Cox to continue deposition in slain stripper lawsuit
Detroit — Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox ended a daylong deposition in the Tamara Greene civil lawsuit shortly after 5 p.m. today but is still not finished answering questions in the case.
Norman Yatooma, the Birmingham attorney representing the family of the slain exotic dancer, said he is not finished questioning Cox and a date will be scheduled next week to complete the deposition. Yatooma would say little about the deposition, citing a judge’s order, but said the question and answer session was “not cordial.”
Cox also had little comment on the deposition. “I tried to answer all the questions,” he said as he left the federal courthouse in Detroit.
The family of Tamara “Strawberry” Greene, a stripper linked to a rumored party at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in the fall of 2002, is suing former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and top city and police officials, alleging they obstructed the investigation of Greene’s April 30, 2003, shooting death for political reasons.
Kilpatrick and the other defendants deny the allegations.
Federal court rules limit the length of depositions to seven hours without a special court order. Several breaks and interruptions in Friday’s deposition means a good chunk of the seven hours has not yet been used, Yatooma said.
Cox, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, investigated the rumored Manoogian party in 2003 personally interviewed Kilpatrick and dismissed the party story as an “urban legend.”
Yatooma entered the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m., minutes before Cox. He said the lawsuit is about a cover-up — one that he said Cox was in a better position than most people to expose.
“We’ll be in there all day,” Yatooma said.
Cox’s deposition is being taken under seal by orders of Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen, who is concerned that publicity surrounding the Greene case could hamper the ongoing Detroit police investigation into her death.
Cox spokesman John Sellek said Cox’s office plans to make a motion to unseal the deposition once a transcript is made, though he did not know when that would happen.
“We did a righteous investigation,” Cox said. “All the intervening history from that time shows that.”
Officials with the Michigan State Police, who continued to investigate the rumored Manoogian party for months after Cox halted his investigation but were able to prove nothing, have criticized Cox for halting his probe too soon.
