AG Cox Finishes Greene Deposition – Attorney General Testifies About Manoogian Mansion Investigation
DETROIT — Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox was in Detroit federal court Monday to continue a deposition in relation to the rumored but never proven Manoogian Mansion party.
A swarm of media greeted Cox when he arrived just before 9 a.m.
“I’m ready to answer questions and get this over with,” Cox said.
Cox is being deposed as part of a $150 million lawsuit filed against the city of Detroit by the family of slain Detroit exotic dancer Tamara Greene.
Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma is representing the Greene family.
The lawsuit alleges that Detroit officials tried to block the investigation into her death, which included rumors that Greene danced at a party thrown by former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the Manoogian Mansion weeks before she was killed in a drive-by shooting on April 30, 2003.
Cox was never involved in Greene’s death investigation, but he did investigate the rumored party and said he found no evidence that a party had occurred, calling the event an “urban legend.”
Four Michigan State Police investigators have testified at previous hearings that Cox interfered with their efforts to investigate the rumored party.
“I have nothing to gain by this. It was an extremely frustrating process,” said retired MSP investigator Bob Bertee, in a December interview with Local 4. “To see the way that it was handled … I have 30 years with the Michigan State Police and I’ve never seen anything handled like this with an attorney general.”
Cox has maintained that he didn’t cover anything up and has not done anyone any favors.
“Even (Wayne County Prosecutor) Kym Worthy looked at it and nothing happened. So, I’m pretty confident that my team did the right thing,” Cox said outside court Monday.
Cox has denied allegations that there were political reasons attached to his party investigation.
“I’ve been a career prosecutor and I would never do that,” Cox said.
Cox’s first deposition hearing was in December.
A judge has ruled the deposition be kept sealed. Either side is allowed to file a motion to make it public.
Cox, a Republican who is also running for governor, said he isn’t worried about the deposition hurting his political aspirations.
“Who cares about my campaign? I’m just here to help the court,” he said.
Yatooma said his only focus is on his case.
“Cox is busy running for governor and we’re just trying to run a case,” Yatooma said. “All I’m hoping to do it get answers to my questions. And, like I said, so far I’m very happy with what we have.”
Last week, a federal judge issued an order demanding that Detroit turn over all of its records in connection with the Greene lawsuit.
The order, issued by Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen, said that all city lawyers have one week to turn over the records in question to lawyers for Greene’s family.
