Follow the scene inside Granholm's hearing room

BY JIM SCHAEFER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
September 3, 2008

Free Press reporter Jim Schaefer, who helped break the text message scandal, is covering Gov. Jennifer Granholm's hearing today on whether to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

5:46 p.m.

Granholm just adjourned for the day, saying we will "potentially" reconvene tomorrow. That means if Kilpatrick pleads in his criminal case, we won't. And the historic governor's hearing will be over.

5:33 p.m.

OK, I am back after a sprint to my car and a zip down the Lodge Freeway to a downtown court hearing that was canceled before I could even arrive! To explain: the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office notified us that a plea deal with the mayor was imminent and, in fact, happening in a courtroom in mere minutes. So I abandoned my post here to get to court. And then they canceled it and now say Kilpatrick is expected to enter a guilty plea in the text message scandal tomorrow morning. To paraphrase, welcome to the Kwame Kilpatrick roller coaster. The governor's hearing, meanwhile, is to continue until it is no longer necessary.

4:56 p.m.

Just heard Kilpatrick is cutting a deal. Gotta go!

4:40 p.m.

Bill Goodman, council's attorney, told me during the break that Stefani will be today's last witness. And tomorrow Goodman plans on calling only three witnesses, which is many fewer than he said in the past. Goodman says then his case will be done. Depending on how many people the mayor's lawyers call, this thing might be over sooner than we all thought.

For the record, Goodman plans to call Valdemar Washington, who mediated the whistle-blower settlements, Council President Ken Cockrel Jr., and Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, in that order tomorrow.
The mayor's lawyers could then present their case.

3:56 p.m.

And now, a lighter note.

McPhail, trying to cast doubt on whether the mayor perjured himself by testifying in contrast to his text messages, asked Stefani whether he remembers every phone call he's made in the past six years.

Of course not, Stefani answered, adding that had he cheated on his wife with three women, "I may not remember texting anybody about that, but I'd sure remember the experience."

3:43 p.m.

Two hours into Stefani's testimony, Granholm asserts herself on the slowwwww speed of things. And she put it so nicely, asking lawyers to please begin being "crisp."

3:29 p.m.

I've checked, and you may find this surprising, but I can't find a single person in here catching a snooze. Probably not surprising given that most of the people in this room have a vested interest in the situation. There are members of the media, City Council staffers, state officials and a good number of security, both uniformed and plainclothes. There's only a handful of the general public still here. But wait! McPhail just arose to cross-examine Stefani. Could be sparks.

Free Press reporter Jim Schaefer, who helped break the text message scandal, is covering Gov. Jennifer Granholm's hearing today on whether to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Check here for his observations of this historic event.

3:17 p.m.

I thought the administrative law judge Granholm brought in to help her would have a much bigger presence here than he has. All he has done today is swear in witnesses. Unless I missed it, the governor hasn't even consulted the judge. Granholm seems very comfortable and confident running this show.

2:56 p.m.

Now Stefani says he might have made that edit in the language, but it was at the direction of Valerie Colbert-Osamuede, another lawyer who represented the mayor during the settlement negotiations.

2:52 p.m.

Now they are getting close to talking about Stefani's notes during settlement negotiations with the mayor's lawyers. There's a really interesting thing in there that hasn't gotten much attention. Someone, and Stefani says it wasn't him, changed the language in the draft of the settlement. Stefani wrote that the settlement had to be approved by City Council. Someone edited the language to reflect that only "the monetary terms" of the settlement would be approved by council. Council lawyer Bill Goodman will argue that shows the mayor and his lawyers intended to conceal other details of the settlement from council. If the governor agrees, that could be trouble for the mayor.

2:36 p.m.

I've never seen Stefani in court without a suit on. Today, he's wearing a short-sleeve dress shirt without a necktie. Then again, he did come here right from his vacation. Maybe we're lucky he's not wearing Bermudas.

2:27 p.m.

Stefani dropped the bomb that he had gotten a hold of the mayor's text messages in a very creative way. He crafted a motion for attorney fees and in that motion, Stefani wrote that his office had spent tons of money investigating the mayor's testimony.

He showed the fruits of his labor by including in that motion excerpts of the mayor's text messages, which contradicted testimony that Kilpatrick and his chief of staff did not have an affair and did not fire top cop Gary Brown.

Stefani then presented his motion, complete with the excerpts, to one of the mayor's lawyers.

"Have you filed this with the court?" Stefani was asked.

"Not yet," Stefani replied, and the lawsuit then was immediately settled.

Admirers of Stefani said his tactic was brilliant. Detractors, including the mayor's lawyers, have called it possible extortion.

2:08 p.m.

By the way, there are seven or eight seats designated for the public that were not filled this morning and remain unfilled. They'll sit empty for the rest of today, according to Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd. She says people aren't being allowed to check in midday. But all 25 seats will be up for grabs Thursday morning for Day 2.

1:53 p.m.

Stefani is running through his three-year quest to get the mayor's text messages. Kilpatrick and his lawyers knew in 2004 that Stefani was trying to hunt down those texts. Think what would have happened if the mayor had settled that lawsuit way back then.

1:51 p.m.

The hearing has resumed and lawyer Mike Stefani is on the stand. He represented the three former Detroit cops in last year's whistle-blower suits. Stefani is a former small-town police chief, FBI agent and Detroit cop. He met his most-famous client, former deputy chief Gary Brown, when both were raiding dope houses together in Detroit. They became close friends. Both Stefani and Brown were shot in separate incidents in the line of duty. So it's not surprising Brown turned to Stefani when Brown found himself in need of a lawyer.

1:20 p.m.

We're on a lunch break till 1:30, so let me catch up on a couple of things.

First, the gentlemen I mentioned earlier who were wearing their t-shirts inside out turned out to be an interesting story. I sat behind these guys in the audience through the morning session thinking, "What on earth do their shirts say?"

What horrific profanity prompted state officials to force these two men into a fashion no-no -- sitting 20 feet from the governor in inside-out shirts?

I found out during a break. Get this. One guy's shirt has the audacity to proclaim "AFSCME Local 207" on the front. The other guy's reads, "BAMN," the acronym for By Any Means Necessary, a radical group, sure, but one whose name is anything but profane. The guys told me that state officials told them they weren't allowing statements of any kind in the hearing room. And those two groups are opponents of the mayor, after all.

Guess I'll leave my Muck Fichigan shirt at home tomorrow.

On another note, things were pretty darneed genteel this morning among all involved parties. I thought things were turning at one point, though.

I heard Granholm raise her voice at McPhail, telling her, "You have to sit down!" I thought, uh, oh, the gloves are off now.

But then the governor explained that when McPhail is standing she can't be heard on the microphone at the table. McPhail demurred and took her seat.

See you at 1:30.

12:18 p.m.

Wow! Ellen Ha just testified that she's seen confidentiality agreements before and that they are always released under FOIA because they are public records. In this case, she said, no one ever showed her the secret part of this deal. That seems to hurt the mayor.

12:13 p.m.

Stefani just got booted from the room on Thomas' request, so that he doesn't hear Ha's testimony. That's pretty common. Stefani's hauling around a briefcase on wheels. What's he got in there? Probably his copies of the settlement agreements, but who knows what else?

12:05 p.m.

Our FOIA request asked for all documents related to the settlement agreement in the whistle-blower case. Ha wrote to me back then that no agreement existed. She is testifying now that Sam McCargo, the mayor's lawyer, asked whether a "draft" had to be turned over under FOIA. That's interesting that the city law department was in close contact with the mayor's lawyer about our FOIA. Ha says they even notified Christine Beatty about it as is normal procedure. That sure seems like a lot of people weighing in on documents that my newspaper believes are public property.

11:53 a.m.

Ellen Ha, city attorney, is on the stand taking questions about our FOIA request, which started the scandal last fall.

11:49 a.m.

Granholm seems very serious about moving this along as quickly as possible. I don't think she even left the bench for the five-minute break. She was seated, hands at times clasped in front of her, sometimes reviewing papers and not talking to anyone. The governor has not asked the lawyers yet to move along their questioning. Given that the first witness took 2.5 hours, and more than two dozen witnesses are expected, whoa, Nellie! We could be here all week!
But look for the governor to start moving things along in that regard, too.

11:34 a.m.

Five-minute break. Finally!

11:32 a.m.

Mike Stefani has arrived, taking a seat to await his turn as a witness. Stefani cut short a vacation to Maine to return for this hearing. His role in and knowledge of the secret lawsuit settlement will be crucial in Granholm's decision on Kilpatrick's fate. Stefani, of course, is the lawyer who represented the whistle-blower cops and who also got his hands on the mayor's text messages.

11:24 a.m.

As Jim Thomas continues his cross-exam of the law prof, Sharon McPhail occasionally stands up and walks over to a pair of big easels, where she is writing down notes of some sort. Their purpose will become apparent later.

11:15 a.m.

The law prof witness just referred to the "beauty" of contract law.

To each his own.

11:08 a.m.

OK, it is just after 11 and this thing has been going strong for two hours. No discussion of an upcoming break, and there is a rule that if you leave the room you can't return until the next break. What is this, a Red Wings game? No, because no one drinks coffee at a Red Wings game, and coffee is what is causing the problem right now.

11 a.m.

Jim Thomas is doing the cross-examination for the mayor's side, at least early on.

10:55 a.m.

Gov. Granholm is attentive and engaging the lawyers and witness often, asking for clarifications and ruling on objections. She comes across as a cordial judge, trying not to interrupt, speaking softly but firmly and even smiling occasionally. The governor, wearing a charcoal or black business suit, blue blouse and glasses, appears very comfortable in her judge-like role. She's got plenty of experience for this: Harvard law grad, former clerk for federal appeals Judge Damon Keith, former federal prosecutor and former Michigan attorney general.

10:42 a.m.

Why is it that hardly anyone in this mess can correctly pronounce the last name of former Detroit cop Harold Nelthrope?

It is NELL-thrup not NELL-thorp and not NOR-thorp.

People have botched this man's name for years!

NELL-thrup.

10:35 a.m.

My reporting partner M.L. Elrick tells me that city attorney Ellen Ha wandered into the separate press room here while looking for the hearing room. That press room is filled with reporters awaiting Ha's overdue responses to a boatload of FOIA requests filed in the wake of the text message scandal. Elrick tells me he helped Ha find her way to the right place and there was no dustup.

10:06 a.m.

Jim Thomas, one of the mayor's lawyers, just caught himself calling the governor "judge." Thomas said it's old habit and won't happen again.

10:02 a.m.

Ellen Ha just arrived and took a seat in the second row. She's the city lawyer who rejected our Freedom of information Act request back in October. She's waiting to testify.

That FOIA request is what prompted the mayor to cut a secret side deal with the whistle-blower cops, according to testimony earlier this year. Kilpatrick's lawyer, McPhail, maintains there was no secret deal.

9:51 a.m.

First witness for the City Council's side is a law professor from Wayne State named Peter Hammer. Questioning him is David Whitaker, a City Council attorney. Hammer's a contract law expert and will talk about documents. Not exactly a rousing start to this drama, but this guy is important to the City Council in the effort to lay a foundation to the allegations against the mayor.

9:40 a.m.

There are two guys seated in front of me, presumably members of the public, who are wearing T-shirts that have been turned inside out. What's the deal? Did someone order them to turn their shirts inside out? Is there some political statement on them? Or are these guys just fashionably challenged? I'll try to find out when there's a break.

9:32 a.m.

Sharon McPhail, Kilpatrick's controversial general counsel, is giving the opening statement for the mayor.

9:29 a.m.

The media, including me, are seated mostly in the back row of the hearing room. There are about 60 seats in the audience.

9:24 a.m.

Granholm is seated, alone, on a riser, behind a bench at the front of the hearing room. The bench must be 30 feet long. Even her special assistant, administrative law judge Greg Holiday, is seated out on the floor somewhere, out of sight from the back of the room.

9:16 a.m.

Kilpatrick has waived his appearance, so that explains his absence, according to Jim Thomas, one of the mayor's lawyers.

9:13 a.m.

Detroit City Council members Kwame Kenyatta and Sheila Cockrel are seated in the front row. Both voted to ask Granholm to remove the mayor and both, presumably, will testify.

9:08 a.m.

No sign of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in the hearing room.

No sign of his father, mother or wife either.

9:05 a.m.

Governor is at her post and asks that no one stand when she enters and leaves the room. Because this is not a judicial proceeding.

8:58 a.m.

Two minutes to show time and there are still seats open to the public. So much for the lottery state officials were planning. Looks like seven or eight spots are still open.