Television judge Greg Mathis says he is not part of a committee raising funds for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal battle against perjury and other charges.
The TV personality and former Detroit district court judge was responding Thursday to reports listing him as part of a group contributing money to help pay Kilpatrick's high-priced private lawyers.
Mathis said in a faxed statement he told Kilpatrick Wednesday he supports due process "but I could not support him."
"This is the same type of deceit that has plunged our city into a deep crisis," Mathis said in the statement. "Not only do I not support him, but I recommend he resign so the city can heal and move forward."
Detroit area attorney and member of the Detroit Justice Fund committee, Reginald Turner, says in his own statement that it is in the best interest of Kilpatrick and Mathis that the judge no longer be part of the effort.
"Apparently, there are different recollections regarding the conversation about the Detroit Justice Fund," Turner said in a statement issued by a spokesman for the legal defense fund.
"We are happy to hear that he has remained consistent on one thing, that the mayor should be allowed a fair process," Turner said.
The charismatic Kilpatrick and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty were arraigned Tuesday on multiple perjury, conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice charges. They face a June 9 preliminary examination in Detroit's 36th District Court, the same court where Mathis once presided.
The charges stem from statements Kilpatrick and Beatty gave under oath last summer during a whistle-blowers' trial. Both denied having a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003.
However, excerpts of sexually explicit and embarrassing text messages left on Beatty's city-issued pager and published in January by the Detroit Free Press contradict their testimony.
Kilpatrick also is accused of lying under oath about his role in the firing of a top police official.
Chicago attorney Dan Webb is representing Kilpatrick on the charges brought by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Webb has said Detroit taxpayers will not foot the bill for his services.
The Detroit Justice Fund will help underwrite Kilpatrick's legal expenses, organizers said Thursday afternoon in a release formally announcing the fund's formation.
In addition to Turner, 10 people are listed on the fund's membership committee. They include local and national business and community leaders, according to the release.
The release did not indicate how much, if any, money has been collected.
The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, acknowledged being a member of Kilpatrick's legal fund committee and said he had been told that Mathis was, too.
Sheffield criticized Mathis for Thursday's statement.
"It's one thing to decline being part of the defense fund, but it's another thing to ask the mayor to resign," Sheffield said. "He's one person among many. We still have to do what we have to do."
The vocal Sheffield has supported Kilpatrick in several rallies since calls for the mayor's resignation surfaced after the text message excerpts were published.