Report: Lawyer Forced Settlement in Whistle-Blower Suit
DETROIT (AP) — A plaintiff’s attorney in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city threatened to reveal racy and sexually explicit text messages between the mayor and his chief aide to force the city into an $8.4 million settlement, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Detroit News, citing a source familiar with the case, said the settlement was part of a secret deal between lawyer Michael Stefani and a city-paid attorney representing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Stefani’s threat to file documents in court linking Kilpatrick to perjury for his testimony during the whistle-blower trial was behind the settlement, the newspaper reported.
A message seeking comment from Stefani was left by The Associated Press on Wednesday morning.
A judge ruled Tuesday that documents related to last summer’s lawsuit by two former police officers must be released to the public.
The city said it would appeal the ruling by Friday, the deadline set by Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr.
The News and the Detroit Free Press are suing the city to determine whether there was a secret settlement in the whistle-blower lawsuit, in which a jury ruled against the city. The case eventually cost the city more than $9 million, with the addition of court fees and interest.
Colombo on Tuesday indicated that indeed there was a secret settlement, pointing to certain documents that he said wouldn’t have been negotiated if there hadn’t been a settlement.
“The public should be very happy with what happened today,” Detroit News attorney James Stewart said after Tuesday’s hearing. “This information is going to come out. I think the notion the public hasn’t found this out before will dismay people.”
“They’re all smoking guns,” Free Press attorney Herschel Fink said of the documents.
The whistle-blower lawsuit was filed by former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown and former officer Harold Nelthrope who alleged they were fired or forced to resign for investigating claims that Kilpatrick used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.
After a jury awarded damages to the officers in September, Kilpatrick promised to appeal but never did. A month later, the city made the multimillion-dollar payout.
The mayor’s top legal adviser, Sharon McPhail, said Colombo’s order went too far.
“The documents in question were never introduced into evidence during the lawsuit or trial, were never part of the evidence the jury considered during the trial and many of the documents have never been in the city’s possession,” McPhail said in a statement.
Besides documents related to the settlement, Colombo ordered transcripts released of a deposition of Stefani by lawyers for the Free Press and the News.
Colombo also stayed his order to release the documents and transcripts pending the outcome of the city’s appeal.
In a related action, the City Council voted Tuesday to authorize an audit of Kilpatrick’s office and agencies including the law department, which handled the city’s defense of the whistle-blower lawsuit.
“We’re basically looking at legal expenses, settlement judgments, as well as other financial transactions, so it’s wide-ranging,” said Councilman Kwame Kenyatta.
Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel cast the lone `no’ vote on the resolution to authorize the audit, saying she believed it exceeded the council’s authority.
During testimony in the trial, Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, denied having an affair during 2002-03 and conspiring to have one of the officers fired.
However, the Free Press two weeks ago published sexually explicit text messages between the pair in 2002 and 2003 that appear to contradict what they said on the stand.
Kilpatrick wrote Beatty in 2002: “I’ve been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love.” (gross)
Beatty announced her resignation Jan. 28. Two days later, Kilpatrick made a televised speech apologizing to family and constituents but avoiding direct mention of the allegations. His wife, Carlita, sat by his side.
A prosecutor is investigating whether Kilpatrick and Beatty committed perjury during the whistle-blower suit.
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