CHICAGO - Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm was poised to begin a historic removal hearing today on indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick amid a flurry of last-minute appeals and back-room plea deal negotiations that continued through late yesterday.
The public hearing was set for 9 a.m. this morning. Granholm yesterday asked the Michigan Supreme Court for a final determination on her constitutional authority to hold the hearing, after Kilpatrick's legal team filed lawsuits to block it.
The high court had not responded to the request by late yesterday - though the state Court of Appeals scheduled an evening hearing to consider the issue, after a Wayne Circuit Court judge ruled that Granholm did have the authority to hold the hearing.
That ruling was expected to increase pressure on Kilpatrick to craft a plea deal, but as of late yesterday no deal was announced.
Barring last-minute plea deals or a court injunction, the hearing was set to be held in downtown Detroit and address two issues: whether Kilpatrick authorized the use of city funds for personal interests and whether he concealed or failed to disclose to the City Council pertinent information related to an $8.4 million settlement stemming from three police lawsuits in 2007.
The governor said she would not consider other felony charges the mayor faces. At the hearing, both sides can call witnesses.
Even as Kilpatrick's attorneys challenged Granholm's authority to hold the hearing, they were reportedly trying to negotiate a plea deal that would allow the mayor to avoid jail time in exchange for a series of penalties, according to local media.
Over the weekend, the Detroit Free Press reported that Kilpatrick had agreed to plead guilty to two felonies, resign from office, pay a significant restitution, serve up to five years probation, not run for office for two years, and sign over his pension to the city. The deal did not include jail time - and that proved to be the sticking point, as Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy insisted on several months of jail time, according to reports.
Kilpatrick faces a total of 10 felony counts and two criminal trials. Eight felonies stem from testimony and subsequent actions related to a police whistleblower trial in 2007 in which he is accused of lying about a romantic relationship with his former chief of staff Christine Beatty and the pair's role in firing a deputy police chief. The two remaining felonies stem from a July incident in which the mayor allegedly assaulted a pair of law enforcement officers investigating the case.
