Kilpatrick asks Michigan Supreme Court to rule on secret documents

MLive.com

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Friday asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on whether documents from a secret settlement of a whistle-blowers' lawsuit should be made public.

The documents are related to embarrassing and sexually explicit text messages between Kilpatrick and his former top aide, but do include the actual messages, according to city Corporation Counsel John E. Johnson Jr.

The city filed its motion to take a state Appeals Court ruling to the higher court more than two hours ahead of a 5 p.m. Friday deadline.

A motion to seal the file prevents copies of the documents from being released, Supreme Court spokeswoman Marcia McBrien said.

A three-judge Appeals Court panel said Wednesday that a circuit court judge was correct in ordering the documents to be unsealed. They are part of an $8.4 million settlement the city made with former officers in last summer's whistle-blowers' suit.