DETROIT — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, charged with perjury and other felonies for his testimony in a civil trial, was ordered to jail Thursday because he violated his bond by taking a quick trip to Canada without notifying authorities.
Kilpatrick apologized and acknowledged that he made a mistake when he visited Windsor, Ontario, minutes away from Detroit, for city business last month. But District Judge Ronald Giles was not moved, saying he needed to treat the mayor like any other defendant.
“What matters to me . . . is how the court overall is perceived and how if it was not Kwame Kilpatrick sitting in that seat, if it was John Six-Pack sitting in that seat, what would I do? And that answer is simple,” Giles said.
It was a stunning outcome, exceeding even what prosecutors had sought. And it came two days after Kilpatrick’s mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, survived a Democratic primary election that was dominated by her son’s legal woes.
The mayor will wear a standard green jumpsuit like other inmates but be placed in his own cell “because he’s a high-profile inmate,” said John Roach, a spokesman for the county sheriff. “He will not be in the general population.”
Kilpatrick and former top aide Christine Beatty are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice, all tied to their testimony in a civil trial last year. At the heart of the case: steamy text messages contradicting their claim that they didn’t have a romantic relationship.
Kilpatrick and Beatty waived their right Thursday to a preliminary exam next month. That means their case now goes directly to Wayne County Circuit Court.
Prosecutor Robert Moran talked about the mayor’s trip to Canada and asked Giles to ban Kilpatrick from any additional out-of-state travel. He called it a flagrant violation that could have been avoided by a quick phone call.
“It’s not serious to him that he’s a criminal defendant. . . . This court should be outraged,” Moran told the judge.
Kilpatrick apologized and said, “I’ve been living in an incredible state of pressure and scrutiny” for seven months — a reference to the public disclosure of the text messages.
He said he dashed to Windsor to discuss the sale of Detroit’s share of a tunnel between the U.S. and Canada, a deal proposed as a way to fill a hole in the city’s budget.
“We got the deal back on track. . . . It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment, willy-nilly, I-can- frolic-in-Canada” trip, Kilpatrick said.
Told he must go to jail, Kilpatrick stood up and, accompanied by a courtroom deputy, walked through a doorway behind Giles’ chair. He was not handcuffed.
“I think it’s the most extreme measure he can take,” defense attorney Jim Thomas said as he dashed a few blocks to Circuit Court to try to overturn Giles’ ruling.
Circuit Judge Thomas Jackson asked for a transcript and said he would wait until 9 a.m. today to take up the matter, guaranteeing at least a night in jail for the mayor.
