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DETROIT — Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick was charged on Monday with
misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit
obstruction of justice and perjury, felonies that could end his
political career and send him to prison for a lengthy term if he is
convicted.
Among the eight felony counts against him, Mr. Kilpatrick is accused of
authorizing the city of Detroit to settle an $8.4 million lawsuit with
several former police officers “with the corrupt motive” of preventing
the release of text messages which would have revealed that he had lied
under oath in the case, the charging do***ents say.
Announcing the charges, Kym L. Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor,
declared it a “very sad day” for the city and for all of Michigan, but
said that central tenets of life — those that even 6-year-old children
understand well — had been breached. “It would be much sadder still if
true justice were ignored,” Ms. Worthy said.
Mr. Kilpatrick has until 7 a.m. Tuesday to turn himself into the
authorities.
In a prepared statement he read at a news conference, Mr. Kilpatrick
said he was “disappointed” by the prosecutor’s decision “but not
surprised.” He expressed confidence that he would be cleared at a trial
and said he would concentrate on “moving the city forward” and laid out
a schedule of planned initiatives.
Daniel Webb, Mr. Kilpatrick’s attorney, said it was highly unusual to
bring perjury charges in a civil case, rather than a criminal case, and
said he would raise “the issue of selective prosecution” before the
judge who is assigned to the case. He said that proving perjury would be
difficult because many of the questions in the case were “ambiguous” and
many of the answers involved “opinions.”
The charges stem from a scandal that has roiled Mr. Kilpatrick’s
Democratic administration since January, when The Detroit Free Press
published text messages between Mr. Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his
former chief of staff and a longtime friend.
Ms. Beatty also faces seven felony counts in the indictment.
The messages from Ms. Beatty’s city-issued pager were laced, at times,
with ***ual banter, contradicting testimony Mr. Kilpatrick and Ms.
Beatty had provided under oath last year that they had never had a
romantic relation****p.
The two, both of whom were married, were questioned about their
relation****p during a civil trial in which several former police
officers accused Mr. Kilpatrick of forcing them out of jobs, in part,
because their investigations might have uncovered his romances.
The text messages also contradicted testimony the two had provided about
the departure of Gary Brown, one of the officers who filed the lawsuit.
Mr. Kilpatrick testified that Mr. Brown, then the deputy chief, had not
been fired. But a text message from Ms. Beatty to Mr. Kilpatrick
referred to their decision “to fire Gary Brown.” Mr. Kilpatrick’s text
response, according to The Free Press, seemed to acknowledge the firing.
“It had to happen though. I’m all the way with that!”
In comments before a room packed with re****ters here, Mr. Worthy
stressed that her investigation had not “focused on lying about ***.”
Mr. Brown and the other police officers’ “lives and careers were forever
changed,” Ms. Worthy said. “They were ruined financially and their
reputations were completely destroyed because they chose to be dutiful
police officers. The public trust was violated. This investigation is
about whether public dollars were used unlawfully — and more.”
Mr. Kilpatrick, who had long pledged to fight the lawsuit, agreed to
settle the case for $8.4 million instead, hours after learning that the
officers’ lawyer had copies of the text messages, do***ents show.
Among the youngest mayors of major American cities when he was first
elected, Mr. Kilpatrick, 37, won office in 2001 at the age of 31,
defeating an opponent who was twice his age. He has faced scandal
before, but never to this extent.
Mr. Kilpatrick, who is married and has three sons, has apologized to his
wife, Carlita, and to the city, but has vowed, repeatedly, to stay in
office. He has defiantly accused the news media of creating his woes,
and blamed racism for his troubles.
In recent days, his administration has been caught up in a swirl of bad
news day after day as the scandal has unfolded. Last week, the City
Council asked Mr. Kilpatrick to resign. Business leaders have
increasingly withdrawn their sup****t, arguing that Mr. Kilpatrick’s
problems had become such a distraction that city business had been
brought to a halt.
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