Defendants down to 2 in dancer’s death suit

Former Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings and Christine Beatty, ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s former chief of staff and lover, were among the defendants who have been dismissed from a civil case centering around the unsolved 2003 slaying of exotic dancer Tamara Greene.

Lawyer Norman Yatooma, who represents Greene’s children in a suit that seeks $150 million, said he has opted to streamline the case by dismissing all defendants but two: the City of Detroit and Kilpatrick.

“We’re losing some defendants and gaining some traction,” said Yatooma, who was joined by Greene’s 17-year-old son, Jonathan Bond, and Ernest Flagg, Jonathan’s father, at a Tuesday news conference.

Yatooma said that dismissing seven named defendants — including Bully-Cummings, Beatty, the ex-mayor’s wife and former Deputy Police Chief Craig Schwartz — will reduce scheduling hiccups and help ensure the case reaches trial at an as-yet undetermined date in January. The lawsuit first was filed in November 2005.

The suit alleges that the city and Kilpatrick impeded the investigation into Greene’s shooting death. Greene danced under the name Strawberry and allegedly performed at a long-rumored — but never-proven — party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion in 2002.

Greene’s death was at the center of the 2007 whistle-blower lawsuit filed by Detroit police officers who claimed that they were fired while trying to investigate the supposed party. That case ended in an $8-million settlement and led to Kilpatrick’s downfall because he testified that he and Beatty had not been having an affair, an assertion disproved by a series of text messages uncovered by the Free Press.

Both Beatty and Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges. Kilpatrick was imprisoned last week for failing to comply with provisions of his probation, which includes $1 million in restitution to the city.

Jonathan — whose younger sisters are now 9 and 14 — said that despite the delays, he’s confident he’ll someday learn what really happened to his mother. “A lot of people have answers,” he said, “and that’s basically what I want.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20100602/NEWS01/6020331/1003/Defendants-down-to-2-in-dancers-death-suit