By: The Detroit News is joining the Detroit Free Press in a lawsuit against the city of Detroit to try to get to the bottom of whether a secret settlement exists in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo Jr. on Tuesday ruled The Detroit News could participate with the Free Press in a deposition of the plaintiff's lawyer in the case, both papers reported.
Michael Stefani's deposition is scheduled for Wednesday in Stefani's Royal Oak office. He represented former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown and officer Harold Nelthrope in the lawsuit, which eventually cost the city more than $8.5 million.
The Free Press had objected to the News' request on the grounds that the News had plenty of time to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the settlement documents, but Colombo said allowing both newspapers in the deposition is in the interest of judicial efficiency. The city of Detroit also argued against allowing the News to join the case.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Chief of Staff Christine Beatty testified in a case involving a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.
The lawsuit ended with the jury awarding $6.5 million to the two officers. The payout eventually grew to more than $8.5 million. On the day the verdict came out, Kilpatrick vowed to appeal, but then the case was settled.
City lawyers initially provided the Free Press with nine pages of a settlement agreement, insisting that was it. In a story published Friday, Stefani told the Free Press that a confidential deal exists and that he couldn't say what was in it.
The city lawyers conceded in court Friday that a secret settlement agreement might exist, but urged Colombo to block the Free Press' deposition request.
Colombo ordered Stefani to submit to the paper's deposition and to provide documents to the Free Press. The judge also ordered that details from the deposition and documents be kept confidential until he has reviewed the information and authorized its release.
During testimony in the civil trial, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having an affair during 2002-03 and conspiring to have Brown fired.
However, the Detroit Free Press last week published sexually explicit text messages between the pair from two months each in 2002 and 2003 that appear to contradict what they said on the stand. The messages, on Beatty's city-issued pager, also indicate that Brown may have been fired because he opened an investigation linked to rumors of a relationship.
The Wayne County prosecutor launched an investigation last week into the perjury allegations.
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.
Beatty resigned from her post Monday. Kilpatrick on Tuesday appointed deputy chief of staff Kandia Milton to replace his longtime friend.
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