The final opening statement is expected around 1:30 p.m. from lawyer Gerald Evelyn, who is defending Detroit contractor Bobby Ferguson in the City Hall corruption case. While we’re waiting, here are a few lingering images from opening statements in the City Hall corruption trial Friday.
- Bernard Kilpatrick’s sphinx sweater. Kilpatrick was shown on an undercover FBI video shot by Synagro sludge-hauling businessman James Rosendall Jr. In the video, Kilpatrick is wearing a black sweater with what appeared to be a giant sphinx.
- Rosendall, again, shown in a surveillance photo carrying a box while walking with Bernard Kilpatrick. The box contained a bribe for Bernard Kilpatrick — a case of Cristal champagne, according to the feds.
- Kwame Kilpatrick’s lawyer James C. Thomas, referring to politics as a “tough business.”
“Politics is like making sausage. It’s not pretty. It’s messy,” Thomas told jurors. “But once cooked, it tastes pretty good.”