Texts propel dancer lawsuit into spotlight
The text message scandal that is rocking the administration of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has given an unexpected boost to a federal lawsuit over the 2003 shooting death of exotic dancer Tamara “Strawberry” Greene.
Greene was rumored to have performed at a rumored party at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in 2002. Rumors piled on rumors are given little weight in federal court, and when the text message scandal broke last month, the “Strawberry” lawsuit, first filed in 2005, had been twice dismissed.
But the contents of flirtatious text messages made public in January between Kilpatrick and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty helped the lawsuit brought on behalf of Greene’s teenage son in two ways — legally, and, most of all, in terms of public interest.
Suddenly, the case has grown into a legal monster, with the city going to court to suppress subpoenas for what it says are millions of text messages, e-mails and other records. It’s another costly legal battle for a cash-strapped city already deploying a small army of attorneys on several fronts.
The case is not a wrongful death lawsuit. What the Greene case alleges is that Jonathan Bond, Greene’s teenage son, was denied his constitutional right to access the courts, a right protected by the 14th Amendment. Bond could not bring a wrongful death suit because the police investigation into his mother’s homicide, which could have turned up helpful evidence, was derailed for political reasons, the lawsuit alleges.
The city denies the allegations, and on Friday filed a motion to dismiss the latest version of the lawsuit, which was filed Jan. 14.
The contents of the text messages appear to help the lawsuit, at least marginally, from a legal standpoint. The text messages show former Detroit Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown was fired — which city officials had denied — and there is evidence that poking around into the alleged Manoogian party is one of the reasons he was fired.
The lawsuit, which had received no media attention until late last year, has become front-page news. Greene’s death — reportedly after several shots from a .40-caliber Glock handgun that is standard police issue in Detroit — is a fascinating mystery for those who aren’t ready to dismiss the Manoogian party as urban legend.
On Monday, Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma, who represents Bond and Bond’s father, Ernest Flagg, subpoenaed a raft of documents, including records related to a county prosecutor’s investigation of Greene’s death and satellite positioning records showing where various city employees were the morning of April 30, 2003, when Greene was killed.
Yatooma, who had already sought the Kilpatrick-Beatty text messages and those related to more than 30 other city and police officials, added eight new names to the list, including Detroit Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott and Matt Allen, the former press secretary to Kilpatrick. Yatooma said he is interested in anyone who may have sent or received messages related to the alleged party, Greene’s death, Brown’s firing, and other related events.
Mayer Morganroth, the attorney representing the city, said the city will seek to quash those subpoenas, and records related to an ongoing criminal investigation at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office can’t be subpoenaed.
“It’s harassment and overwhelming,” said Morganroth, adding that Yatooma has requested “literally millions of documents.”
Wayne Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s investigation into the Greene death remains open, spokeswoman Maria Miller said Monday.
Among the items Yatooma subpoenaed Monday from SkyTel, the city’s pager company, is global positioning satellite information showing where various city officials were around the time Greene was shot. Yatooma said he believes the pagers, which are issued to some but not all city employees and police officers, contain GPS tracking information. GPS tracking services are among the features advertised on the SkyTel Web site. Yatooma also subpoenaed records Monday from the city’s chief information officer. He said he believes those records will show records related to the investigation of Greene’s death were destroyed at the direction of Kilpatrick or Beatty.
The city said in its court filing Friday that if “veiled allegations that a police officer killed Greene were true, which they are not,” it was in state court, not federal court that Yatooma should have brought a wrongful death lawsuit. Bond can’t say he was denied access to the state courts if he never tried to bring a suit there, the city said.
James Canning, a spokesman for the mayor, declined comment.
