Communication requested between city officials during 4-hour period

A telecommunications company must turn over by Sept. 20 text messages from city officials sent or received during a four-hour period on the morning stripper Tamara Greene was shot and killed, a federal magistrate ruled today.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Steven Whalen ordered Mississippi-based SkyTel to turn over the messages from all city employees sent or received between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. April 30, 2003, the day Greene was fatally shot.

Judge Gerald Rosen will distribute the messages to Whalen and Magistrate Judge Michael Hluchaniuk for review to determine whether they are relevant to a lawsuit brought against city officials by Greene’s family.

Birmingham lawyer Norman Yatooma, who represents Greene’s family, wants the messages so he can see whether city officials derailed the investigation into Greene’s slaying, which remains unsolved. The lawsuit claims Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and others thwarted any probe into the killing.

Yatooma became interested in obtaining text messages after the Free Press reported in February on texts between Kilpatrick and then-chief of staff Christine Beatty in 2002 and 2003.

The messages revealed the mayor and Beatty lied under oath about their sexual relationship and gave misleading testimony about the firing of a top police official at a whistle-blower trial last year.