Detroit mayor in text-message scandal
DETROIT (AP) - January 25, 2008 The messages raise the question of whether the mayor and Chief
of Staff Christine Beatty committed perjury during a whistle-blower
trial last summer. A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to
15 years' imprisonment.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy didn't elaborate on the specifics of her
investigation, but said she was unaware of the text messages until
she read a report in the Detroit Free Press on Thursday.
"The Wayne County prosecutor's office will conduct an
independent investigation that will be fair, impartial and
thorough," Worthy said. "We will not be rushed by anyone or
anything."
Neither Kilpatrick nor Beatty planned on Friday to release any
statements regarding the announced investigation, said mayoral
spokesman James Canning.
A message seeking comment also was left on Beatty's home phone.
Kilpatrick and Beatty testified last summer in a police
whistle-blower lawsuit and denied any sexual or romantic ties in
2002 and 2003. But the Detroit Free Press examined about 14,000
text messages on Beatty's city-issued pager from those years that
tell a different story.
They reveal the two carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually
explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their
numerous trysts.
"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3,
2002.
"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied.
"In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"
On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote Beatty: "I've been dreaming
all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing,
laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
Kilpatrick is married with three children. Beatty was married at
the time and has two children.
A union leader called Friday for Kilpatrick to resign, saying
the city could no longer believe what he says. John Riehl,
president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees Local 207, said the union wants the mayor to step down
right away.
"He's compromised the public trust," Riehl said. "Nobody can
believe a single thing he says from now on."
The union has 900 members and represents workers in the city's
water and public lighting departments. The city has nearly 15,000
employees on its payroll, Canning said.
The Free Press did not explain exactly how it obtained the
messages. The newspaper said it cross-referenced the messages with
the mayor's private calendar and credit card records to verify
events in some of the notes.
A county jury awarded $6.5 million to the two officers in the
lawsuit against the city and Kilpatrick. The jury said Kilpatrick
and the city unlawfully dismissed two officers, who claimed they
suffered after investigating allegations of wrongdoing within
Kilpatrick's security unit.
The events happened in Kilpatrick's first four-year term. He was
elected to a second term in November 2005.