DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and official misconduct on Monday stemming from a sex scandal and the prominent Democrat's handling of an $8.4 million settlement of a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city. . . .The eight-count criminal indictment announced by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy included two counts of obstruction of justice and four counts of perjury. The perjury charges each carry a prison term of more than 15 years.
"The justice system was severely mocked and public trust was trampled on," said Worthy in a scolding rebuke of the embattled mayor.
Worthy said lawyers for the city of Detroit had attempted to thwart her two-month investigation and said some evidence had sought by prosecutors had gone missing or been destroyed. . . .
The criminal charges stem from text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty dating back to 2002 that first disclosed in January by the Detroit Free Press. The text messages appeared to show Kilpatrick and Beatty lied under oath when they testified in a police whistle-blower lawsuit last year that they had not had a sexual relationship or discussed the firing of a police official. . . .