The line generally goes “a cold day in Hades” - the sex text message scandal broke on a cold day in January & the temperature hasn’t warmed up since. Kilpatrick & Beatty have now been charged. Standing mum the Mayor & Christine Beatty had pleas of “Not Guilty” entered on their behalf.

The Beginning

It began late in January, revelations of explicit text messages from the Mayor to his former Chief of Staff were released, and from that pit a political crisis arose. The messages indicated they’d carried on a romantic affair and also contradicted testimony that Kilpatrick and Beatty gave under oath late last year during a civil trial where several former police officers accused the mayor of forcing them out of their jobs.

This was due in part because the investigations by those officers may have uncovered Mayor Kilpatrick’s romance. In addition, documents revealed that the mayor settled that case, and a second, similar lawsuit, for $8.4 million.

Kilpatrick had said he would challenge the verdict, but prosecutors allege that a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached after the officers' attorney showed the mayor's lawyers references to the text messages, which had been left on Beatty's city-issued pager. The Detroit Free Press published excerpts of the messages in January, prompting an investigation that led to charges against Kilpatrick and Beatty.

Kilpatrick publicly apologized to his wife, Carlita, his three sons, and to the city, but has vowed, repeatedly, to stay in office. He has defiantly accused the news media of creating the problems he now faces, and blamed racism for his troubles.

On March 18th, the Detroit City Council voted to ask Mr. Kilpatrick to step down, which was an echo of similar calls from local media and a cadre of prominent citizens.

At This Juncture

On March 23, 2008 Mr. Kilpatrick was charged by Kym Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, with misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and perjury -- felonies that could end his political career and send him to prison for as long as 80 years.

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. Beatty also stood mute to seven of those charges. They were released on personal bonds and are expected to appear at a June 9 preliminary examination that will determine if they’ll face trial.

Legal experts are saying that the heart of the perjury case against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — the steamy text messages that seem to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with Christine Beatty — might be less open-and-shut than many believe.

Kwame Kilpatrick's attorneys want to keep the intimate & sexually explicit text messages out of the trial, and at least one outside defense lawyer says the admissibility of such high-tech communications is an unsettled legal question. Even if they are admitted, experts say the defense will exploit any ambiguity in the messages, in the questions the mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty were asked under oath, and in their responses.

Kilpatrick's lawyer Dan Webb is a former U.S. attorney known for his three-hour cross-examination of former President Ronald Reagan in the Iran-Contra scandal. Webb says the release of the text messages violates federal law. "Under the Stored Communications Act they absolutely should not have been produced in civil litigation," Webb said. "Because of that, everyone who sees them is clearly tainted because the initial production was illegal."

The messages also included dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts. Hirsch, however, said the messages may not be enough to prove perjury.

Sex is not the only issue surrounding the text messages. The prosecutor's office filed an investigative report Tuesday that included an excerpt of a text message from Kilpatrick asking members of his staff for help in explaining the departure of former Deputy Chief Gary Brown, one of the former officers who sued.

During the whistle-blower suit, Kilpatrick said Brown was "un-appointed. He was not fired," he testified.

Perjury, under Michigan law, is defined as "willfully" swearing falsely while under oath and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Detroit City Council

The Detroit City Council had a very somber meeting to vote on changes to the way business is done in the city. The sex text message scandal and $9million payout has brought that issue to the fore. Because of the secret documents in the case that city council did not see, they feel that they were bamboozled.

They have voted to examine every thing that comes through in excess of $5,000 – it’s currently set at $25,000. Lowering the rate to $5,000 will mean holding up a lot of projects as each will take the council countless hours in review and approval time.

The council wants to make sure that the citizens of the city and those who do business with the city, know that they are continuing to make the city move forward. They are taking care of business.