Judge to consider easing secrecy of stripper case
Detroit — A judge has set a May 12 hearing date on whether there should be more openness in the case of a federal lawsuit brought against the city of Detroit by the family of a slain exotic dancer.
Both The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press wrote Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen expressing concern about the large number of documents in the case filed under seal, including judge’s orders.
Tamara “Strawberry” Greene, a dancer linked to a rumored party at the mayor’s Manoogian Mansion in the fall of 2002, was shot to death in Detroit on April 30, 2003.
Her family is suing former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and top city and police officials, alleging they obstructed the investigation into her still unsolved killing for political reasons. The defendants deny the allegations.
Rosen has cited the need to protect the integrity of the ongoing homicide investigation, as well as privacy concerns, as reasons for the unusual level of secrecy in the case.
But Norman Yatooma, a lawyer for Greene’s family, said in a court filing that the more publicity the case gets, the more people come forward with information about what might have happened to Greene.
The newspapers argued in court filings that privacy concerns do not trump the presumption of openness in court proceedings.
Mayer Morganroth, an attorney for defendant Christine Beatty, Kilpatrick’s former chief of staff, defended the sealed proceedings in a court filing, citing the need to protect the homicide investigation and the need for an untainted jury when the case goes to trial.
