Detroit Mayor Rejects Deal In Assault Case

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal team is rejecting the offer of a plea deal in the assault case against him.

The surprising offer came this morning from the Michigan attorney general's office. What it was, basically, was: Resign by September 3rd in exchange for dismissal of one of the two assault charges.

But Kilpatrick's attorney says the legal team is "preparing for trial."

The mayor is accused of shoving a sheriff's detective into another investigator while they tried to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend last month. He's pleading not guilty.

It's one of two criminal cases against the mayor. A conviction on the assault charges carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

Separately, Kilpatrick and his former top aide, Christine Beatty, are charged with conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

Kilpatrick is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver. Thomas said last week the mayor is interested in attending but conditions of his bond in the assault case prevent him from traveling outside the metro Detroit area.

A hearing was scheduled for Monday on Kilpatrick's bond conditions.

Separately, Kilpatrick and his former top aide, Christine Beatty, were charged in March with conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, mostly tied to their testimony in a civil trial. Sexually explicit text messages between the pair, published by the Detroit Free Press in January, contradict their sworn denials of an affair, a key point in the trial last year involving a former deputy police chief.

Meanwhile, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is scheduled on Sept. 3 to consider a request from the Detroit City Council to have Kilpatrick removed from office. Under Michigan law, a governor can remove an elected official for misconduct. That hearing could last several days.

Granholm declined Friday to discuss anything involving Kilpatrick.