the city had tried since 2004 to keep the text messages hidden on the grounds that they were personal and private communications. But, a city directive re-authorized by Kilpatrick during his first term as mayor said that all electronic communication sent on city equipment should be "used in an honest, ethical, and legal manner" and cautions, "is not considered to be personal or private." The mayor's spokesman said the policy applies only to city-owned equipment, and the text messages are exempt since they were sent on a city-leased device. Kilpatrick and Beatty, both in separate marriages at the time, did discuss city business at times in their texts; however, many of the series of messages describe their extramarital sexual relationship, often in graphic detail. The text messages further describe their use of city funds to arrange romantic getaways, their fears of being caught by the EPU, and evidence that the pair conspired to fire Brown. On January 28, 2008, Beatty resigned from her position as Kilpatrick's chief of staff. On March 18, 2008, the City Council passed a non-binding resolution asking for Kilpatrick to resign as mayor. The vote was 7–1, with Monica Conyers as the only member to vote no. Martha Reeves was absent from the vote. The resolution cited 33 reasons for Kilpatrick to step down, ranging from the secret settlement deals to mandatory audits not being submitted to the state, to charges that Kilpatrick "repeatedly obfuscates the truth." Kilpatrick dismissed the vote as irrelevant and declared that he would not resign as mayor. The council responded by asking its independent attorney, Bill Goodman, to "explore the proceedings by which the mayor may be removed from office." On March 26, 2008, the Free Press published another text message contradicting Kilpatrick's testimony that Brown's employment was not terminated. Six weeks after Brown's employment with the Detroit Police ended and hours before Attorney General Cox was to announce the findings of his office's investigation into the mayor's scandals, Kilpatrick texted his staff on June 24, 2003: On the stand in the whistleblower trial, Kilpatrick stated that Brown was "unappointed" from his duties as Deputy Police Chief and head of the department's Internal Affairs unit. The jury found in favor of Brown's account that he was fired and not "unappointed." Criminal charges On March 24, 2008, Worthy announced a twelve-count criminal indictment against Kilpatrick and Beatty, charging Kilpatrick with eight felonies