Detroit Mayor Mess
A chronology of events in the text-messaging sex scandal involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick:
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Exotic dancer Tamara Greene, 27, is shot to death inside her car. She is rumored to have danced at the Manoogian Mansion party.
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Detroit Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown is fired by Kilpatrick for conducting unauthorized investigations.
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Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox clears Kilpatrick after a five-week investigation into the rumored Manoogian party, saying he has found no evidence of such a party. Michigan State Police investigators also say they have found no evidence of wrongdoing following claims of a cover-up.
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Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announces plans to conduct an independent review of Greene's death.
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A jury orders the city to pay $200,000 to former police Lt. Alvin Bowman. The jury rules that Bowman's transfer was in retaliation for his probe into the alleged Manoogian party and Greene's death.
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Kilpatrick Chief of Staff Christine Beatty testifies in a whistle-blowers' trial that she did not have a romantic or intimate relationship with the mayor in 2002 and 2003.
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Kilpatrick denies under oath that he had an extramarital affair with Beatty in 2002 and 2003.
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A jury awards $6.5 million to two former police officers in the lawsuit, capping the three-week trial. Kilpatrick vows to appeal.
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Michael Stefani, attorney for the officers, subpoenas SkyTel, the city's communications provider, for text messages transmitted on Beatty's city-issued paging device.
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Stefani gets the text messages.
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The city and the whistle-blowers reach a settlement worth $8.4 million. It includes a clause referring to the text messages.
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The Detroit Free Press files a Freedom of Information request to see the settlement.
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Kilpatrick rejects the terms proposed for the settlement from Oct. 17.
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Kilpatrick approves the terms and conditions of an agreement approved Oct. 23 by the City Council. One part is for the public to see — not mentioning the text messages — but the other remains confidential.
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The Free Press files a second FOIA. It and The Detroit News later file a lawsuit seeking documents.
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The Free Press posts stories on its Web site, citing text messages that allude to Kilpatrick and Beatty having a physical relationship in 2002 and 2003 and that they misled jurors about Brown's firing. It is unclear how the newspaper obtained the text messages.
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Worthy says she has opened an investigation into whether Kilpatrick and Beatty committed perjury during the whistle-blowers' trial. She says the independent investigation "will be fair, impartial and thorough."
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Beatty announced she was resigning amid the allegations raised the week before that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair. In a letter to Kilpatrick that was released by his office, Beatty said her resignation was effective Feb. 8.
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Kilpatrick delivers a televised public apology about the text-messaging sex scandal from his church with his wife, Carlita, at his side.
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Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo Jr. orders that documents detailing the confidential settlement agreement from the whistle-blowers' lawsuit be made public. The mayor's office later appeals that ruling.
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Kilpatrick gives a radio interview saying he believes he's "on an assignment from God" and vows not to resign as Detroit mayor. Beatty's resignation as chief of staff becomes official.
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The Michigan Court of Appeals agrees with Colombo's ruling.
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Kilpatrick's attorneys appeal the Court of Appeals ruling to the state Supreme Court.
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The Detroit City Council asks the state Supreme Court to refuse Kilpatrick's request to stop the release of the documents.
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The Michigan Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal. The documents are released.
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Kilpatrick gives his annual State of City address in which he singles out City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. for not sitting on the stage with him. Cockrel would become mayor if Kilpatrick leaves office. Kilpatrick also uses the N-word to describe threats he and his family have received and describes opposition and media coverage as a "lynch mob mentality."
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Cox calls on Kilpatrick to resign, accusing him of race-baiting during the State of the City address.
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Cox says his office will look into new claims concerning the rumored Manoogian Mansion party.
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The City Council votes 7-1 on a nonbinding resolution asking Kilpatrick to resign.
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Colombo rules some text messages that indicate a romantic relationship between Kilpatrick and Beatty may be made public.
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Worthy authorizes a 12-count criminal information against Kilpatrick and Beatty on charges including perjury and obstruction of justice.
Photos: Sex & Politics
Who's Who: Political Scandals
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Kilpatrick tells an audience at Fellowship Chapel
Church in Detroit: "I'm not being whupped by the devil, I am being punished by my God. I know that my disobedience put me in the situation I am in."
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The Detroit City Council votes 5-4 to begin forfeiture
of office proceedings against Kilpatrick. On a separate 5-4 vote, the council approves asking Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove Kilpatrick from office. A third vote - a nonbinding measure to censure the mayor - passes 7-2.
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36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles declines to
release a number of previously unreleased text messages, saying they could be subject to a privilege challenge by defense lawyers or would be inadmissible in a preliminary examination.
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A judge rules that two Free Press reporters do not have to reveal to defense lawyers how they obtained sexually explicit text messages published by the newspaper in January.
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Worthy modifies two charges against the mayor to add
that Kilpatrick sent and received text messages with "intimate or romantic content" with women other than his wife or Beatty.
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Two investigators say Kilpatrick berated and attacked them as they tried to serve a subpoena to a Kilpatrick friend. State police investigate to see if assault charges should be filed.
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Giles chastises Kilpatrick for the incident with the investigators and orders the mayor to pay $7,500 and undergo random drug testing.
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Granholm says she personally will preside over the
state's removal hearing, scheduled for Sept. 3.
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Giles orders Kilpatrick to jail for violating the terms
of his bond by traveling to Windsor, Ontario, without notifying prosecutors or the court.
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Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Jackson orders
Kilpatrick released from jail but sets a $50,000 cash bond and orders a ban on all travel and for the mayor to wear an electronic tether. The same day, state Attorney General Mike Cox charges the mayor with two felony assault counts relating to the July 24 incident.
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Cox's office files a motion saying Kilpatrick violated
his bond in the assault case by having contact Aug. 9 with his sister, who is a witness in the assault case brought. A hearing was expected.
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Giles rules Kilpatrick didn't violate bond conditions
in the assault case by visiting with his sister.
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Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Kilpatrick
and Beatty at their Circuit Court arraignment on perjury charges. Judge Leonard Townsend rules Kilpatrick will no longer have to wear a tether and may travel to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but Giles later signs an order requiring Kilpatrick to keep wearing a tether. Granholm's legal team said she has no authority
to pardon Kilpatrick because he hasn't been convicted of a crime.
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Following a preliminary hearing, Giles ruled there is
enough evidence for Kilpatrick to stand trial on assault charges, and set Aug. 22 as the date for Kilpatrick's arraignment in Circuit Court.
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Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Ziolkowski
rules the Detroit City Council cannot hold hearings to remove Kilpatrick from office.
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A not-guilty plea is entered on Kilpatrick's behalf to
the assault charges at his arraignment in Wayne County Circuit Court. The mayor rejects a plea deal that would drop one of the two assault charges in exchange for his resignation.
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Granholm decides to go forward with Kilpatrick's removal hearing, set for Sept. 3 in Detroit.
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Kilpatrick sues Granholm to stop the removal hearing.
The mayor's legal team claims the governor is biased against him and the rules for the hearing are unfair.
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Ziolkowski hears arguments in the lawsuit to stop the
governor's removal hearing and says he will make a decision on Sept. 2.
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Ziolkowski refuses to block the removal hearing, and a
three-judge state appeals court panel agrees in a ruling later in the day. Separately, Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner loosens Kilpatrick's bond restrictions, saying he can remove an electronic tether. Travel remains restricted.
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Granholm opens removal hearing. The mayor doesn't attend.
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Kilpatrick pleads guilty to a pair of felony obstruction charges and will step down after months of defiantly holding onto his job. As part of the deal, the 38-year-old Democrat is to serve four months in jail and five years of probation. He also would pay $1 million in restitution over the five-year probationary period. Beatty did not plead guilty.
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Kilpatrick was sent to jail for four months for his part in a sex-and-text scandal. Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner chastised the disgraced ex-mayor for arrogance and disregard for the rule of law, and ruled that Kilpatrick not be given an opportunity for early release.
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Credits:
CBS/AP
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