Kwame Kilpatrick to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

The defiant ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick isn't giving up his fight for freedom, as he is now heading to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping the nation's highest court overturns his public corruption conviction that sent him to prison for 28 years.

Kilpatrick's lawyer Harold Gurewitz told the Free Press this morning that he will take Kilpatrick's case to the Supreme Court following the latest legal blow from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has rejected Kilpatrick's request to have the entire appeals bench rehear his case. A three-judge panel in August ruled against Kilpatrick, upholding his conviction on 24 corruption crimes, including bribery, extortion and fraud.

Kilpatrick then took the next step and asked for a hearing from the entire bench. In a one-paragraph decision, the justices harpooned Kilpatrick's appeal.

"No judge has requested a vote on the suggestion for rehearing (by the full court)," the justices wrote. "Therefore, the petition is denied."

Gurewitz said the next step for Kilpatrick is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

"There are really significant issues. It's a significant case. Mr. Kilpatrick received an extremely long sentence, so I think that there are compelling reasons for further review," said Gurewitz.

Kilpatrick is currently locked up in a federal prison in El Reno, Okla., where he is serving his sentence since getting convicted in March 2013 alongside contractor, friend and codefendant, Bobby Ferguson, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

The pair were found guilty of running a criminal enterprise out of the mayor's office in a six-month trial, which included nearly 100 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. The main theme at Kilpatrick's trial was that Kilpatrick steered work to Ferguson and fostered a climate of fear in Detroit, with contractors claiming they couldn't get work in the city unless they hired Ferguson.

According to Gurewitz, Kilpatrick's appeal revolves around two key issues: the lawyer who represented him at trial and the testimony of two federal agents.

On the latter point, Gurewitz has argued that the testimony of two federal agents — who testified 23 times at trial — should not have been admissible. He said that witnesses are generally allowed to testify about what they heard, saw or what someone said to them.

"But these agents were allowed to testify as sort of the emcees in the case, to connect the various parts of the trial to support the government's case," Gurewitz said.

Kilpatrick's appeal also focuses on his former longtime attorney, James Thomas, who represented him in the text message scandal that was disclosed by the Free Press and triggered his eventual downfall. Kilpatrick has repeatedly argued that he was forced to go to trial on corruption charges with a lawyer that he didn't want, claiming his relationship with Thomas had fallen apart and could not be repaired. He also claimed that Thomas posed a conflict of interest because he once worked for a law firm that was suing Kilpatrick for the very same things Thomas was defending him of.

Kilpatrick tried to get Thomas thrown off his case at the start of his trial. But U.S. District Judge Nancy

Edmunds denied that request, concluding that Thomas had been a good lawyer to Kilpatrick for years, and that when Kilpatrick said he ran out of money and couldn't afford a lawyer, he specifically asked for Thomas and got him.

The prosecution also has scoffed at Kilpatrick's claims that he didn't get a fair trial because of his lawyer and rejects claims that the federal agents' testimony was inadmissible. The U.S. Attorney's Office maintains that Kilpatrick was convicted fair and square.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freep.com