Expert Witness Blog

WXYZ.com reports that attorneys for the Detroit City Council submitted an expert witness list to Governor Jennifer Granholm for the removal proceedings of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Most of the names on the list are attorneys who have been in the media since the text message scandal broke in January. Also on the list is attorney Valdemar Washington, who was the facilitator over the settlement agreement between the city and the Detroit police officers who sued because they say they were fired for working on investigations that may have revealed the alleged affair between Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty.

Attorney William Goodman, who represents the Council, wrote in a letter to Granholm that he recently received documents from Washington. “It should be noted that there are additional documents which I just received today, August 15, 2008, from Honorable Valdemar Washington, Esq. regarding his involvement in the settlement of the Brown/Nelthrope/Harris cases,” wrote Goodman.

The Council has asked Granholm to remove Kilpatrick from office for allegedly using public funds to secretly settle the officers’ lawsuit. The case settled for $8.4 million.