Kilpatrick lawyer wants out

Attorney James Thomas, the one constant in ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s legal defense team, apparently wants to step down because he isn’t being paid.

Kilpatrick spokesman Mike Paul said Wednesday that Thomas is owed more than $20,000 for his work in a high-profile civil lawsuit filed by relatives of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene.

And Paul said the city should pay the expenses because the allegations involving Kilpatrick are related to his duties as mayor and not as a private person.

“This is about an attorney who deserves to be paid,” Paul said. “The city has to pay on this.”

Thomas filed a motion to withdraw as counsel Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the suit. The motion was sealed, so his reasoning isn’t yet known.

Thomas wouldn’t comment when reached Wednesday evening, but more could be revealed during a hearing in court Tuesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen.

Exotic dancer’s slaying

Greene’s family alleges in the federal lawsuit that Detroit police and city officials thwarted the investigation into her April 2003 slaying so that her killers wouldn’t be held accountable for her death. Police officials have denied the charge, saying the case is still under investigation. Kilpatrick is a defendant in the lawsuit.

Kilpatrick, police officials and lawyers for the mayor and city deny allegations that they interfered with the homicide investigation.

Paul urged the city to think legally, and not politically, in paying Thomas, saying he is the right lawyer to successfully defend the lawsuit. Thomas also represented Kilpatrick during the text message scandal that ultimately landed the ex-mayor in jail for three months.

Karen Dumas, communications director for Mayor Dave Bing, couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

Meanwhile, attorney Norman Yatooma, who represents Greene’s family, said Thomas’ removal would further delay the case.

“We cannot tolerate any more stall tactics,” Yatooma said Wednesday.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100318/NEWS01/3180614/1318/Kilpatrick-lawyer-wants-out