits. But after Stefani gave one of Kilpatrick's lawyers a motion for attorney's fees that contained excerpts of the text messages, the suit was settled and the motion was never filed in court.

The judge said Tuesday he agreed to release the document because he believes it directly led to the deal that was reached between the three former officers and the city.

Following a community forum Tuesday evening, Kilpatrick questioned the authenticity of the messages and said their release did not provide a "the smoking gun" some had expected.

"All the lawyers have testified that this had nothing to do with the settlement." Kilpatrick said.

"It seems that it's just a regurgitation of old news. And it's unfortunate that now we're printing something as true that came off somebody's computer," he said.

Mayer Morganroth, who represents Beatty, said he believes the text messages were obtained illegally and the excerpts should not have been released.

Most of the text messages included in the document focus on the relationship between Kilpatrick and Beatty, both 37, who have been friends since high school.

On April 8, 2003, Beatty wrote: "You told me that you would be my boyfriend everyday until I was your wife. Are you renigging?"

Kilpatrick replied: "Hell no! Don't start none. Won't be none ...! LOL".

Kilpatrick remains married to his wife, Carlita. Beatty left her husband at the end of April 2003, according to the document.

On April 13, 2003, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "It is sometimes so amazing how much I love you. I can't even describe most of the time how I feel inside when I think about you. You are an amazing man. Everything about you makes me love you. Your passion about life, your sense of humor, your presence, and your love of family."

On May 1, 2003, Beatty referred to her separation from her husband: "I can't see living this way with us being a 'secret' forever. I love you so much and I want to tell somebody, someday! (Smile)."

Kilpatrick responded: "In this important and somewhat confusing time in your life, please know with all our hearts and soul that I love you. And you will never, never be alone."

KWAME KILPATRICK SLAMMED FOR USING N-WORD: Detroit Mayor viewed as hypocrite in the wake of last summer's symbolic burial.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is being called a hypocrite after using the N-word while speaking to reporters about his treatment since sexually-explicit text messages he sent to his former aide came to light.


"In the past 30 days, I've been called a nigger more than anytime in my entire life," said Kilpatrick, 37. "In the past three days, I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration."


Kilpatrick's use of the slur drew a sharp response from state Attorney General Mike Cox, who called it "race-baiting on par with David Duke and George Wallace" on Wednesday and said the mayor should step down for the good of the city and region, reports the Associated Press.


"What he said cannot be unsaid, and he is not fit to be mayor anymore," Cox, who is white, said in an interview on WJR-AM. "He's a very talented guy, but he has overstayed his day. He should resign, he should quit, whether he's charged or not."


Kilpatrick faces possible perjury charges from testimony during a whistle-blowers' trial and criticism over the text messages he sent to his former top aide, Christine Beatty. In a trial over a lawsuit against the city brought by two police officers who said they were wrongly fired, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied under oath that they had been romantically involved.


Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning said of the mayor's use of the N-word: "He was explaining to the citizens of Detroit the situation he and his family have been put in by some very vile individuals who have decided they will thrust upon he and his family some very threatening forms of communications."

Some black leaders criticized Kilpatrick, saying he chose the wrong forum and wrong language for his outburst.

"It most especially was not a place to use the same word that, supposedly, we buried last summer," said the Rev. Edgar Vann, pastor of Second Ebenezer Baptist Church in Detroit. "You can make references to it without using it."

But others said the context in which the mayor used the word should be considered.

"He was trying to make a point. He wasn't using it in the typical vernacular," said Richard J. McIntire, the national spokesman for the NAACP.

At a gathering in Detroit last July to symbolically bury the N-word, Kilpatrick stood before hundreds of people and proclaimed: "Die, N-word, and we don't want to see you 'round here no more."