Former Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick loses latest bid for freedom

Detroit — Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick lost another bid to get out of federal prison Friday when an appeals court rejected claims a biased judge oversaw his landmark racketeering case.

The order filed in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, came seven months after Kilpatrick claimed U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds had a conflict of interest and should have recused herself. Edmunds presided over the six-month trial and sentenced Kilpatrick to 28 years in federal prison in 2013 for orchestrating a criminal enterprise out of City Hall.

The order is the latest rejection in a six-year quest to overturn the conviction that will keep Kilpatrick behind bars until August 2037. Kilpatrick, 49, also has sought clemency from President Donald Trump, but he doesn't appear to meet the Justice Department's standards for considering a reduction of his prison sentence.

In the latest failed bid for freedom, Kilpatrick argued the trial judge had a personal and professional relationship with his trial attorney, James Thomas, which prevented him from receiving a fair trial.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/11/15/former-detroit-mayor-kwame-kilpatrick-loses-latest-bid-freedom/4201472002/