Lawyer for slain dancer Greene can review texts
A lawyer for the family of slain stripper Tamara Greene will get to review 36 of the more than 600,000 text messages sent on City of Detroit-issued pagers to determine whether they will shed light on her 2003 killing, a federal judge ruled today.
U.S. District Chief Judge Gerald Rosen ruled attorney Norman Yatooma can review each message “with the exception of one sentence at the end of one of these messages which will be redacted prior to production.” It’s unclear why the sentence is being redacted.
The ruling comes, over objections from city of Detroit lawyers, about a month after two federal magistrates completed their 19-month review of the 626,638 text messages. The magistrates found that the 36 messages may be relevant to the lawsuit.
Yatooma, who represents Greene’s teenage son and other family members, is suing the city, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his former top aide Christine Beatty, police executives and others, alleging they derailed probes into her 2003 killing, allegations they deny.
“These text messages have been long anticipated and aggressively defended,” Yatooma said today. “I am eager to finally review them and relieved to stop arguing over them.”
Greene was shot and killed during a drive-by shooting on April 30, 2003, on Detroit’s west side. Her unsolved slaying has drawn attention because of a long-rumored, never-proven party at the mayoral mansion the previous year. According to the rumor – which had been probed by Detroit and State Police – Greene, who went by the stage name Strawberry, danced at the Manoogian for Kilpatrick and others in fall 2002. The rumor has it that the mayor’s wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, walked in on the party and assaulted Greene.
Kilpatrick, police officials and lawyers for the mayor and city all have denied there was ever a stripper party at the mayoral mansion and have denied any effort to derail a probe of Greene’s death.
Rosen mentioned several other matters in today’s order, including whether to issue a gag order in the case due to pretrial publicity. In the end, he did not impose a gag order but cautioned lawyers about trying the case in the media.
“With each successive wave of publicity in this case, fueled in part by information supplied or statements made by counsel, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure the fairness of any eventual trial and the selection of an impartial jury,” Rosen said in his order. “Nonetheless … the court once again elects not to impose a gag order.”
Rosen also granted Yatooma’s request to have six current and two former Detroit police officers review the Greene homicide file. The review will take place at U.S. District Court in Detroit with city lawyers on hand.
