DETROIT — Legal experts said Tuesday that the heart of the perjury case against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — steamy text messages that seem to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with an aide — might be less open-and-shut than many believe.
Kilpatrick’s attorneys want to keep the intimate and sexually explicit messages out of a trial, and at least one outside defense lawyer says the admissibility of such high-tech communications is an unsettled legal question.
On Tuesday, the usually gregarious Kilpatrick was subdued as he stood mute to eight felony charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office during his arraignment in Detroit. Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty also stood mute to seven of those charges. Not-guilty pleas were entered for both. They were released on personal bonds and are due at a June 9 hearing.
