Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
(Photo: Google Images)
(August 16, 2008) - On Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s third day in court this week, a judge ruled Friday that there's enough evidence for him to stand trial on two felony assault charges stemming from an alleged confrontation with investigators trying to serve a subpoena.
The investigators testified Kilpatrick shoved one of them into the other and made racial remarks.
Despite Kilpatrick’s denial, Judge Ronald Giles said there was no evidence the mayor’s actions were accidental and that Kilpatrick was aware that a Wayne County sheriff’s detective and county prosecutor investigator were on business when they attempted to deliver a subpoena to a Kilpatrick friend.
Kilpatrick’s lawyer, Jim Thomas, called the investigators’ visit a set up, according to the Associated Press. Thomas said when the case moves to trial, he will attack inconsistencies between the investigators’ stories.
Judge Giles’ ruling came one day after Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty were in court for an arraignment on another set of felony charges stemming from a text message scandal that has dogged the Kilpatrick administration for nearly seven months. Kilpatrick and Beatty were charged in March with conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.
During his court appearances, Kilpatrick’s legal entanglement took some bizarre turns. For three hours on Thursday, he was allowed to remove the electronic tether that has monitored his movements. He also was cleared to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver. By the end of the day, both of those liberties were lost.
The mayor remains free on bond ahead of an Aug. 22 arraignment in WayneCounty where he must continue to wear an electronic ankle tether.