Detroit mayor pressured to plead, quit

DETROIT, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick a clear message that he should resign from office, legal experts say.

Granholm has scheduled a hearing next Wednesday in Detroit on Kilpatrick's removal, the Detroit Free Press reports. The hearing is to be structured so that Kilpatrick must demonstrate why he is fit to remain in office.

"It's a clear message to Kwame that he's going to lose," Maurice Kelman, a retired Wayne State University law professor, told the newspaper. "There's no way she can exonerate him."

Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff are under indictment for lying during depositions in a civil suit about their romantic relationship and role in police firings. The mayor has also been charged with assaulting two sheriff's deputies.

Granholm has also put pressure on the mayor to reach a plea deal with prosecutors.

"The mayor has to understand with the hearing going forward, his biggest bargaining chip -- his resignation -- could disappear at any time, especially if the hearing is not going in his favor," Peter Henning, a Wayne State law professor, told the Free Press.