| |
Hours
after 1
judge
orders
Detroit
mayor's
electronic
tether
off, a
second
says it
must
stay
Associated
Press
writers
Hours
after
being
told to
remove
his
electronic
tether
by one
judge
Thursday,
embattled
Mayor
Kwame
Kilpatrick
was
ordered
by
another
judge to
put it
back on,
a game
of legal
pingpong
between
his two
separate
criminal
cases.
Kilpatrick
also
gained,
then
quickly
lost, a
break in
travel
restrictions
that
could
have
allowed
him to
attend
the
Democratic
National
Convention
in
Denver
this
month.
The
point
might
have
been
moot
anyway:
The
mayor is
a
superdelegate,
but a
spokesman
for
presumptive
nominee
Barack
Obama
said
Kilpatrick
isn't
wanted
there.
The day
began
when a
judge
overseeing
Kilpatrick's
arraignment
on
perjury
and
other
charges
said the
mayor
could
get rid
of the
tether
around
his
ankle
and
attend
the
convention.
By
afternoon,
however,
another
judge
handling
assault
charges
against
the
mayor
signed
an order
emphasizing
that the
tether
remains
a
condition
of
release
in the
assault
case. It
was back
on the
mayor's
ankle
nearly
four
hours
after it
was
removed.
"The
lawyers
for the
mayor
said
they
were
willing
to
comply,"
said
Rusty
Hills,
spokesman
for the
Michigan
attorney
general's
office,
which is
prosecuting
the
assault
case.
Kilpatrick
and his
former
top
aide,
Christine
Beatty,
were
charged
in March
with
conspiracy,
perjury,
obstruction
of
justice
and
misconduct
in
office,
mostly
tied to
their
testimony
in a
civil
trial.
Sexually
explicit
text
messages
between
the
pair,
published
by the
Detroit
Free
Press in
January,
contradict
their
sworn
denials
of an
affair,
a key
point in
the
trial
last
year
involving
a former
deputy
police
chief.
Separately,
Kilpatrick
is
accused
of
assaulting
two
investigators
who were
at his
sister's
house
trying
to serve
a
subpoena
in the
perjury
case.
District
Court
Judge
Ronald
Giles
was to
hold a
hearing
Friday
to
determine
if there
is
probable
cause
for
trial on
the
latest
charges.
Wayne
County
Circuit
Judge
Leonard
Townsend,
who is
overseeing
the
perjury
case,
turned a
routine
arraignment
Thursday
into a
dramatic
scene
when he
suddenly
declared
that
Kilpatrick
could
get rid
of the
device
that
tracks
his
moves
and go
to
Denver.
The
mayor
had been
barred
from
traveling
outside
the
Detroit
metro
area.
"I see
absolutely
no
reason
for that
and it's
silly,"
said
Townsend,
drawing
an
immediate
protest
from the
prosecutor,
who
promised
an
appeal.
Prosecutor
Lisa
Lindsey
reminded
the
judge
that
Kilpatrick's
travel
was
restricted
because
he
earlier
had
violated
the
conditions
of his
release.
"I think
you're
losing
your
composure,"
Townsend
said.
By
afternoon
it was
clear
that the
ban on
out-of-state
travel
remains
as part
of the
assault
case.
"If
someone
wants to
discuss
changes
to that,
they're
going to
have to
bring
that up
with
us,"
Hills
said.
Kilpatrick's
lawyer,
James
Thomas,
said
high-ranking
Democrats
want the
mayor to
attend
the
convention.
Obama
spokesman
Brent
Colburn,
however,
said in
an
e-mail
that the
focus of
the
convention
should
be on
Obama
and not
on what
Colburn
called
"the
troubles
of one
individual."
Also
Thursday,
Gov.
Jennifer
Granholm's
legal
team
said she
has no
authority
to
pardon
Kilpatrick
because
he
hasn't
been
convicted
of a
crime.
One of
his
lawyers
had
raised
that
possibility
in a
letter
to the
governor
Wednesday.
The
state
constitution
says the
governor
can
grant a
pardon
in a
criminal
case
only
after a
conviction.
Granholm
plans to
hold a
Sept. 3
hearing
to
decide
if she
should
remove
Kilpatrick
from
office.
Earlier
Thursday,
she
addressed
the
matter
following
a speech
in
Traverse
City.
"I've
said all
along
this has
got to
be
resolved,"
Granholm
said.
"This
has been
very,
very
difficult
for the
city and
for the
state,
and it's
obvious
why we
need a
resolution."
���
Associated
Press
writers
Ben
Leubsdorf
in
Detroit,
Tom
Krisher
in
Traverse
City and
Kathy
Barks
Hoffman
in
Lansing
contributed
to this
report.
|
