Detroit (WWJ) -- The Michigan Supreme Court will be asked to weigh in on the dispute over who will hear the criminal case involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy filed an emergency appeal Wednesday asking the state Supreme Court to rule on her request to disqualify 36th District Court judges.
Worthy cites potential conflicts of interest and wants an outside judge to hear perjury and other charges against Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty.
"We are firmly convinced that where public confidence in the impartiality of the judicial forum is compromised, that court should not sit. In Michigan our judicial system is considered one court of justice. We think it is appropriate to give the Michigan Supreme Court the opportunity to pass on this important issue," said Prosecutor Worthy in a statement.
Defense lawyers have opposed the effort.
Michigan's Court of Appeals would not reverse a lower court's decision to uphold Giles' refusal to disqualify.
Kilpatrick and Beatty face a Sept. 22 preliminary examination. They deny the charges.
Click here to read articles related to the text message scandal.
Meanwhile, a former attorney for Kilpatrick says his job was to keep text messages linked to an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' settlement secret.
The Detroit News reports that William Mitchell III has testified Wednesday in a deposition that he delivered an envelope containing a set of text messages from Kilpatrick to an attorney in Virginia.
Mitchell says he delivered the envelope before perjury and other charges were filed in March against Kilpatrick and ex-top aide Christine Beatty.
Excerpts of the messages were published by the Detroit Free Press and contradict testimony they gave in a whistle-blowers' trial.
The deposition conducted by newspaper attorneys is part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by The News and Free Press.
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