Detroit mayor's political future back in court
Legal News Center
A lawyer for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick asked a judge Friday to freeze next week's hearing that could remove him from office, accusing Gov. Jennifer Granholm of being too biased to preside over the case.
Dan Webb also said the rules for the hearing would greatly hamper Kilpatrick's defense. He asked for a 14-day restraining order to suspend the proceedings, scheduled to start Wednesday.
"There are some very basic rights that clearly have to be applied," Webb told Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski.
The judge said he had planned to go fishing but would work on the case over the holiday weekend and make a ruling Tuesday.
The Detroit City Council is asking Granholm to use her constitutional power to remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct.
The mayor is accused of misleading council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. The council says it didn't know the deal included provisions to keep a cover on romantic text messages between Kilpatrick and a top aide.
Kilpatrick's lawyers filed a lawsuit Thursday, claiming the mayor can't get a fair hearing from the governor. A key argument: Granholm held a private meeting in May to try to settle Kilpatrick's criminal perjury case and get him to resign.
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