 | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (July 2020) |
Kym Loren Worthy | |
|---|---|
| Wayne County Prosecutor's Office | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Duggan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1956 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan (AB) Notre Dame Law School (JD) |
Kym Loren Worthy (born December 5, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the prosecutor of Wayne County, Michigan since 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first African-American woman to serve as a county prosecutor in Michigan. She is most noted for prosecuting then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the beginning of March 2008.
Worthy received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her J.D. degree from the university of Notre Dame Law School. She attended high school in Alexandria, Virginia and is a 1974 graduate of T.C. Williams High School.
Worthy started as an assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in 1984. She served in this position for ten years, becoming the first African-American special assignment prosecutor under Prosecutor John O'Hair. Her most notable prosecution was the trial of Walter Budzyn and Larry Nevers in the beating death of Malice Green. Worthy had an over 90% conviction rate.[1] In 1994, Worthy was elected to the Detroit Recorder's Court (now the Wayne County Circuit Court).[2] From 1994 until January 2004, Worthy was a judge on the Wayne County Circuit Court.
In 2004, Worthy was appointed Wayne County Prosecutor by the judges of the Wayne County Circuit Court bench to replace now Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who resigned to become the head of the Detroit Medical Center.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is by far the busiest in Michigan. There are 83 counties in Michigan yet Worthy's office handles 52% of all felony cases in Michigan and 64% of all serious felony cases that go to jury trial.[3] In 2013 Worthy sued Wayne County alleging that Wayne County Executive Robert A. Ficano had provided her with an insufficient budget to fulfill her duties as outlined in the Michigan State Constitution.[4] In June 2014 Worthy backed Warren Evans in his successful race to oust then Wayne Robert A. Ficano in the Democratic Primary.[5]
- ^ "Detroit's dramatic prosecutor. (Kym Worthy, lawyer in Malice Green police brutality case) - Ebony | Encyclopedia.com". Archived from the original on 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ "About Kym Worthy, Current Wayne County Presecutor". Re-Elect Kym Worthy for Wayne County Prosecutor. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- ^ "Wayne County, MI - Prosecutor of Wayne County". Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ "Detroit Free Press article on Worthy's suit". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
- ^ "NPR', March 6, 2010". NPR. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
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