DETROIT (AP) - A longtime attorney said Friday that lawyers representing Kwame Kilpatrick did not need to rush to settle an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' lawsuit after learning of sexually explicit text messages apparently linking the mayor romantically to his ex-top aide.
Carl Edwards, speaking as a legal expert, said lawyer Sam McCargo and members of the city's law department had legal tools to challenge the release of the embarrassing messages from former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty's pager.
"If lawyers involved in the case knew those text messages were to be turned over to the judge, then there is absolutely no rush to judgment concerning those messages," Edwards told Detroit City Council members during the third day of hearings delving into actions behind the settlement.
Council members say Kilpatrick and lawyers on the city's payroll did not make them aware of a confidential agreement referencing the text messages when they approved the settlement last fall.
They say the agreement they approved did not include any references to text messages.
Michael Stefani, who represented three former Detroit police officers in two separate whistle-blowers' lawsuits, testified Tuesday that he used references to the messages in a motion for attorney's fees to spur on stalled settlement negotiations in one of the suits.
McCargo testified Thursday that he worried the release of the messages would be damaging to his client, Kilpatrick.
But those fears were unfounded, Edwards said.
"Once Mr. Stefani threatened the city with these text messages, the city lawyers could have filed a series of motions and shut it," Edwards said.
Edwards said in his opinion, Kilpatrick and Beatty also could be liable to the settlement amount because they signed the confidentiality agreement as individuals and not as city representatives.
That sparked interest from several council members.
"In my opinion the city wasn't even being bound by the confidentiality agreement," he said.
The two agreement documents also present problems in decision-making by the city's lawyers, Edwards added.
"I have settled many cases where there have been confidentiality agreements, but never where there is a separate confidentiality agreement," he said. "It is highly irregular."
The hearing tested the patience of some council members. Toward the end of Edwards' testimony, Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. and President Pro Tem Monica Conyers launched into a shouting match over interruptions during the proceedings.
Friday's hearing began with testimony from Wayne State University law school Dean Frank Wu. City Corporation Counsel John Johnson was to testify later Friday.
Kilpatrick and Beatty were arraigned last month in Detroit's 36th District Court and face a June 9 preliminary examination on perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice charges.
Early Friday afternoon, Kilpatrick was in court in Detroit for a hearing where a judge clarified the conditions of his bond governing his travel. The terms were set at his arraignment last month.
Kilpatrick and Beatty are accused of lying under oath during last summer's whistle-blowers' trial. Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003. Kilpatrick also is accused of lying under oath about his role in the firing of one of the officers.
Excerpts of the text messages published in January by the Detroit Free Press contradict their testimony.
Despite testimony during the council hearings by lawyers representing the city and Kilpatrick, city officials continue to deny any wrongdoing.
"The documents forwarded to council to settle this matter were no different from the hundreds of other settlements routinely recommended by the Corporation Counsel's office and approved by Council without comment," city of Detroit General Counsel Sharon McPhail said Friday in a statement.
"Confidential agreements are a part of virtually every settlement agreement."
Settling the case for the $8.4 million also was "in the best interest of the city," she said.
"By Mr. Stefani's own testimony, he was seeking $11 million from the city but settled for $8.4 million," McPhail said.
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DETROIT - AP - Hundreds of questions during two days of testimony are giving Detroit City Council members more insight into dealings behind an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' settlement and how sexually explicit text messages were hidden from them.
But the key to unlocking the whole story could be Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who has declined to appear at the rare hearings.
"The one who needs to be here is the mayor -- and the corporate counsel," Councilwoman Barbara Rose-Collins said during a moment of empathy in the testimony of one of the top city lawyers.
Chief assistant corporation counsel Valerie Colbert-Osamuede testified for nearly three hours about her role in the settlement of two separate whistle-blowers' suits and a confidential agreement that kept word of sexually explicit text messages from the council when they approved the deal last fall.
She signed an Oct. 17 settlement in which a lawyer for three former officers in the suits would turn over all copies of the text messages left on the pager of former Kilpatrick Chief of Staff Christine Beatty to a representative of the mayor.
In the end, Colbert-Osamuede said the council likely should have been given more information about the agreement. "No doubt that's something that probably should have been done," she said.
The third and final day of testimony is expected to be held Friday. Corporation Counsel John Johnson is expected to testify in the afternoon.
Kilpatrick and Beatty both declined subpoenas to appear at the hearings, City Council attorney William Goodman said.
In Thursday's testimony, Colbert-Osamuede said the city's legal department knew in 2004 of the existence of potentially embarrassing text messages that may have been critical of -- and unflattering to -- Detroit business leaders and members of the City Council.
However, Colbert-Osamuede told the Council she was unaware of messages linking Kilpatrick to a romantic relationship with Beatty.
"It was my understanding there could be very harmful messages that could certainly harm the relationship between the executive and legislative branches, and entities outside the city of Detroit that had interests in the city," she said.
Colbert-Osamuede's testimony followed that of Detroit attorney Sam McCargo.
McCargo did not reveal to her the contents of text message excerpts included in a proposed motion for attorneys fees by Michael Stefani, who represented the former officers in the whistle-blowers' suits, Colbert-Osamuede said.
Stefani told the Council during the first day of the hearings on Tuesday that he used references to sexually explicit text messages to persuade Kilpatrick to agree to the settlement.
Kilpatrick, who appeared Thursday morning in downtown Detroit to promote part of his proposed economic stimulus package for the city, didn't discuss the text message scandal at the event.
The messages contained in the package delivered to McCargo also contained statements alluding to the firing, removal and demotion of Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown, an officer in one of the suits against Kilpatrick, Beatty and the city.
McCargo told the Council that he was unsure of the context of the references to the text messages in a confidential package given to him during the settlement process. But he didn't want to risk Stefani releasing embarrassing information to the media.
Stefani told lawyers representing the mayor that he had a disc containing copies of the text messages locked away, McCargo said.
"Mr. Stefani said I have these in this safe and I'm not going to give them to you until we settle this whole case," McCargo said. "And I have another set in a safe at home.
"Were we going to take the risk that Mr. Stefani was going to do with the documents what he had in the past and go to the press and have them published?"
A Wayne County jury ruled on behalf of Brown and officer Harold Nelthrope in last summer's whistle-blowers' trial.
Kilpatrick initially said he would appeal that ruling, but later decided to settle after the package was given to McCargo.
City Council members have said they were not aware of a confidential agreement signed by Kilpatrick and containing references to the text messages when they approved the settlement amount.
The messages contradict testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave during the whistle-blowers' trial.
They are accused of lying under oath and face perjury and other charges. Kilpatrick also is accused of lying under oath about his role in Brown's firing.
