Judge lets Detroit mayor go to Democratic convention
 A judge ruled Thursday that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will no longer have to wear an electronic tether ordered as part of his bond in his perjury case and may travel to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where he is a superdelegate.
But the state attorney general's office, which has charged Kilpatrick in a separate assault case, said the mayor still may be required to wear the tether since it was also part of his bond in that case.
Kilpatrick and his former top aide were in Wayne County Circuit Court for an arraignment on perjury and other charges stemming from a text-messaging sex scandal. Not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf.
Circuit Judge Leonard Townsend raised the question about whether Kilpatrick should be allowed to travel later this month to the convention. Wayne County prosecutors objected to the judge's decision.
"I see absolutely no reason for that and it's silly," Townsend said of the travel restriction.
Kilpatrick spent a night in jail a week ago because he violated his bond by taking a quick business trip to Canada without notifying authorities. He was released Friday, after another judge set bond conditions including no travel and the tether. With the exception of the trip to Denver, Kilpatrick's travel still will be restricted southeast Michigan, including Detroit.
Assistant prosecutor Lisa Lindsey told the judge the ruling was "inherently unfair," saying the prosecutor's office and the defense had an agreement that no requests would be made to change the bond.
"Two judges have already found he's violated conditions of his bond," she said.
Townsend said the court raised the issue, not defense attorneys.
"No one has been found guilty of anything," Townsend said. "Let's not trash the Constitution."
Defense lawyers were pleased.
"This is the first time a judge has stood up for him," said James Thomas, Kilpatrick's lawyer.
But the Wayne County prosecutor's office, which is handling the perjury case, said it planned an immediate appeal.
And further complicating the issue is whether the tether applies in the assault case.
Attorney General Mike Cox spokesman Rusty Hills said the attorney general's office was still gathering information and reviewing its options.
"There was never a dispute about travel restrictions and a tether as a condition of bond for our two felony charges," spokesman Rusty Hills said.
Also Thursday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she has received a request from Kilpatrick's lawyers that he be granted a pardon. But her legal team says she has no authority to pardon Kilpatrick because he hasn't been convicted of a crime.
Granholm plans to hold a Sept. 3 hearing to decide if she should remove Kilpatrick from office.
Kilpatrick and former aide Christine Beatty were charged in March with conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, all tied to their testimony in a civil trial.
Sexually explicit text messages between the pair that the Detroit Free Press published in late January contradict their denial of an affair, a key point in the trial last year involving a former deputy police chief.
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