Former Detroit mayor plans appeal as his defense lawyers resign

By Andrea Muhammad | Last updated: Jun 7, 2010 - 4:01:37 PM

Kwame Kilpatrick
Photo: Timothy 6X

DETROIT (FinalCall.com) - Sentenced to 18 months to five years in prison, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick lost two of his lawyers and a spokesman told the media an attorney to handle his appeal of the prison sentence would be appointed soon.

Days after the sentence imposed on his client for violating probation on obstruction of justice charges, Daniel Hajji announced May 27 that he would no longer serve on the Kilpatrick legal team. His departure came a day after media reports that lead attorney Michael Allan Schwartz was leaving to serve as general counsel to an international cable network.

“I wish Mr. Kilpatrick all the best,” Mr. Hajji said, according to United Press International. “It's just unfortunate that case ended the way it did.”

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner caught Mr. Kilpatrick's staunchest opponents by surprise with the stiff sentence May 25. A month earlier, Judge David Groner ruled in favor of prosecutors that Mr. Kilpatrick had violated terms of his probation agreement stemming from a 2008 guilty plea to perjury and obstruction of justice.

The case centered on two former Detroit police officers who filed a “whistle blower” lawsuit against the then-mayor for having been removed from his Executive Protection Unit. After city lawyers settled the case, the officers' attorney, Mike Stefani, went against a court order to hand over text messages instead giving them to reporters at the Detroit Free Press. The texts revealed an earlier affair between the former mayor and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, exposing that they lied, while under oath, to cover up the affair. Mr. Kilpatrick was given a five year maximum sentence with eligibility for parole after 120 days. Part of his plea agreement was to pay restitution to the city in the amount of $1 million in five years.

Since his parole, Mr. Kilpatrick joined his wife and sons in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Kilpatrick was hired by Detroit businessman Peter Karmanos as a consultant at Texas-based Covinsint.

As many Detroiters moved on in a post-Kilpatrick era, others had not. Prosecutors used footage obtained by television station WDIV Detroit to show Mr. Kilpatrick purportedly living a lavish life in Texas while saying he could not afford to make his monthly restitution payments.

In the tightly packed courtroom, prosecutor Janet Seranus argued, “It is the people's position, your honor, that the defendant should be sentenced to the Michigan Department of Corrections and that his probation should not be continued,” asking the court to impose a two to five year sentence.

Defense attorney Schwartz told the judge putting his client in prison “does no good for anyone” and implored the judge to “allow the city to get its restitution.”

“It's fine if you want to be vindictive but it's not fine if you want the city to get the restitution money which it desperately needs,” Atty. Schwartz added.

‘I still feel like a prisoner'

“Whatever I have did to cause and give rise to my probation violation, I sincerely apologize,” the embattled former mayor told the court. “This prosecutor continues to prosecute that guy, the guy in the text messages,” he said, adding, “that's not me anymore.”

“I never lied to this court. I never willfully violated anything from this court,” Mr. Kilpatrick continued. “In my own hometown, I still feel like a prisoner, the place that I love the most. … I'm a new guy and I know that it's a lot of people that don't want to accept and want to keep me frozen in time.”

As for the prosecutor's claim that he is trying to avoid paying restitution, Mr. Kilpatrick responded, “I just want to make it right with this community by doing the last thing that this community asked me to do and I pled to.”

“I'm asking not to be considered to be the caricature or the character or the thing, Kwame Kilpatrick, but a human being as a father and a husband and a member of the community that is doing everything that I possible can to pay this debt.”

Undeterred by his testimony, Judge Groner told Mr. Kilpatrick, “The terms of our earlier agreement no longer apply. Clearly rehabilitation has failed. You have not adjusted well under probation.”

A loud gasp overtook the courtroom when Judge Groner handed down the sentence in state prison.

The judge further ruled that, as a condition of parole, time served could not be applied toward a reduction in the remaining $860,000 restitution owed—meaning Mr. Kilpatrick will still be required to pay the full amount. Mr. Kilpatrick was then ordered handcuffed and remanded immediately to state prison.

Community reacts to sentencing

As the shock of the judge's sentence rippled thru the city, reaction drew both sharp criticism and praise. In an interview with Fox 2 News outside the courthouse, defense attorney Schwartz said, “They tried to destroy this man,” adding that Mr. Kilpatrick had grounds to appeal the sentence.

Later that day employer, Compuware, issued a statement stating, “Kwame Kilpatrick will be off the Compuware Corporation payroll at the end of the month. We don't have any choices. It's an unfortunate situation, and we feel bad for his family, but our hands are tied.”

“Kind of harsh. They (Compuware) immediately fired him. I was looking for something like maybe some jail time with the ability to go to work. They do that here a lot. But to terminate his means of making money and still demand that he pay, I don't know,” said Detroiter Ron Johnson.

Prosecution with no end in sight?

Throughout the hearings, Prosecutor Kym Worthy has kept a seemingly low profile in probably the highest profile case of her career. Immediately after the sentencing, Ms. Worthy issued a statement saying, “The former mayor was given an inch and he took a mile. Being on probation is a privilege; it is a chance to serve your sentence outside of bars. A strong message was sent today that if you take that opportunity lightly, or for granted and violate the terms of your probation – there are severe consequences.” She left the door open to her office's future involvement saying, “We will continue to seek restitution from this defendant.”

Another point giving rise to speculation is what role, if any, does Ms. Worthy's future political aspirations contribute in the prosecution of Kilpatrick?

“People who get elected to public office, who serve at the public's behalf, who have a certain constituency that they need to maintain their position or go higher, pander to the people that they think will keep them in power. I think that she [Worthy] has some further ambitions, I think that she may even run for governor one day,” said Rev. Horace Sheffield, of the Detroit Federation of Black Organizations.

While prosecutors maintain the case is centered on the city getting restitution its owed, Rev. Sheffield recommended a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) be filed to see how much money has been spent by the prosecutor's office relating to costs associated with Mr. Kilpatrick's restitution and probation.

He further recommended that a FOIA be filed seeking total restitution owed the city, how much has been paid and what is normally done when restitution is not paid. “We're entitled to know whether or not the mayor truthfully has been treated any differently than anybody else who stood before a judge down in that courtroom or who has had restitution to pay and didn't pay it,” he said.

Kilpatrick family reacts to sentence

In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) said, “My heart is heavy. I love my son. I will continue to pray for him and all those affected by this process.” Congresswoman Cheeks-Kilpatrick is currently running for an 8th term in the House.

A spokesperson for the Kilpatrick family, sister Ayanna Kilpatrick-Ferguson, provided a statement to The Final Call saying, “Kwame is loved and supported by his family. We remain diligent in giving the Glory to God. Of course this injustice saddens us. The message it sends to men in our community contradicts everything we'vebeen taught regarding humanity. He admitted his mistakes before His God, before his wife, before his children and family, and before the nation. This was not justice. To us, this was clearly an unfair sentence. Why? Because from day one, justice was not blind in this case. Thejudge in our opinion was biased, even having his brother-in-law working for the prosecutor. Does that seem fair? Our country was founded on a Constitution which gives us all equal protection under the law. The judge himself, from the bench, said he held Kwame to a much higher standard than all other citizens. That is unconstitutional. He is a Human Being. (He) is a Husband, A father and a Christian Man.” She closed with a question to the court and her brother's critics, “The Lord has forgiven him, Why can't you?”

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