Federal magistrates to pore over text messages in Greene case
DETROIT — Federal magistrate judges should soon be scrutinizing all SkyTel pager text messages sent by city employees in the four hours surrounding the 2003 shooting death of exotic dancer Tamara “Strawberry” Greene, a lawyer for the dancer’s family said Thursday.
SkyTel is expected to provide the text messages to magistrate judges at the U.S. District Court in Detroit by Sept. 20 under court orders that were refined at a status conference Thursday, said Norman Yatooma, an attorney for Greene’s family.
Yatooma said he will request the text messages from the city of Detroit on Friday. U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen, who is presiding over the Greene case, has ordered the city to request the messages from SkyTel, its former pager service supplier, and turn them over to the court.
Attorneys for defendants in the case, who include the city of Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty, are considering appealing that order by Rosen.
The text messages sought under Yatooma’s new request will include all text messages sent by any city employee between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on April 30, 2003 — the day Greene was shot to death in a drive-by shooting while sitting in a vehicle on Detroit’s west side.
U.S. magistrate judges are to examine the text messages and only turn over to Yatooma any they deem relevant to his lawsuit.
Greene’s name was linked to a long-rumored but never-proven party involving strippers at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in the fall 2002.
The federal lawsuit, brought on behalf of Greene’s 15-year-old son, alleges top city and police officials obstructed the investigation into Greene’s killing for political reasons.
The mayor and the other city defendants have denied the allegations. City attorneys could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Mayer Morganroth, the attorney representing Beatty, said he expects Yatooma’s request “will come up empty.”
“They’re just spinning their wheels,” Morganroth said of the plaintiffs in the case. “I don’t think there’s going to be anything relevant whatsoever.”
Yatooma said he also received from SkyTel Thursday a list of names and personal identification numbers for city and police employees who carried SkyTel pagers. He said he will use that list to make a separate request for pager text messages sent and received by up to 42 city employees over a broader time period.
You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com.
