Cox testimony in Greene deposition to continue Jan. 25

Detroit — Attorney General Mike Cox’s sworn testimony in a federal lawsuit brought by the family of a slain exotic dancer is to resume Jan. 25.

Cox, a Republican candidate for governor, gave several hours of testimony in the lawsuit brought by the family of Tamara “Strawberry’ Greene on Dec. 11. Norman Yatooma, the Birmingham attorney representing Greene’s family, described the tone of the deposition as “not cordial,” and court records show Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen had to get involved to resolve disputes between the parties.

The deposition was held at the federal courthouse behind closed doors, and Rosen ordered Cox and Yatooma not to talk about the deposition.

Yatooma and a Cox spokesman confirmed the date to resume the deposition over the weekend.

The family of Greene, a dancer linked to a rumored party at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in fall 2002, is suing former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and top city and police officials, alleging they obstructed the investigation into her still unsolved shooting death on April 30, 2003. Kilpatrick and the other defendants deny the allegations.

Cox, who is not a party to the lawsuit, investigated the rumored party in 2003, personally interviewed Kilpatrick, and dismissed the party story as an “urban legend.” Cox was not involved in investigating Greene’s death.

Cox has been criticized by officials in the Michigan State Police and others, who said he shut down his investigation too soon and did not question Kilpatrick under oath.

But Cox has said his office conducted a “righteous investigation,” and he would have preferred to give his deposition in the Greene case in public. On Friday, an attorney for Cox filed a sealed motion asking for a transcript of the Dec. 11 portion of the deposition, records show.

Federal court rules limit depositions to seven hours without a special court order. It’s not clear how much of the seven allotted hours remain for Yatooma to question Cox.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091221/METRO/912210367/1409/METRO