Detroit mayor hearing date set

DETROIT, July 29 (UPI) -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has set a hearing date and moved up the time line in her considerations to remove Detroit's mayor from office, attorneys say.

Kelly Keenan, Granholm's legal counsel, told the Detroit City Council that she has determined it is "in the public interest to accelerate the briefing schedule in this matter and to set a definite date for a hearing should one be determined necessary," The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

The City Council asked Granholm to invoke her constitutional powers to remove Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. After initially making few indications she would do so, Kennan said Granholm is looking to set a Sept. 3 hearing date on the matter and is urging the council and Kilpatrick to file their legal briefs quickly.

The move came shortly after investigators from the Wayne County Sheriff's Department testified in Kilpatrick's court case that the mayor "cursed them out" and shoved a detective assigned to the county prosecutor's office.

Kilpatrick is charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, official misconduct and conspiracy in connection with court testimony and a settlement made in a police whistle-blower trial.