Text Messages Key to Kilpatrick/Beatty Defense

From the get-go Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s $750.00 per hour legal mouth piece attacked the admissibility of what he feels is the key element in Wayne County Prosecutor’s case against the Mayor. In his Monday press conference following Worthy’s announcement of the 12 count indictment against Kilpatrick and Beatty, Webb trotted out the Stored Communications Act, a Federal statute that he says has been violated by the Detroit Free Press in its acquisition of the damaging text messages.

I doubt that a room full of lawyers could accurately decipher the act, but the consensus from the legal eagles that we’ve spoken with indicates that it is very unlikely that the Webb challenge will be successful. Webb’s argument refers to the text messages as being “fruit from the poisonous tree”. The problem is Worthy didn’t get her copies of the messages from the Freep, she got her copies by court ordered subpoena. We haven't heard the last of this. Come back to this blog as we will continue to update the story.

On Monday afternoon we hooked up with the Michigan Chronicle’s Senior Editor Bankole Thompson and recorded his interview with Kym Worthy. Click on the links to your right to hear Worthy’s unfiltered comments about the case.

Tony Mottley is the producer of American Black Journal.