Detroit Mayor Blames Suburban Jury For Loss in Court

The Detroit Free Press reports:

I couldn't care less about wild parties at the Manoogian, strippers, late-night mayoral liaisons or any of the other allegations made about Kwame Kilpatrick during the recent cop whistle-blower trial.

If all of it happened or none of it, whatever. I'm convinced it has little or nothing to do with building this city's future.


But that future does depend on how Kilpatrick navigates the filthy waters that clog this region's city-vs.-suburb divide. So it was disappointing to see him dredge that up Tuesday as a way to discredit the verdict in the cops case. It just makes a bad situation worse.

When Kilpatrick took to a microphone to address the decision, it was his chance to be bigger than the scandal, and put it all behind him.

He could have said something like: "I'm disappointed by the jury's verdict. I told the truth, and I hoped they'd see that.

"But we had our day in court, and this is how the system works. As the leader of this city, a lawyer and an officer of the court, I have to respect the process as much as I disagree with the outcome. We'll appeal, and we're confident that we'll eventually prevail for the city's taxpayers."

Kilpatrick did say he thought the verdict was wrong. And he said he didn't think it could be reconciled with any of the facts presented at trial.

But instead of leaving it there, he went on to suggest he hadn't gotten a fair shake because the jury was mostly suburban.

"I think my reputation rests with the city of Detroit," Kilpatrick said. "Being that there was only one (juror from Detroit), I guess I will have to talk to her. But everybody else needs to understand, this city understands who I am. They understand why I ran. They understand what I'm doing.

Kwame Kilpatrick is a true leader for Detroit's decline.