Deadline In Greene Case Passes: Kilpatrick Attorney Says Deadline Unnecessary

DETROIT — A deadline for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to submit information to the attorney representing the family of Tamara Greene in a lawsuit against the city has come, and passed.

Greene, a dancer known as Strawberry, was rumored to have been at a never-proven party thrown at a Manoogian mansion by Kilpatrick in 2002. It was also rumored that Greene was assaulted by the mayor’s wife, Carlita, when she walked into the party and saw Greene with Kilpatrick.

On April 30, 2003, Greene was in a car with her boyfriend on Detroit’s west side when a gunman opened fire on their vehicle, killing Greene and wounding her boyfriend.

Birmingham’s Norman Yatooma is representing Greene’s family in a $150 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Detroit. The lawsuit claims Kilpatrick and high-ranking police obstructed the investigation into Greene’s still unsolved slaying.

In November, Yatooma filed a court request for Kilpatrick to hand over e-mails, police personnel files, city communication contracts and 911 tapes in connection with the lawsuit. Yatooma gave Kilpatrick until Dec. 16 to respond. But in court documents filed Wednesday, Yatooma said he’s still waiting for Kilpatrick to give him anything.

Speaking to Local 4 Thursday, Kilpatrick’s attorney, James Thomas, said the filing was unnecessary and that the documents will be provided in due time.

Kilpatrick’s former Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, is also named in the lawsuit. She filed her response after the deadline, but did so on Dec. 18.

Kilpatrick and Beatty were charged in March 2008 with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice after sexually explicit text messages revealed both lied during an earlier whistleblowers’ trial about being romantically involved and their roles in the firing of a police official. The charges led to plea deals and eventual resignation for the two.