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Prosecution to File Emergency Appeal Motion

Reported by: Ann Mullen
Email: amullen@wxyz.com
Last Update: 8/14/2008 5:16 pm
(WXYZ) Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy will appeal today's ruling that removes Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's tether and allows him to go to the Democratic National Convention scheduled August 25th to the 28th.

Her office is preparing an emergency motion asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to hear the case.  If the Appeal is accepted, it is not clear when the Court would hear arguments.

Mayor Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty were arraigned this morning before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Leonard Townsend at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Townsend, who is known to be tough on defendants, made a very surprising and legally questionable ruling, when he said the mayor is not a flight risk and removed his tether, allowing him to travel to Denver for the convention.

Townsend said the mayor is still required to remain in the tri-county area.

Maria Miller, spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, said they are likely to file the appeal this afternoon with the Court of Appeals.

At the hearing, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey angrily told Townsend that Kilpatrick's attorneys broke their word not to request any changes to the mayor's bond. She also said it was "inherently unfair" and argued the tether and travel restrictions were in place because the mayor violated his bond twice.

"Can you trust the mayor and his representatives?" Asked Lindsey.

Townsend shot back, "The defense has not raised bond" and he told Lindsey, who was shouting at the judge, that she "was losing her composure."

It was Townsend who raised altering the bond though both sides said in court they were not addressing any bond issues.

Townsend called the tether "silly" and "unconstitutional" since the mayor is "presumed innocent."

The decision to place a tether on the mayor was a result of bond violations in the perjury case. But Detroit 36th District Court Magistrate Renee R. McDuffee ruled that the mayor be tethered in a separate case.  In that case Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox charged Kilpatrick with assault and obstruction of justice for allegedly cursing and shoving court officers serving a subpoena.

Townsend removed the the tether for both cases.

Attorney General spokesperson Rusty Hills says Cox is not yet sure what they will do to address the bond issue, but said, "There is no question the tether is a condition of our bond."

Channel 7 Legal Analyst Tom Cranmer says Townsend had jurisdiction to adjust the bond in the perjury case that was before him today. But he says, "He does not have the authority to change or alter the bond in a different case."

Wayne State University Law School professor Peter Henning agrees that Townsend does not have jurisdiction to alter a bond that affects a separate case not before him.

"He (the mayor) is subject to conditions of the other bond," says Henning, referring to the assault case.

But University of Detroit Mercy Law School professor Larry Dubin says Townsend did have the authority to modify Kilpatrick's bond. He said the mayor's attorneys may go back before the 36th District Court and ask that it conform to Townsend's ruling.

Attorney Jim Thomas, who represents the mayor, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by Townsend's ruling and that his client was "gratified."

Kilpatrick and Beatty will be in court again tomorrow for their preliminary examination on the perjury case.
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