DETROIT – A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the $150 million lawsuit filed by the family of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene against the city of Detroit and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Judge Gerald Rosen issued the more than 100-page opinion and order.
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Greene was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2003. It was rumored that she danced at a never-proven party at the Detroit mayor's Manoogian Mansion that was thrown by then-mayor Kilpatrick in 2002.
Her family filed the lawsuit in 2005 on claims Kilpatrick and other high-ranking city officials thwarted the investigation into her death.
The family's attorney, Norman Yatooma, has said the city has repeatedly withheld records in the case and that evidence related to the case had been intentionally destroyed, specifically e-mails sent between officials on city-owned computers.
Yatooma had asked for a default judgement that would declare the family the winner of the case on the grounds the city destroyed evidence. But, Rosen wrote, that request was filed too late and it was never proven that the city violated court orders to provide documents.
"Obviously we're very shocked and terribly disappointed. Frankly it's very difficult to make sense of this ruling. The judge said he had to charter new waters in our whole argument. In doing that, I can't imagine how he could charter them against the kids of Tammy Greene in favor of the convicted, and now again indicted, Kwame Kilpatrick and the city," Yatooma said.
Rosen said in his opinion there wasn't enough evidence that the investigation into Greene's death was sabotaged.
"The Court agrees that there is no evidentiary basis upon which a trier of fact could conclude that Defendant Kilpatrick participated, whether directly or through his approval of the actions of other, in any obstruction of or interference with the DPD investigation into Ms. Greene's murder," Rosen wrote.
In another part, Rosen wrote, "Now that the discovery dust has settled, the Court has little need to dwell on the much-discussed, much-rumored party at the Detroit mayor's official residence, the Manoogian Mansion, in or around the fall of 2002."
Yatooma said he is already working on his appeal.
"Those kids deserve their day in court. It's a dark day in the legal system when bais prevails over justice. We are heartbroken. We are furious," he said.
Local 4 legal analyst David Griem said the judge had no choice because the lawsuit was based on a claim that Greene's children were denied access to the courts, something Yatooma could not prove.
"This judge stepped in, looked at the facts, looked at the evidence, looked at the law and determined that this is a case that should not go to trial," Griem said.
Greene's murder remains unsolved.