The Michigan Court of Appeals has halted a probation violation arraignment set for Kwame Kilpatrick today, just hours after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In an unusual order that simultaneously blasted his attorneys and ruled in their favor, the court on Thursday indefinitely halted proceedings that threatened to jail the former mayor.
In a 2-1 decision, the court agreed to weigh whether Kilpatrick needs to fork over $319,000 by April toward the $1 million he was ordered to pay for the text-message scandal.
But in doing so, the judges made it clear their patience is fading. The ruling, which came a week after the court denied an earlier appeal, included criticism from judges that Kilpatrick’s lawyers failed to meet the legal criteria for appeal.
“Although the instant pleadings are grossly noncompliant and inappropriate, in light of the time constraints, I join in the issuance of a stay,” wrote Court of Appeals Judge Karen Fort Hood, who also described the filing as “unconscionable.”
The ruling, issued shortly before 5 p.m., came after Wayne County Judge David Groner signed an arrest warrant for Kilpatrick, who was due to be arraigned this morning.
The warrant accused Kilpatrick of failing to pay $79,011 in restitution due last week; ignoring an order to provide accurate accounting of the finances of his wife, Carlita; and failing to surrender tax refunds, disclose gifts, transfer his pension courts and surrender political funds, as ordered by the court.
Kilpatrick attorney Dured “Daniel” Hajji said he is “ecstatic” about the appeals court ruling, but declined to discuss its criticisms.
“My client is happy, and his family is happy,” Hajji said. “This means he doesn’t have to come to Detroit Friday to appear in court.”
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined comment.
Wayne State University Law Professor Peter Henning said the court issued the order — despite its obvious qualms — to address the Kilpatrick case once and for all and fend off future appeals.
“This has not been a one-act play,” Henning said. “It looks like the appeals court is going to get an appeal every time something happens in this case.
“Had the former mayor been found guilty of probation violation, his attorneys probably would have appealed that, too,” Henning said. “Appeals court judges don’t generally like to be bothered, so I think what they said was, ‘OK, we’re going to give you your day in court. If there’s a problem we’ll correct it — but if not, you’re not coming back here again.’”
The ruling came a few days after Hajji filed an appeal — described by Worthy as a “rant” — complaining that Kilpatrick is demonized by some as a “darker version of Bill Clinton” who needs to “function in the upper echelons of society.”
The appeal accused Groner of “turning the law on its head” and stated that “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to realize that Kilpatrick needs to have a good salary to pay back $1 million to the city in four years.
Hajji’s appeal sought to reverse Groner’s order that Kilpatrick pay $79,000 by last Friday and another $240,000 by April.
Groner ordered the payments after concluding that Kilpatrick hid assets and gifts that came to light during a lengthy restitution hearing.
Hajji claimed that Kilpatrick could lose his $120,000-a-year job as a computer salesman in Texas and risk “continuing public contempt, scorn, ridicule and stigmatization.”
Hood ripped the appeal, warning that future pleadings must comply with court rules and ethical standards and suggested the imposition of a gag order.
“The appropriate forum for litigation of issues is in the courtroom, not in the media,” she wrote.
The ruling, though, clears the way for a court review on the propriety of Groner’s order that Kilpatrick pay $319,000 by April toward his $1 million restitution. Kilpatrick’s supporters paid $40,000 toward his $79,000 payment due Friday, according to his lawyers.
Appellate Judge Christopher Murray wrote a dissent, saying “Defendant in my view has not raised any other legal errors committed by the trial court that would warrant a stay.”
Murray also wrote that Kilpatrick’s lawyers failed to provide the requisite criteria for getting a stay.
Kilpatrick served 99 days in jail, resigned as mayor and pleaded guilty to felonies alleging he used taxpayer money to craft a $8.4 million settlement to end a lawsuit in exchange for keeping secret text messages that prove he committed perjury when he died an affair with his chief of staff during a civil trial.
