Detroit (WWJ)  -- Lawyers for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have filed a lawsuit Thursday attacking the impartiality of Gov. Jennifer Granholm in a bid to stop her from holding a hearing next week that could lead to his ouster.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski is expected to hear a request at 10 a.m. Friday morning to halt removal proceedings scheduled to start Wednesday.

The lawsuit says Granholm tried to broker a deal in May to settle criminal charges against Kilpatrick, who is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice for his testimony in a civil trial involving the firing of police officers.
  
"It was apparent at this meeting that the governor did not presume Kilpatrick's innocence,'' the lawsuit states.  "To the contrary, at this meeting, the governor and her staff had prepared a blackboard scenario in which his presumption of innocence was ignored and significantly undercut.

"The governor explained that no matter the evidence, Kilpatrick had to resign because it was making Michigan look bad,'' according to the lawsuit.

Late Thursday, the mayor's legal team issued a statement explaining the decision:

As a result of the Governor's decision to bow to political pressures and move forward with her hearing, we have no choice but to file a TRO (temporary restraining order) where we have requested that the judge halt the Governor’s proceedings," the statement said.

"Our decision was based upon the serious questions we have with the process the Governor has outlined.  Furthermore, her ability to be fair and impartial in presiding over the hearings is doubtful.  Additionally, the vagueness of the statute itself raises even more doubt."

A hearing to remove the mayor is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Detroit.
 
The Detroit City Council is requesting Kilpatrick be removed from office under a provision in the Michigan Constitution that allows a governor to evict officials for misconduct.

The mayor is accused of misleading council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. The council says it didn't know the deal included provisions to keep a cover on romantic text messages between Kilpatrick and a top aide.

The lawsuit also claims that the standard of evidence to remove an elected official is "vague, subjective and capable of multiple interpretations.'' Kilpatrick's attorneys want the law thrown out.

A message seeking comment was left with Granholm's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd.

Earlier Thursday in Denver, where she is attending the Democratic National Convention, Granholm declined to say if she feels she's in a tough position judging a fellow Democrat.

"I'm acting based on what my obligations are under that law and based upon what City Council has asked me to do,'' she said.
  
The lawsuit was filed after Granholm's top legal adviser, Kelly Kennan, held a conference call Thursday with attorneys to iron out the procedure for the removal hearing next week.
   
"I came away with the idea that we're not going to waste a lot of time,'' said William Goodman, attorney for the Detroit City Council, who was on the call.
  
"We will proceed promptly and go at least full days and maybe into the evening,'' he said.
  
Kilpatrick's attorney, Sharon McPhail, is complaining that key witnesses are refusing to testify for the mayor.

She said she received a letter stating that lawyers Sam McCargo and Wilson Copeland, who had roles in the settlement, are refusing to appear. A third attorney, John Johnson, also does not plan to appear.

McPhail wants Granholm to seek subpoena power, delay the hearing or press the witnesses to appear.

Keenan in effect said,  "You'll have to do the best you can. We don't have subpoena power. There's no argument about that,'' Goodman said.

The mayor's legal woes don't end there.

He faces 10 felony counts in separate perjury and assault cases in Wayne County Circuit Court.  Click here for more information on the text scandal.

In the first case, Kilpatrick and ex-top aide Christine Beatty are charged with perjury, conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They are accused of lying during the 2007 whistle-blowers' trial about having an extramarital affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police chief.

Text messages from Beatty's city-issued pager contradicted their testimony, leading Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to file charges against the pair in March.

The other charges stem from allegations that the mayor shoved a prosecutor's investigator into another in July as they were attempting to serve a subpoena in the perjury case to a Kilpatrick friend.

The criminal charges and Kilpatrick's embarrassing one-night jail stay earlier this month for violating bond conditions have all but wiped out his past successes in bringing some clout to Detroit.

Meanwhile, a former lawyer for Kilpatrick filed a lawsuit claiming he's owed about $80,000 for work after the text-message scandal surfaced.

William Moffitt of Alexandria, Va., was hired in February and replaced before Kilpatrick was charged with perjury. Mayoral spokesman Marcus Reese told the Detroit Free Press it's unfortunate Moffitt decided to air the issue in public.