Text messages turned over in Greene’s death suit
(AP) — Text messages that could shed light on whether former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and other city officials had knowledge of Tamara Greene’s death have been turned over to a court.
The text messages, copied onto three CDs, were delivered Tuesday by the city’s former communications provider to U.S. District Court in Detroit, according to federal documents.
They were placed under seal as part of a $150 million civil suit alleging that Kilpatrick, ex-Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, recently retired Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings and others stifled a police probe into Greene’s slaying.
Norman Yatooma, who is representing Greene’s three children in the suit, had asked the court to force the city to release the hundreds of thousands of text messages, saying they may reveal communications about Greene on the night of her death.
The text messages from about a 21-month period will be reviewed by federal magistrates to determine if any are relevant to the case, Yatooma said.
“Then, I’m sure we’ll close the case,” he said. “No doubt the proverbial smoking gun is in those text messages.”
Attorney Mayer Morganroth, who represents Beatty, said nothing has changed in the case, even with the text messages being turned over to the court.
“It’s very interesting how he says that when he hasn’t seen them,” Morganroth said of Yatooma’s “smoking gun” statement.
Morganroth is arguing against the release of the text messages, saying they are protected by the federal Stored Communications Act.
The Associated Press left messages Wednesday seeking comment from lawyers representing Kilpatrick and the city.
Bully-Cummings’ attorney Kenneth Lewis said he had no comment.
Defendants named in the suit have denied the accusations.
Greene, 27, performed under the stage name “Strawberry” and was gunned down in front of her Detroit home on April 30, 2003. She is rumored to have danced several months earlier at an alleged party at the Manoogian Mansion, the mayor’s official residence.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox investigated and said he found no evidence of such a party. Michigan State Police investigators also said that they found no evidence of wrongdoing following claims of a cover-up.
Kilpatrick repeatedly has denied such a party took place.
Kilpatrick stepped down as mayor in September and is serving a four-month jail sentence as part of a plea deal to two criminal cases.
He and Beatty were charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice in March after text messages on her city-issued pager contradicted testimony they gave in a 2007 whistle-blowers’ trial.
Beatty’s trial in Wayne County Circuit court is expected to start in January.
