For the past few weeks, the most interesting thing happening in the Michigan Governor's race was the allegations of underage drinking at various College Republican campaign parties up on Mackinac Island (with the booze allegedly provided by one or more of the campaigns), and the "apology letter" which turns out to have been ghost written for the blogger in question by one of the campaigns.
Things just got a bit more interesting today, especially for incumbent Attorney General and top GOP nominee contender Mike Cox:
Detective Testifies In Greene Suit - Slain Stripper's Family Sues City
DETROIT -- Testimony of one of three Michigan State Police detectives heard Tuesday during a lawsuit hearing brought by the family of slain Detroit exotic dancer Tamara Greene revealed that they believed the Detroit Police Department was destroying evidence in the case. But his testimony also said because of actions by Attorney General Mike Cox, they were powerless to stop them.
...
The officers said Cox killed the investigation by refusing to allow investigators to subpoena witnesses, insisting that Carlita Kilpatrick not be interviewed at all and that Kwame Kilpatrick have only a one-on-one interview with Cox.
"It's the idea that the state troopers were trying to investigate and they were denied subpoena power by the attorney general's office. So shut down, well if you have no subpoena power you have no opportunity to move forward," said Yatooma.
Those of you who live in Michigan already know that this has MASSIVE ramifications for the 2010 Michigan Governor's race, but for those of you who don't, here's some of the backstory:
Kilpatrick's controversies started from a wild party alleged to have occurred in the fall of 2002, involving strippers at the official residence of the mayor—the city-owned Manoogian Mansion. It is alleged by former members of the mayor's Executive Protection Unit that the mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, came home unexpectedly and upon discovering Kwame with the strippers began to attack one of the women. Allegations began to surface after Officer Harold C. Nelthrope contacted the internal affairs unit of the Detroit Police in April 2003 to have them investigate abuses by the mayor's Executive Protection Unit (EPU). Mayor Kilpatrick denied all allegations and rumors of any misconduct by him or his security team. An investigation by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and the Michigan State Police found no evidence that the party actually happened, though the State Police investigation had been cut short.
Nelthrope and Gary A. Brown, head of the Detroit Police Department's internal affairs unit allege that they were fired by the administration in retaliation for investigating the Mayor and other superiors. Nelthrope and Brown filed a whistleblower lawsuit and were awarded an $8.4 million-dollar settlement.
Additionally, two other officers of the Detroit Police Department, Walt Harris and Alvin Bowman, correctly claimed they were retaliated against for their involvement in investigations that would highlight the mayor's misconduct. Harris was a former member of the EPU, who was identified by the administration as cooperating with the state's investigation of the mayor and subsequently suffered a smear campaign in the media by the Kilpatrick administration.
Tamara Greene was a 27-year-old exotic dancer who went by the name "Strawberry", and who allegedly performed at the 2002 Manoogian Mansion party, where she was allegedly assaulted by the mayor's wife, Carlita.
In April 2003, while sitting in her car with her boyfriend, Greene was shot multiple times with a .40 caliber Glock pistol. Although an official statement by Detroit Police Department claims that Ms. Greene was shot three times, sources from the department's Homicide Division claimed that she was shot 18 times. Her boyfriend was wounded when the white Chevrolet TrailBlazer driven by the shooter or shooters made a second pass. This fact led Bowman to conclude that Greene was the intended target and not her 32-year-old boyfriend. She was murdered on April 30, 2003, at around 3:40 AM, near the intersection of Roselawn and West Outer Drive. Her murder came after a first attempt on her life failed. This led to the theory that this was a "deliberate hit" by a member of the Detroit Police Department, a theory that Bowman would investigate. He alleged his investigation was the reason that he was taken off of the case and transferred out of homicide.
Greene's family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Detroit for $150 million based on their belief her murder was a deliberate attack to keep her from talking to officers who were investigating the rumored party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion. A judge ruled that Norman Yatooma, the attorney representing Greene's 14-year-old son, could have access to text messages of Kilpatrick, police chief Ella Bully-Cummings and dozens of other city employees to ascertain if city officials blocked the investigation into Greene's murder. Yatooma also wanted the text messages and GPS positions of every city employee exchanged between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on April 30, 2003. The city's communications provider Skytel indicated it was prepared to release the text messages if the court ruled accordingly.
This repulsive and convoluted tale of corruption went on and on from there. Some of the aftermath went national, particularly the Text Messaging scandal, which FINALLY resulted in his ouster:
On September 4, 2008, Kwame Kilpatrick pled guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice and plead no contest to assaulting a Wayne County Sheriffs Deputy. As part of the plea agreement, he agreed to serve four months in the Wayne County Jail, pay one million dollars of restitution to the city of Detroit, surrender his license to practice law, five years probation and not run for public office during his probation period. He also was required to submit his resignation as mayor of Detroit and surrender his state of Michigan pension from his six years service as a legislator in the Michigan House of Representatives prior to being elected mayor. His last day in office was September 18, 2008. During his plea, Kilpatrick stated that he lied under oath several times.
Now, it's worth noting something else. The "alleged" Manoogian Mansion party occurred in late summer of 2002. Mike Cox was elected Attorney General a few months later, in November 2002, when he beat Gary Peters by just 0.2% (only 5,200 votes) statewide. Tamara Greene was murdered in the spring of 2003, shortly after Cox took office as Attorney General, but rumblings about the other incidents at the "alleged" party--strippers, assault, etc--were already rumbling before the 2002 election.
Here's the video from the local news coverage. (can't embed it, sorry)
I'm not an expert on this mess, but one thing's for sure: It sure as hell isn't looking very good for Mike Cox's gubernatorial race at the moment.