Top city officials facing possible contempt charges in mayor probe
By Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick • Free Press Staff Writers • March 21, 2008
Updated at 3:56 p.m.
The
City of Detroit’s top lawyer and the mayor’s cousin, who also works for
the city, are facing possible contempt of court charges for not
cooperating with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s criminal investigation
of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff.
The
revelation is spelled out in an order the Free Press found today taped
to the locked front door of the city’s law department, just above
another note that says the office is closed for Good Friday. Wayne
County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny signed the order.
The document
directs Corporation Counsel John Johnson and Patricia Peoples, who is
listed in city records as deputy director of human resources, to appear
at a 9 a.m. hearing Monday in front of Kenny to answer why they should
not be held in contempt.
Kenny’s order does not spell out why the pair are accused. It does say,
for the first time publicly, that Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s investigation
centers on “possible
perjury of Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty.”
Maria Miller, spokeswoman for Worthy, said this afternoon that she
could not comment on why Johnson and Peoples may be held in contempt,
saying the details will emerge during Monday's hearing. Miller also
said the development would not affect a planned announcement later
Monday by Worthy on the results of her investigation of Kilpatrick and
Beatty.
The Free Press revealed in January that text messages the newspaper had
obtained showed the pair lied under oath about their intimate
relationship and gave misleading testimony about the firing of Deputy
Police Chief Gary Brown.
Johnson did not immediately return a call for comment. Peoples could
not be reached and the mayor’s office is closed for Good Friday.
Last month, the Free Press reported that Johnson in an e-mail to his
staff acknowledged he was “personally involved” in a settlement that
paid $8.4 million to end a police whistleblower lawsuit. In an
interview, he told the newspaper at the time that he only approved the
payout amount, and did not read terms of the settlement, which
described a plan to cover-up text messages that showed Kilpatrick and
then-chief of staff Christine Beatty lied last summer under oath.
Contact Jim Schaefer at 313-223-4542 or jschaefer@freepress.com. Contact M.L. Elrick at 313-222-6582 or mlelrick@freepress.com.
Its ALL IN THE FAMILY....