Tallmanok2's Blog

DETROIT -- The Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's effort to remove every judge in the city's 36th District Court from overseeing preliminary proceedings in the criminal case against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

A three-judge panel declared in an opinion delivered today that the prosecutor's argument -- that there is at least an appearance of impropriety for the entire bench which is deeply entwined in the Kilpatrick dominated politics of the city -- was insufficient to order a visiting judge from outside the community to handle the charges of perjury, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice.

Several of the judges on 30-member bench previously worked in Kilpatrick's city administration. Two judges may be called as witnesses in a preliminary examination on Sept. 22 where Judge Ronald Giles will decide if there is enough evidence to bind Kilpatrick and Beatty over for trial. Giles gave money to Kilpatrick's election campaign and had the mayor as a house guest at his daughter's high school graduation party

"That the judges of the 36th District Court may have relationships with witnesses beyond those prescribed in the court rule does not warrant recusal, in absence of showing bias (and none is alleged), because the role of the judge in a preliminary exam is not to gauge guilt or innocence, and generally does not require making credibility determinations," said the opinion authored by Kirsten Frank Kelly, presiding judge of the panel, which consisted also of Judges Kurtis T. Wilder and Christopher M. Murray.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the Appeals Court ruling uncovers a problem in the state's justice system and she is uncertain whether she will continue her fight to the Michigan Supreme Court.

"We respect the Court of Appeals and while this is not surprising it is extremely disappointing. If you cannot recuse a judge on these facts, then you cannot ever recuse a judge," Worthy said in a statement released by her office. "This should be of extreme concern to the entire legal community in the State of Michigan, both prosecution and defense. Clearly a rule change is needed. We will have to evaluate whether we will take this to the Supreme Court."

The mayor's lawyers took swipes at Worthy in statements released this afternoon by a public relations firm working with the defense team.

"After hiring former Supreme Court Justice Patricia Boyle, one would have to assume the prosecutor planned on taking this mater to the Supreme Court from the beginning and hypocritically capitalizing on influence herself," said James Parkman.

James Thomas said, "Four different judges have upheld the character and integrity of the 36th District Court so one would think the prosecutor will abandon these reckless attempts to judge-shop."