Detroit's imprisoned ex-mayor and his father got the best defense we could buy.
Kwame Kilpatrick's court-appointed attorney in last year's public corruption trial earned $813,806 in fees covered by the U.S. Treasury, Tresa Baldas of the Free Press relays from a report released Wednesday afternoon by Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds.
Kilpatrick, serving 28 years after being convicted, was defended at public expense after convincing the court he couldn't afford an attorney.
His father, Bernard, had a separate court-appointed lawyer who cost $352,777, the new document says. He's serving 15 months on a tax charge conviction.
One argument as Kwame Kilpatrick appeals his conviction is that he was forced to go to trial with an attorney in whom he had lost trust. Edmunds rejected that argument before the trial started, concluding Kilpatrick’s longtime attorney, James Thomas, was a good advocate for the former mayor, Baldas writes.
Kilpatrick’s appellate lawyer, Harold Gurewitz, also is court-appointed.
