U.S. District Judge David Lawson, concerned that the name Kwame Kilpatrick is too prejudicial for the jury at the trial of Bobby Ferguson, ordered prosecutors Thursday to stop mentioning it.
Former mayor Kilpatrick is Ferguson's close friend. From now on, in court, Kilpatrick will be identified as a "city official" in front of the jury.
Robert Snell of the Detroit News writes: Lawson's order was the latest instance of the former mayor's shadow looming over the bid-rigging trial, which is focusing on contracts awarded during Kilpatrick's tenure. The jury selection process took six days, an inordinately long time as lawyers individually questioned jurors about their feelings toward Kilpatrick, who is not on trial in the case.
On Thursday, prosecutors wanted to question a former city official about a meeting he had with Kilpatrick and Ferguson in late 2002 about federal rules governing the contract process. Prosecutors wanted to show Ferguson knew about federal rules relating to contracts for public housing - and show Ferguson broke those rules years later.
