Prosecutor: Witnesses can prove texts between mayor, ex-aide

The prosecutor who filed perjury charges against the mayor and his former top aide said witnesses can authenticate text messages that appear to show they lied about having an intimate relationship.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the witnesses could put to rest arguments by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that strangers or rogue employees used the two-way communication devices to send thousands of bogus messages.

"It would have to be a heck of an undertaking," Worthy told a columnist for the Detroit Free Press for a column published Thursday.

The witnesses can testify directly to the authenticity of the messages, Worthy said.

The prosecutor spoke after a judge released a document containing a series of often explicit text messages between Kilpatrick and his former aide, Christine Beatty. The release was in response to a lawsuit by The Detroit News and Free Press, which first published excerpts of text messages in January.

Kilpatrick and Beatty are awaiting a June 9 preliminary examination on perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice charges. Not guilty pleas have been entered for each, and Kilpatrick has said he will be exonerated.

The charges stem from a lawsuit filed by two former police officers who won a jury verdict last summer. They said they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having a romantic relationship, but the text messages contradict their testimony. Prosecutors allege that a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached after the officers' attorney showed the mayor's lawyers references to the text messages.

Kilpatrick's attorney James Thomas said Worthy has "serious hurdles to overcome" in proving the messages were saved and not capable of being changed, altered or deleted.

"It could have been a prank. It could have been from the mayor, or it could have been from a third party," he said.