Hearing set on unsealing Greene documents
A federal judge has scheduled a May 12 hearing on a request by the Free Press and other media outlets to unseal various depositions, including that of state Attorney General Mike Cox, in a lawsuit against the City of Detroit by the family members of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene.
Herschel Fink filed the motion Wednesday, several weeks after sending a letter to Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen that raised the same issues. WJBK-TV (Channel 2) has joined in the motion. Rosen today scheduled the hearing for 10 a.m. May 12.
“There is no constitutional support for the court appointing itself as the gatekeeper for what the public should, and should not, know about what occurs in the people’s courts, particularly where, as here, the subject matter is of such obvious public interest and concern,” Fink wrote.
Rosen has previously said that he has sealed portions of the lawsuit and closed some proceedings to avoid an adverse impact on the ongoing investigation into the unsolved April 2003 killing of Greene
Fink wrote in his filing: “There have been no specific findings as to how openness would hamper the now 7-year-old murder investigation.”
Greene’s family is represented by attorney Norman Yatooma and alleges that city officials stymied an investigation into her drive-by killing. Besides the city, other defendants are former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his former chief of staff Christine Beatty, former Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings and several police executives.
Yatooma is exploring the possibility of a rumored, but never proven, party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion in 2002. One of the rumors was that Kilpatrick’s wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, happened upon the gathering and supposedly beat an exotic dancer, allegedly Greene.
Cox, whose office investigated the rumor with Michigan State Police, said that they found no evidence despite an extensive investigation that included more than 100 interviews. Investigators never interviewed Carlita Kilpatrick, but Cox interviewed the ex-mayor.
But Fink questioned why Cox’s deposition, taken last year, is being kept from the public, especially after Cox previously said he wished to have it done in public.
“Attorney General Mike Cox was never charged with responsibility for investigating the murder of Tamara Greene,” Fink wrote. “Sealing his deposition transcripts does not serve the stated objective of not interfering with the now … dormant Tamara Greene homicide investigation. Unlike the first World Trade Center bombing case, this case involves neither terrorism nor a threat to national security.”
Lastly, while there isn’t a gag order in the case, Fink said, “the court has done just that, albeit not in writing, and every lawyer for a party in this case understands it.”
http://www.freep.com/article/20100423/NEWS01/100423048/Hearing-set-on-unsealing-Greene-documents
