Detroit Mayor Pleads Not Guilty

Kwame Kilpatrick Under Pressure To Resign After Perjury Charges For Alleged Affair

(CBS/AP)  Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick began his journey through the legal process on Tuesday, offering a not guilty plea during a brief arraignment hearing in a downtown courtroom.

The mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty appeared for separate hearings, neither of which lasted more than 10 minutes.

Not guilty pleas were entered on charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office in a scandal that is threatening to prematurely end Kilpatrick's second term.

Both were released on personal bonds, but would have to pay $75,000 if they break them.

District Court Magistrate Steve Lockhart set June 9 as the date for their preliminary examinations.

When asked by one of his defense attorneys if he would agree to waive the 14-day rule for holding a preliminary exam, Kilpatrick shrugged his shoulders and said "Sure." It was the only word he or Beatty uttered in the courtroom.

Beatty kept her eyes focused down for much of her six-minute appearance, turning quickly at its conclusion to grab a bag and rush out of the room.

Six years after being sworn into office with hopes of revitalizing his troubled city, Kilpatrick is under increasing pressure to resign now that he's been booked on charges of lying about steamy text messages with his former chief of staff.

Both were accused of multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in a scandal that is threatening to prematurely end Kilpatrick's second term as mayor of Detroit, a city of 900,000 with deeply entrenched poverty made worse by the downturn in the auto industry.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charges after an investigation began in late January after the Detroit Free Press published excerpts from 14,000 text messages that were sent or received in 2002-03 from Beatty's city-issued pager.

The messages called into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave last August in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who said they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty strongly denied having an intimate relationship. But the text messages revealed a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit, dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.

Kilpatrick, 37, is married with three children. Beatty, also 37, was married at the time and has two children.

The city eventually agreed to pay $8.4 million to the two officers and a third former officer. Some of the charges brought against the mayor accuse him of agreeing to the settlement in an effort to keep the text messages from becoming public.

"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.

"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"

On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

All of the charges against the mayor are felonies. Under the city charter, a felony conviction would mean the mayor's immediate expulsion.

Worthy said her investigation was about violations of the public trust, and not "focused on lying about sex."

"I want to point out how important truthful witnesses are in the criminal justice system, how important it is not to breach the public trust and how important it is not to ruin people's lives who are simply doing their jobs," Worthy told the CBS News' The Early Show. "I wanted to point out how important it is not to mock the justice system."

"This investigation is about whether public dollars were used unlawfully, and more," she said.

Kilpatrick said Worthy's actions were disappointing, but not unexpected.

"This has been a very flawed process from the very beginning," he said. "However, at the same time, I recognize that this is merely a first step in a process that I believe in, that's grounded in a presumption of innocence that is guaranteed to each and every American."

Worthy said the investigation was ongoing and other people could be charged. She said she has had conversations with the U.S. attorney, but would not elaborate.

In announcing the charges, Worthy delivered a 14-minute lecture on the oath that all witnesses take before testifying in court.

"Even children understand that lying is wrong," she said. "If a witness lies, innocent people can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don't deserve.

"And lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it."

Mayer Morganroth, Beatty's attorney, called Worthy's comments full of "assertions and conjecture."

"I was sort of stunned by the prosecutor laying out the charges in the way that she did," he said, noting Beatty's right to a fair and unbiased trial. "It sounded more like a closing argument to a jury."

[keithle1]

Dig the stupid expression on his face.

"Kwame..." Please. Lose the ridiculous first name. You don''t live in Africa. You wouldn''t last a weekend there. Not enough food for ya.

Never criticize black people. You''ll be called a racist. Part of the white conspiracy that holds black people back.

Detroit''s population has declined by more than 27,300. It has lost more than three times as many people as any other metro area.

[cbville-2009]

Stop with the white folks "stewing" every time so stupid moronic black man/woman makes a foooool of him/herself.


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Posted by kailumego1 at 02:34 PM : Mar 26, 2008

He should never have been mayor in the first place. He had no credentials for the job. He was black however and in the "blue" cities (Wash., Phila., Detroit, etc) that is all that matters. Take a look at the crime rate of these cities and it comes as no shock. Where''s Al Sharpton at. I am waiting to hear Al come to bat for the "Hip Hop Mayor"
Scumb@gs.

[keithle1]

So there aren''t "lots of poor people" in Detroit? That was an inaccurate statement I made? You want to call the mayor & see if he disagrees? Did I say EVERY person in Detroit was poor?

CHICAGO TRIBUNE Oct 16, 2005 In an article by
Stephen Franklin, a Tribune staff reporter, who
called Detroit "the nation''s poorest and most shrunken big city..."

I jump on the white politicians too. Believe me.

[guysdigdirt]

give him a gun with one bullet and leave him alone in a room for as long as it takes
Posted by honestabe8

A novel, and somewhat apealing idea.

I wonder why he was not on the floor looking up at his wife through the blood as she yelled "how do you reload this *** thing!!"

[kailumego1]

Keithle1, this has become the forum for putrid commentaries by useless spineless and inept human beings, such as yourself.

Stop making this about race, considering the sordid mess white politicians, etc. constantly find themselves, this is about a egoistic arrogant self-aggrandized individual that placed his infantile impulses above the needs of the citizens of Detroit, and F.Y.I. another inept comment, all Detroiters are not "poor".

Stop with the white folks "stewing" every time so stupid moronic black man/woman makes a foooool of him/herself.

[strellnikov]

What can you expect from a "hip hop mayor"? Detroit deserves exactly what they voted for. Yet another reason why Detroit is America''s Beruit.

[honestabe8]

give him a gun with one bullet and leave him alone in a room for as long as it takes

[keithle1]

"..madly in love.." Excuse me while I puke.

You can''t keep anything secret when you''re a public figure. It all comes out.

Who would want to be mayor of Detroit? Thankless job. City going nowhere fast. Lots of poor people.

Would she have been interested in him if he wasn''t Mayor? What if he delivered packages for FedEx?

[tbweb]

A persons Text Messages and Emails are private and no ones business! People interested in private matters like this are a bunch of perverts who need to get a life! But such is the society here in the U.S. with its insatiable appetite for smut and dirt and who will spend big money to obtain it! If there was no market for it, it would not exist, and anything that makes money in a Capitalist society will be with us! Society finally realizes that drugs and guns are not the problem, its the demand for them, the customers of drugs and guns are the problem and its the same with invading peoples privacy! But even with that said, the Mayor is still guilty for not knowing what time it is and I know he can relate to that!

[infidel_us]

Judge: ''Mr. Mayor, how do you plead?''

Swame: ''Well yo honor, mostly like dis.....OH PLEASE LET ME GO!!!! IT WAS ALL HER FAULT!!! OH, AND IT WAS MY WHITE GRANDMOTHER''S FAULT, TOO!''

[infidel_us]

Hey, where all da white women at? I''m out on bond so lets get together! LOL

This is just the ''typical'' white folk racist KKK-USA keepin'' da man down! See, if America weren''t a racist nation going back 350 years, Swame would not be in trouble now. He would be a Harvard educated lawyer who is running for.......oh, wait a minute.....MY BAD! :)

[xlib]

Of course he''s not guitly. He''s a black democratic politican and that shields him from anything. Just holler racism and watch everyone squirm. He''s about as not guilty as jefferson and his freezer money.
Say, where''s the story on the new New York state governor and all his confessions?? Maybe I missed them. Oh yea, he''s a black democrat too so we wouldn''t want to look like we''re picking on them.

[apprxam]

Democrats accept mediocrity far too much.

[apprxam]

Stop crying Infidel

[jersupporter]

When are we going to learn living in 21st century. People don''''t have problem with current administration lying about WMDs and getting us into war which only benifited Oil rich Arabs and their terrorist allies and hurt only America and American allies. What''''s up with Detroit Mayor having affair with a women which any man tends to do because of the Testosterone running in the body. Posted by patriotic9
---------------------------------------
Yes, George W Bush sent the text and set-up Kilpatrick. ***, how come I didnt think of that? LMAO LOSER POST OF THE DAY

[lochlan-2009]

"Both were accused of multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in a scandal"

Take him out of office and give him three times the penalty for the average citizen, since he was in a position of authority. Are we cleaning house yet in this country, or are we letting these people lie, cheat and steal still?

[downsteamjim]

If they''''d let him see his mistress he could "release" some of the pressure.
Posted by rushlimpdrug

Usually I disagree with you, but that was a good comment.

[rushlimpdrug]

"Detroit Mayor Under Pressure To Resign"

If they''d let him see his mistress he could "release" some of the pressure.

[downsteamjim]

To SHURCH4TRUTH: Where in this article does it give the mayor''s party? Sloppy journalism or bias.

[krenz4]

Infidel: to use your vernacular






Infidel: Deys all unda neeth basketball players you azz!