New Bail Terms for Detroit Mayor Include Electronic Tether
Updated: Charged in a perjury case, the mayor of Detroit can’t take a business trip out of a designated area unless he has court permission.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick found that out the hard way when he was briefly jailed last week after taking an unauthorized business trip to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. As of Friday morning, he was released, but with new bail restrictions. Among them: He must now wear an electronic tether, reports the Detroit Free Press.
However, he may be in trouble again in a different case—Kilpatrick allegedly violated the terms of his bond in a separate assault case by spending time over the weekend in his mother’s home while his sister, a witness in the case, was present, according to another Free Press article. He has been released on $25,000 bond in the assault case. Another Free Press article reported that there will be a hearing Tuesday over the alleged bond violation.
However, Marcus Reese, a spokesman for Kilpatrick, says Kilpatrick did nothing wrong and contends that the mayor’s defense attorney had clarified with the judge in the assault case that Kilpatrick could associate with his sister. State Attorney General Mike Cox, Reese contends, is “more interested in political grandstanding here, than in truly trying the facts of case.”
Under the terms of his bond in the perjury case, Kilpatrick cannot travel outside of a three-county area, and that means the upcoming Democratic National Convention is off-limits, the newspaper notes.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Thomas Jackson initially required Kilpatrick to pay a $50,000 cash bond to win his release, but later modified it to allow Kilpatrick to post 10 percent.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Detroit Mayor Jailed on Bond Violation”
ABAJournal.com: “Jailed Detroit Mayor Faces Felony Assault Charge”
Updated at 12:30 p.m. to include news of alleged new bond violation and at 3:28 p.m. to report news of tomorrow’s hearing.
