Payments due to Kilpatrick attorney

DETROIT, March 18 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Kwame Kilpatrick says the city of Detroit should be responsible for back payments to one of the former mayor's attorneys.

Kilpatrick spokesman Mike Paul said attorney James Thomas is currently owed more than $20,000 for his work on a lawsuit filed against the former Detroit official, The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.

Thomas has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in the legal dispute and as of Wednesday night, the attorney offered no comment on his federal court motion.

Paul insists the city of Detroit should make the back payments to Thomas because the lawsuit filed by relatives of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene is connected to Kilpatrick's time as Detroit's mayor.

"This is about an attorney who deserves to be paid," Paul said. "The city has to pay on this."

Relatives of Greene, who was killed in April 2003, allege police and public officials like Kilpatrick interfered with the investigation into the woman's death.

Kilpatrick, along with fellow co-defendants in the suit, have denied the allegations.