02/05/08

Documents related to Detroit settlement must be made public, county judge rules

By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- Documents related to a whistle-blower lawsuit that led to a text-messaging sex scandal involving the mayor must be released to the public, a judge ruled Tuesday.

The city said it would appeal the ruling by Friday, the deadline set by Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr.

The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News are suing the city to determine whether there was a secret settlement in the whistle-blower lawsuit, in which a jury ruled against the city. The case eventually cost the city more than $8.5 million.

Colombo on Tuesday indicated that indeed there was a secret settlement, pointing to certain documents that he said wouldn't have been negotiated if there hadn't been a settlement.

"The public should be very happy with what happened today," Detroit News attorney James Stewart said after Tuesday's hearing. "This information is going to come out. I think the notion the public hasn't found this out before will dismay people."

"They're all smoking guns," Free Press attorney Herschel Fink said of the documents.

The whistle-blower lawsuit was filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

After a jury awarded damages to the officers in September, Kilpatrick promised to appeal but never did. A month later, the city made the multimillion-dollar payout.

The mayor's top legal adviser, Sharon McPhail, said Colombo's order went too far.

"The documents in question were never introduced into evidence during the lawsuit or trial, were never part of the evidence the jury considered during the trial and many of the documents have never been in the city's possession," McPhail said in a statement.

Colombo stayed his order to release the documents pending the outcome of the city's appeal.

In a related action, the City Council voted Tuesday to authorize an audit of Kilpatrick's office and agencies including the law department, which handled the city's defense of the whistle-blower lawsuit.

"We're basically looking at legal expenses, settlement judgments, as well as other financial transactions, so it's wide-ranging," said Councilman Kwame Kenyatta.

During testimony in the trial, Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, denied having an affair during 2002-03 and conspiring to have one of the officers fired.

However, the Free Press two weeks ago published sexually explicit text messages between the pair in 2002 and 2003 that appear to contradict what they said on the stand.

Kilpatrick wrote Beatty in 2002: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

Beatty announced her resignation Jan. 28. Two days later, Kilpatrick made a televised speech apologizing to family and constituents but avoiding direct mention of the allegations. His wife, Carlita, sat by his side.

A prosecutor is investigating whether Kilpatrick and Beatty committed perjury during the whistle-blower suit.
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Associated Press writer Jim Irwin contributed to this report.