Crime

Kwame Gets Day in Court, Again; Appeal Hearing Date Set

November 28, 2014, 10:48 PM

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It will be an uphill battle for ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to try and overturn his public corruption conviction and stinging 28-year sentence.But he's got nothing to lose at this point. 

Katrease Stafford of the Detroit Free Press reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has agreed to hear arguments for his appeal on Jan. 13 at 1:30 p.m. He's hoping for a new trial.

Kilpatrick has argued that he did not get a fair trial and was stuck with a lawyer he wanted to replace because of an alleged conflict of interest. The judge refused to replace the lawyer, Jim Thomas. 

In his appeal, Kilpatrick also claims: 

■ The nearly $4.7 million in he was ordered to pay in restitution was not authorized under federal law.

■ The judge erred in allowing two FBI agents to offer their opinions to jurors about what Kilpatrick's and others' text messages meant and how texts and phone calls showed the ex-mayor was involved in crooked contracts.

-- Allan Lengel


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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