The Kilpatricks just can't stay out of the news. Whether it's parties at the mayor's mansion, federal corruption charges, or steamy text messages sent from city-issued phones, the political tomfoolery from Detroit's former first famiy appears to have no end in sight. Now, a case involving the death of a stripper named Strawberry puts the wife and father of Kwame Kilpatrick front and center.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen ruled that Carlita Kilpatrick and Bernard N. Kilpatrick can be questioned under oath by a lawyer for the family of slain dancer Tamara "Strawberry" Greene, as can Jerry Oliver, a former Detroit police chief.
But Rosen quashed a deposition subpoena issued to Brooke Jordan, a former assistant attorney general who now lives in Arizona.
Rosen made his rulings after asking the media to leave his courtroom and hearing arguments from lawyers behind closed doors.
Exotic dancer Tamara "Strawberry" Greene, who was linked to a rumored stripper party at the mayor's Manoogian Mansion in the fall of 2002, was shot to death in Detroit on April 30, 2003. Her family is suing the former mayor and top city and police officials, alleging they obstructed the investigation of Greene's still unsolved murder for political reasons.
An element of the party rumor, repeated in court records filed in the case, is that Carlita Kilpatrick assaulted Greene at the party.
Kilpatrick and the other defendants deny the allegations.
SOURCE: Detroit News