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Kwame Kilpatrick (Deadline Detroit photo)
Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been housed in a federal prison in Oklahoma serving a 28-year sentence, is returning home to Detroit.
Kilpatrick is scheduled to appear Aug. 23 for a hearing in federal court in downtown Detroit in his latest bid to overturn his conviction and his lengthy sentence, Robert Snell writes in The Detroit News.
Kilpatrick last appeared in federal court when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in 2013.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal, Kilpatrick is now asking Edmunds to toss out the case, something she's not likely to do, particularly after overseeing the lengthy trial.
Kilpatrick's appeal raises numerous issues, Snell writes:
The request appears pegged to new case law since Kilpatrick’s conviction that defined "official acts," said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor. "If Kilpatrick is successful in getting convictions tossed for those crimes, he could receive a lesser sentence."
Kilpatrick repeated some of the same, failed arguments, including that the judge erred by denying his request for a new taxpayer-funded defense lawyer. Kilpatrick’s previous appeal was based, in part, on the claim his lawyer, James C. Thomas, had a conflict of interest.
Kilpatrick also attacked testimony from federal agents, saying the testimony included "lay opinions."
