Hearing set for April 14 on gag order request in stripper lawsuit

A federal judge today set an April 14 hearing on the city of Detroit’s requests for a temporary halt to proceedings and a gag order in the federal lawsuit brought by the family of a slain exotic dancer.

Stripper Tamara Greene, whose name was linked to a long-rumored party at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in the fall of 2002, was shot to death in Detroit on April 30, 2003. Ernest Flagg, the father of Greene’s 15-year-old son, alleges Detroit police failed to properly investigate the killing for political reasons.

The mayor has denied the party took place and Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, a defendant in the lawsuit, denies the police have shirked the investigation, holding a recent news conference to seek tips on Greene’s killing.

In a recent court filing, the city asked for a stay of proceedings in the court case, saying it would be harmful to the police investigation to have to turn over the homicide file and other requested records to Greene’s family.

Lawyers for the city also cited the recent perjury and other criminal charges brought against Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty — both defendants in the case — in connection with the city text message scandal. Having to give evidence in the civil case could conflict with the Fifth Amendment rights of Kilpatrick, Beatty, and other potential witnesses in the case to remain silent, the city said in a court filing.

U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen today ordered the city to file a brief supporting its position by April 7 and ordered Norman Yatooma, the lawyer for Flagg, to file a brief in response by April 11.

The city is also seeking a gag order, saying Yatooma’s statements to the news media will prevent the case from being tried fairly.

Yatooma said today he is opposed to both a stay and a gag order.

He said Bully-Cummings had sent the Greene murder file to the “cold case” unit and she’s only recently shown a public interest in solving the case. The best leads in the Greene homicide investigation have come as a result of the lawsuit, not the police investigation, Yatooma said.

As for a gag order, that would be unfair to Greene’s 15-year-old, Jonathan Bond, Yatooma said.

“It’s an abomination,” he said. “Jonathan’s constitutional rights have already been violated. That’s what gives rise to this lawsuit in the first place.

“Now they also want to take away his constitutional right to free speech.”